PARAMUS, NJ (February 8, 2025) – Sussex County Community College finished second in the Garden State Athletic Conference Championship after falling to Camden County College 39-5 in the final round.
The Skylanders went into this year’s GSAC Championship looking to repeat as conference champions after taking home their first conference title last season. This put a target on their backs all throughout the regular season and early on Camden set the tone for the match.
The Cougars jumped out to a 15-0 lead to start and never looked back. Roman Citro and Carson Citro both suffered close decision defeats of 5-4 and 6-0 to Camden’s Lucas Stinger and Michael Walls, which were followed by Chris Casale suffering a 16-0 tech fall loss and Michael VanderMeulen being dealt an 11-3 major decision loss.
Thaylor Sibblies finally got Sussex on the board with an impressive 20-3 tech fall victory at 157 against Jimmy Do to make it 15-5 Camden, but Camden immediately responded by scoring 25 straight points to close out the match and crown themselves 2025 GSAC Champions.
Carlos Delgado and Shawn Pawlowski were each pinned in their matches at 165 and 285, Jose Alvarenga Giron lost his match at 174 by decision 12-7, Mason Mericle fought hard but was defeated by sudden victory 6-3 at 184, and the team forfeited the 197 match.
“Yeah it’s tough we didn’t win and repeat but it is what it is,” head coach Nick Barzano said. “We made some lineup adjustments to hopefully grab some swing matches and they didn’t go in our favor. I think we were a little flat, hesitant, and were waiting instead of attacking.”
Barzano added while the result stings, his team still has some work left to do as they have their eyes set on the 2025 Gulf Atlantic District Championships. “Hopefully this was a good learning experience for us and re-lights a fire in us as we prepare to capture a region and district title.”
Much like with the GSAC, the Skylanders will head into Gulf Atlantic District Championships looking to defend their title from last season, which was the first in program history. The event will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday Feb. 22.
