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MARCH 18-24, 2020
Swimming Dynasty
MIkE MoNoStRA/South Jersey Sports Weekly
Cherry Hill East’s senior class capped off its high school career on top with a third Public A state championship since 2017. Top row: Robert Thompson, Jackson Brookover, Alex Volin and Andrew Maier. Bottom row: Bobby irwin, kurt Comber, Spenser DuBois and Gian Santiago.
Cherry Hill East boys swimming won its third state title in four years while establishing itself as the undisputed No. 1 team in the state By MIKE MONOSTRA Sports Editor
Few boys swimming programs in New Jersey are as decorated as Cherry
Hill East. The Cougars have won 15 state championships, sixth most in state history and second only to Moorestown (20) out of South Jersey schools. More than half of the Cougars’ 15 state
titles came during the 1970s. Cherry Hill East won eight titles in a nine-year span from 1971 through 1979, cementing its place as the state’s best program at the time.
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www.southjerseysportsweekly.com The present-day Cougars are trying to replicate that dominance. This season, Cherry Hill East finished a perfect 15-0 and won its third state title in the past four seasons when it defeated North Jersey power Bridgewater-Raritan for the Public A championship in February. The 2020 senior class is the first to win at least three state championships since the class of 1979 won four state titles from 1976 to 1979. The Cougars’ dominant season has earned them South Jersey Sports Weekly Winter Boys Team of the Year honors. “It’s crazy to think this class has won three state titles,” senior Bobby Irwin said. “We went to the state (championship) four years in a row, which is crazy. We’ve only lost one regular season meet the whole four years. We only had two losses over four high school years. It’s unbelievable.” The Cougars’ resume speaks for itself. Cherry Hill East finished the season undefeated for the first time since 2017 and scored 100 or more points in all but one meet. The Cougars spent nearly all of the season ranked No. 1 in NJ.com’s rankings and were the No. 1 team in South Jersey Sports Weekly’s Power Poll for the entire winter season. Cherry Hill East finished the year having won 23 consecutive meets dating back to 2018 and has not lost a dual meet to a South Jersey opponent since January of 2013. Senior Jackson Brookover said despite the program’s dominance, he doesn’t feel the team got respect from outsiders until its big win in December over Non-Public power Christian Brothers Academy. While that was the victory that vaulted the Cougars to the top of NJ.com’s poll, the team believes it was simply proof they were a force to be reckoned with. please see HiSTORiC, page S5
SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
S 2 SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — MARCH 18-24, 2020
GIRLS BASKETBALL
POWER
Third time’s a charm for Cherokee POLL!
1. Cherry Hill East Boys Swimming
the Cougars will enter next season having not lost to a South Jersey opponent in nearly eight years. their last South Jersey dual meet defeat was an 87-83 loss to Shawnee on Jan. 14, 2013. (Last week: 1)
2. Camden Catholic Wrestling
Sophomore Martin Cosgrove became Camden Catholic’s eighth state champion since 2000 when he defeated Brick Memorial’s David Szuba in the 195pound state final on March 7. (2)
3. Cherokee Girls Basketball
For the first time in program history, the Chiefs advanced to the Group 4 state championship game after downing Shawnee in the South Jersey Group 4 championship and then defeating Montgomery in the state semifinals. (7)
4. Cherry Hill East Girls Swimming
the Cougars will graduate three of the four swimmers from their record-setting 200-yard medley relay team, but will return junior Annie Behm, SJSW’s Girls Swimmer of the Year. (4)
5. Timber Creek Boys Basketball
Demetrius paynter scored 20 points to boost timber Creek to a 60-57 win over Wall township in the Group 3 state semifinals. the victory put the Chargers in the state finals for the first time since 2008. (8)
6. Gloucester Catholic Ice Hockey
the Rams will return four of their top five scorers next season, including Chris pelosi, Jason player and SJSW Boys Ice hockey player of the Year Jake Grace. (5)
7. Washington Twp. Boys Bowling
the Minutemen will lose half of their varsity lineup to graduation, but Marcus Spann, the team’s top bowler from the 2020 season, is back for next year. (Not ranked)
8. Winslow Twp. Girls Track
Senior Nylah perry was victorious in the 400-meter dash and junior olivia Wright took home second place in the triple jump at the NJSIAA Indoor Meet of Champions on March 8. (9)
9. Paul VI Girls Basketball
the Eagles’ 2019-20 season came to a quick end after a 90-80, double overtime loss to St. Rose on March 6. Abaigeal Babore scored 25 points to lead paul VI in scoring. (3)
10. Camden Catholic Boys Basketball
Victories over Christian Brothers Academy and St. Joseph’s Metuchen put the Irish in the South Jersey Non-public A final against St. Augustine. Camden Catholic’s season ended with a 51-47 loss to the hermits last Wednesday. (Not ranked)
MIkE MoNoStRA/South Jersey Sports Weekly
Cherokee celebrates after winning the program’s first sectional title since 2017 with a 45-34 victory over Shawnee in the South Jersey Group 4 final last Monday.
After suffering defeats in the South Jersey Group 4 finals the last two years, the Chiefs got over the hump to collect a championship By MIKE MONOSTRA Sports Editor
Alexa Therien didn’t want to let the trophy go. The Cherokee junior had been through plenty of heartbreak in the South Jersey Group 4 championship during
her first two years on the team. There was the upset loss at home against Toms River North in 2018, followed by a difficult defeat in 2019 at Lenape. Last Monday, Therien and her teammates erased the demons of the past two years as the Chiefs downed Shawnee, 46-35. The win gave Cherokee its first sectional title in three years and most of the players, including Therien, their first chance to finally lift a sectional championship trophy. “It was awesome,” Therien said. “I never had a feeling like it, to hold that thing up. The past two years, we couldn’t get it done. This year, to get it done, it’s such a good feeling.” Therien added this year’s team entered the sectional final with a lot more confidence than the previous two seasons, citing the team’s tough regular season schedule as the perfect way to prepare for the playoffs. Chero-
kee’s season included non-conference wins over Moorestown Friends, St. Rose, Mainland and Wildwood Catholic as well as a perfect record in the Olympic Conference American Division. “We had the confidence,” Therien said. “We know how to play in big games, we had a couple during the regular season. We just handled ourselves well.” “It was definitely different,” sophomore Katie Fricker added about the team’s mentality. “Coming from last year’s loss … especially me and all the returning players, we wanted it so bad with how close we came last year to the trophy.” In the season’s biggest game to that point, Cherokee’s top two players came together to provide most of the team’s scoring and defend against one of South Jersey’s best freshmen. A force inside on both ends of the court, Therien shut down
Shawnee standout freshman Nia Scott last Monday, holding her without a point in the first half while scoring 11 points herself. When Therien got into foul trouble in the second half, senior Kennedy Wilburn, the only starter remaining from Cherokee’s last sectional championship team, took over guarding Scott and also managed to score a few key buckets down the stretch. Wilburn led the Chiefs with 15 points in the game. “She’s a really good player and, as a freshman, she’s just outstanding,” Wilburn said about Scott. “I knew I had to go on her because Alexa had four fouls. But I feel like it was a good matchup, because she’s really tough in the post and I think I can handle the post well.” “I’m just overwhelmed,” Wilburn added about the sectional title. “Our team has been please see CHiEFS page S5
MARCH 18-24, 2020 – SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
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GIRLS WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
Making history Delran sophomore Emma Matera, enamored with grappling since she was old enough to walk, became the school’s third state champ (and first female), earning Girls Wrestler of the Year honors By RYAN LAWRENCE Sports Editor
Thirteen months ago, on the day before President’s Day, Delran freshman Emma Matera looked up from the mat, made eye contact with her coach and apologized. The inaugural South Region tournament’s 136-pound championship match wasn’t quite over, but Matera knew the result had been decided: She was getting pinned in the opening minute of the second period. The freshman mouthed “I’m sorry” to Nathan Marter. “I felt bad; I was putting too much pressure on her,” said Marter, Delran’s wrestling coach. “But she was putting that much pressure on herself … She told us out at Atlantic City and at regions that she’s better than that, and she expects to be better than that, and she wants to be better than that. She basically couldn’t wait until this year and she’s just worked her butt off.” Flash forward to March 7, 2020. Matera didn’t have to settle for a con-
RYAN LAWRENCE/South Jersey Sports Week
Delran High School’s Emma Matera defeated a reigning state champion en route to a state title earlier this month, just th third in program history. Her prolific sophomore season also included a South Region title and an unofficial title as the hea recruiter for the Bears budding girls wrestling team. solation match at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, the longtime site of the state championships. She was in the finals and wasn’t wasting time, either, scoring the first takedown of the match, against reigning state champ Gabby Miller of Monroe Township. Matera fulfilled her promise to her coaches and to herself, too. The kid who first fell in love with grappling at age 2 defeated Miller and made her way to the top of the podium as the third individual state champion in Delran High School history and the first female. Matera — a South Jersey trailblazer, proud girls wrestling ambassador and a state champ — collected one more honor before her sophomore season was complete: She’s South Jersey Sports Weekly’s Girls Wrestler of the Year. ‘It’s crazy,” Matera said of her place in school history. “I know when I’m always doing jump ropes in the room, I’d look up at those two names (Brett Matter and Bill Duff) and I’d be like, ‘Come on, we’ve got to get more up there!’ We have all of these district champs and region champs. It just helped me keep going. It means a lot
to be up there and hold that title.” Matera’s second high school season was a resounding success. Matera — who credited Marter, fellow coaches Pete McArthur and Rick Cordero and former middle school coach Jason Pope for her development — didn’t just make wrestling history but has helped build Delran’s program, too. Consider this: A year after she was the only female wrestler in the room (the 2018-19 season marked the first that NJSIAA held region and state tournaments for girls), Matera was joined in the Bears’ wrestling room by a dozen other girls. Three of them advanced to the state tournament, including first-year wrestler and fellow sophomore Kalli Roskos, who joined Matera as a state finalist two Saturdays ago. “(Emma) spent a lot of time bringing the other girls along, and at one point I had to have a conversation with her, I kind of told her, ‘You need to worry about you; the other girls will come along,’” Marter said of Matera’s natural instincts to lead the budding girls team. “‘You can’t forget you’re a wrestler. It’s not your job to make the other girls better, it’s your job
is to make yourself better, which in turn, will make the other girls better.’ Emma wanted them to have success so they’d keep coming back, but she couldn’t sacrifice her own success.” At the state finals, Roskos was pinned in the first period, just as Matera was preparing to take the mat for her own championship match. “It was heartbreaking to see that, having her walk past me looking so upset; all I wanted to do was give her a hug and a ‘Aw, we’ll get them next year,’” Matera said. “But there were people handing me ankle bands and telling me to step up to the carpet so I couldn’t … It definitely helped fuel me forward. I knew I had the ability to do it. So I just had to (get a state title for us).” Matera’s first-place medal was the culmination of more than a dozen years dedicated to the sport. Although she didn’t begin wrestling until middle school, Matera has been involved in martial arts since she was old enough to walk. When she was just 2, Matera watched her uncle, Ted Mehl, compete in a North please see MATERA, page S8
SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
PLAYER OF THE WEEK!
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — MARCH 18-24, 2020
BOYS WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
Jailya Ash
Eastern High School Junior Track & Field
Jailya Ash added a new line to her growing and glowing high school career portfolio by collecting her second Meet of Champions title in two years, finishing in first place in 55-meter hurdles at the Ocean Breeze Track and Field facility in Staten Island, New York on March 8. Ash, who won the 55-meter dash MOC title last winter, finished the 55-meter hurdles at the MOC in 8.03, the third fastest time ever for a South Jersey girl in meet history. Ash, who also has four state championships in the last three seasons, heads into the spring as one of South Jersey’s most decorated athletes. Quotable: “Jailya gets better every time she steps on the track; she’s tough on herself,” Eastern coach Ed Malone said. “In the trials, Jailya ran OK to qualify. She knew when she came off the track that she needed to get a better start. She went out onto the track for the finals and was focused and ready. In my eyes, it was beautiful. Our hurdles coach, Barry Jackson, thought she could have gone under 8, a new PR and a new school record. Pretty good for a kid who sat out approximately three weeks prior to sectionals with a back injury. “Jailya’s goals going forward are beating her own best times and winning more titles. She wants to win the MOC for both 55 dash and hurdles next year and this spring she’s eyeing up (former Eastern athlete and current U.S. Olympian) English Gardner’s records in the 100 and 200. She already has the school record in the 100m hurdles and she also has that title in her goals.” ■
RYAN LAWRENCE/South Jersey Sports Weekly
Camden Catholic’s Martin Cosgrove went 40-1 in his near-perfect sophomore season, collecting the 10th individual state championship in school history and helping the Irish collect a second straight Parochial B team state title, the 16th in program history.
Championship performance Camden Catholic sophomore Martin Cosgrove withstood a wild finish in the 195-pound championship match to collect a state title and finish a memorable year as Boys Wrestler of the Year By RYAN LAWRENCE Sports Editor
Martin Cosgrove’s first season in high school wrestling was a successful one — he finished third in the state — but it was also a learning experience. In the Region 7 tournament 13 months ago, Cosgrove advanced to the semifinals in a 170-pound bracket that included the two wrestlers who would square off in the state finals a week later, Paulsboro’s
Brandon Green and Howell’s Shane Reitsma. Cosgrove fell to Reitsma, 3-1. Reitsma went on to beat Green in the Region finals before falling to Green in the state finals. “That definitely told me that I was good enough to compete with the guys at the highest level at that weight and I knew I could do well at states,” Cosgrove said. As a sophomore he came back smarter, hungrier and better conditioned. It’s not that he wasn’t already in tip-top shape — Camden Catholic prides itself on stami-
na and physical fitness — but Cosgrove decided to push himself even farther this winter. “He works hard, his father really had him ready before he got to high school,” Camden Catholic coach Matt Walsh said. “He’s a kid who puts a lot of time in. Even after practice he’s still going, grabbing a medicine ball and doing sprints with it after everyone else is done.” Two Saturdays ago at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, the longtime site of the NJSIAA state championships, Cosgrove took his physical and mental preparation and delivered a memorable performance. Cosgrove fought off a takedown from Brick Memorial’s David Szuba in the final 30 seconds of the 195-pound title match, and endured a wild final 10 seconds — when the referee’s mistake led please see COSGROVE, page S7
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MARCH 18-24, 2020 – SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
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DYNASTY
continued from page S1 “We didn’t want to be too cocky, but we wanted to be confident,” Irwin added about the team’s No. 1 ranking. “We really wanted to hold our own in the state and we did.” Cherry Hill East didn’t shy away from competition. The Cougars also defeated another strong Non-Public program, St. Peter’s Prep, and all of South Jersey’s top teams, including Shawnee, Cherokee and Public C state champion Haddonfield. “We always try to put together a strong schedule because, just where we’re at in the state, we want to face good competition,” said senior Andrew Maier. “We want to fix the things that need to be fixed so when we get to a big meet like the state championship, we’re ready to go.” The Cougars also learned how to come from behind. Against Egg Harbor, Cherry Hill East trailed after the first meet before coming back with a strong performance in the 200 freestyle and taking over from there. In the state final against BridgewaterRaritan, the Cougars trailed for the first half of the meet, but took control late behind strong performances from their freestyle relay teams as well as swimmers in the B and C lanes. “(Coach Joe Cucinotti) said from the start that the meet was going to be very close and that if we are down, not to worry or stress about it,” senior Spenser DuBois said. “We knew what events we were strong in, we just had to rely on those events.” “I felt like we were able to step it up, we were able to compose ourselves, show up and bring our A game,” Brookover added. The 2020 senior class was representative of what has made Cherry Hill East boys swimming such a powerhouse in recent years. The seniors represent neighborhood swim clubs from all around the township and compete against each other during the summer swim season. But when the high school swim season rolls around, everyone comes together to add more state championship awards to the already packed swimming trophy cases. Few groups have been as successful at achieving that goal as the 2020 Cherry Hill East senior class. “Once the high school season starts, it’s all about the high school team,” Brookover said. “We’re all focused on the main goal.” ■
Mike Monostra/South Jersey Sports Weekly
Cherokee’s Kennedy Wilburn goes up for a shot in the fourth quarter of last Monday’s 45-34 win over Shawnee in the South Jersey Group 4 final. Wilburn led the Chiefs with 15 points.
CHIEFS
continued from page S2 fighting for this since my freshman year. We have come to this game all four years. We haven’t won it since my freshman year because we always faced really good teams. Shawnee’s a really good team, they fought and we had to fight, too.” The turning point of the sectional final came late in the third quarter last Monday after Shawnee pulled within three points for the first time since the first quarter. In the period’s final two minutes, however, the Chiefs came alive, going on a quick 6-0 run to extend their
lead to nine points. “We’ve done it a lot this season,” said Fricker, who scored four of the six points during the run. “We’ve had to get our bigger lead back a lot in the third quarter. So going through that situation definitely helped with this game. We stayed calm the whole time.” The smile on Fricker’s face as she went up for a layup with seven seconds left in the third quarter defined how the entire Cherokee team felt during the game. One year prior, there was nothing but sadness and frustration on the Chiefs’ bench. Last Monday, there was nothing but happiness and elation. ■
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — MARCH 18-24, 2020
BOYS SWIMMER OF THE YEAR
Brookover goes out on top The Cherry Hill East senior’s team-first approach and work ethic paid dividends for the Cougars in 2020 By MIKE MONOSTRA Sports Editor
Jackson Brookover watched from the stands five years ago as his older brother, Duncan, swam a championship-winning anchor leg for Cherry Hill East in the 400-yard freestyle relay to clinch the Cougars’ first Public A state title since 2002. “My brother had that amazing moment against Westfield down to the last relay,” Jackson said. “No one will ever forget that. Having that moment so big and what he did accomplish, all my friends were like, ‘You have to pull out your Duncan mode. Be the best you can. Be a Brookover.’ The expectations were there.” Jackson Brookover exceeded the high expectations during his four years at Cherry Hill East. He helped the Cougars win three state championships and was a top performer as an individual as well. In his 2020 senior season, Brookover was a South Jersey Invitational champion in two individual events, finished third in the 50-yard freestyle at the Meet of Champions and put his name in the school record books as the anchor on two record-setting relay teams at MOC. Brookover’s outstanding season makes him South Jersey Sports Weekly’s 2020 Boys Swimmer of the Year. Head coach Joe Cucinotti described Brookover as a “team-oriented” swimmer who was willing to compete in any event he was placed in. Brookover scored 1,045 points in dual meets during his career, setting a program record. “My own philosophy is to not put kids in the same events,” Cucinotti said. “But his overall ability just gives you the confidence to put him in any event.” “(Cucinotti) puts me in my events for a reason, for the team,” Brookover added.
MIKE MONOSTRA/South Jersey Sports Weekly
Cherry Hill East senior Jackson Brookover helped the Cougars add three more state championships to the team’s trophy case during his time with the program. Brookover also boosted Cherry Hill East to a state title in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the 2020 Meet of Champions. “It’s always a team-first attitude when it comes to high school swimming. I’ll do whatever he needs me to do and I’ll do my best to get the job done.” Sometimes, that philosophy meant Brookover had to compete in events he didn’t necessarily enjoy. He recalled one dual meet where he swam the 500-yard freestyle for the Cougars even though he rarely competed in distance events. “Some swimmers, they might complain about doing a 500,” Brookover said. “(Cucinotti) put me in their one time, the
500 free. It was a little annoying at first, but I had to do what I had to do and swim my event.” Brookover showed off his versatility in some of the year’s biggest meets. At the South Jersey Coaches Invitational, he took first place in both the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke. At the 2020 Meet of Champions, Brookover was a finalist in another event, placing third in the 50-yard freestyle. But Brookover’s biggest accomplishment at the Meet of Champions
wasn’t as an individual. Brookover and fellow seniors Bobby Irwin, Alex Volin and Mike Treglia teamed up to take second place in the 200-yard freestyle relay and first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Cherry Hill East’s time of 1:25.47 in the 200-yard event and 3:07.37 in the 400-yard were new school records, putting Brookover and his teammates on the program’s record book in their final high school meet. “When I saw the times, I lost my please see BROOKOVER , page S7
MARCH 18-24, 2020 – SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
COSGROVE
continued from page S4 to confusion and a healthy dose of crowd boos — to capture the 10th individual state crown in Camden Catholic’s storied history. For his efforts, Cosgrove, who went 40-1 this season and boasts an impressive 79-10 mark through his first two high school seasons, is South Jersey Sports Weekly’s Boys Wrestler of the Year. “It honestly made me speechless, standing up there and looking at everybody,” Cosgrove said of the feeling atop the podium in Atlantic City during the medal ceremony. “Downstairs in the (Camden Catholic) wrestling room, there are pictures of all of the district champs, region champs and state champs. Just looking at that state champ wall, ever since I looked at it, I knew I wanted to be a person on that wall. So it’s inspiring.” Cosgrove could probably have done without the boos, of course, even if they weren’t directed at him. In the final seconds of his state championship match, Cosgrove was awarded a point when his opponent was called for stalling, breaking a tie on the scoreboard … except the referee held up the wrong hand. The point was accidentally given to his opponent by the people running the scoreboard before
BROOkOVER continued from page S6
mind,” Cuncinotti said about the relay records. “That puts the season in perspective. That puts the class in perspective.” “Jackson doesn’t have any other records,” Cucinotti continued. “(2019 graduate) Jack Watson has the backstroke. Dave Rowe (2015 graduate) has the butterfly. (Kevin) Gillooly (2017 graduate) has the 50-free. Jackson Brookover had none of them. Now he has two.” Brookover needed to make
the ref had the opportunity to correct himself. So, naturally, when the final buzzer sounded, there were boos. It wasn’t exactly the scenario Cosgrove envisioned when he dreamed of winning a state title, but he also was critical of himself for getting into that position in the first place, on his back in the closing minute of a match he had been winning. “I felt like I was in control most of the match … I shouldn’t have even put myself in that situation,” he said. “But it’s definitely a motivation to try not to get booed next year; that’s not what I was going for this year.” Even if the booing was directed at the officiating, it wasn’t ideal. Walsh had the perfect words for Cosgrove as he tried to make sense of it all in what should have been a more celebratory moment. “Yeah, you may have lost a few seconds there where it was a little confusing, but you’re going to have a state title your whole life,” Walsh told his wrestler. “You’re going to be fine.” Cosgrove, who credited teammates and partners Harrison Hinojosa and Hunter Suter for pushing him daily in practice and assistant coach T.J. Miller for keeping his confidence up, is more than fine. He is now set up to try something no wrestler in school history has achieved: win three state titles. The Irish have had two twoone final team-first decision to get himself and his teammates in the record book. He opted to swim both freestyle relays even though he was also swimming in the 100-yard backstroke between those two events. Brookover said the decision was easy. He wanted to swim with his teammates one more time and try to make history. It paid off. “Seeing the time on the board and seeing the boys go crazy, it was something special,” said Brookover, who will swim at Penn State next year. “It was a great way to go out.” ■
time state champions: Lucas Revano and Taylor Walsh. “It’ll make history,” said Cosgrove, who also helped the Irish collect a second straight Parochial B state title, the 16th in school history. Cosgrove would love to threepeat, but he is also smart enough and humble enough to know it’s not as simple as showing up in each of the next two years. So he’ll continue to bring the same work ethic into the wrestling room as a junior. “Even when we’re warming up,” he said, “while everyone else is jogging, I’m trying to run harder than everyone else.” It’s a champion’s mentality. “It is hard to win a second, but once you’ve been there you’ve realized you can do it, which makes it a little more achievable,” said Walsh, who coached both Revano and Taylor Walsh, his son. “But I think Martin has an excellent opportunity. He’s just a good all-around kid: He’s very humble, he wins a match and he’s not pointing at the kid or doing anything, he’s helping him up and shaking his hand. He’s a very easy kid to coach.” ■
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RYAN LAWRENCE/South Jersey Sports Weekly
With two high school wrestling seasons remaining, Cosgrove is eager to join even more exclusive company: Taylor Walsh and lucas Revano are the only two-time state titlists in school history. no irish wrestler has ever won three, which is in Cosgrove’s sights.
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — MARCH 18-24, 2020
RYAN LAWRENCE/South Jersey Sports Weekly
Emma Matera, posing with her mom, Cheryl, outside of Delran High School, made a promise to herself and her coaches after finishing fourth in the state last winter. “She told us out at Atlantic City and at regions that she’s better than that,” Delran coach Nathan Marter said, “and she expects to be better than that, and she wants to be better than that. She basically couldn’t wait until this year and she’s just worked her butt off.”
MATERA
continued from page S3 American Grappling Association (NAGA) tournament in Wildwood. When it was over, she looked up at her mom, Cheryl Matera. “Emma turn,” Cheryl Matera said, mimicking her daughter’s voice. They gave in and let the toddler tussle with a couple of boys her age. The rest is history. As the final seconds ticked off the clock at Boardwalk Hall two weeks ago, with Marter yelling his lungs out and Matera scanning the crowd to find her teammates, the kid came of age and was ready to be crowned a champion. But before running into Marter’s arms, Matera shook Miller’s hand and made a beeline to the crowd, where she found Miller’s parents. “She has so much respect for Gabby Miller and her parents — her father is one of the big advocates for girls wrestling — and
she went off the mat and shook Gabby’s parents’ hands first, and then the (Monroe Township) coach’s hand, before coming over to jump into my arms to celebrate,” Marter said. “It’s almost like she took everyone else’s emotions into account before she enjoyed what she just accomplished, which is phenomenal.” “I’m more proud of her for that than the medal,” Cheryl Matera said. “That’s the game of life. I know medals from my own time: They get stuck in drawers. But what she’s taught her team, what she learns from her coaches and who she is as a human being, she’s on a podium she never has to get down from.” Matera, 25-1 with 22 pins this season and 40-5 overall at Delran, is halfway through her high school career. Her goal between now and graduation in 2022? Two more championship medals, naturally. ■
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