Eastern's Baldosaro is S. Jersey Wrestler of the Year

Anthony Baldosaro is headed for greatness - if he is not already there.

The wrestler from Eastern concluded a 41-0 season with his second consecutive 140-pound state crown on March 8 at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.

So it's no surprise that, with a career record of 119-7, he is ranked 10th in the nation among juniors by RevWrestling.com.

Since transferring to the Voorhees school last spring from Delsea, where he won his first state title, Baldosaro has inspired his teammates and made winning look almost effortless.

The 17-year-old Berlin resident was hardly perspiring after his 9-3 victory over Passaic Valley's Ryan Dunphy in the state semifinal, a testament to his conditioning.

"They say there's always someone who works harder than everybody else," Baldosaro said. "I want to be that guy."

He is that guy, and it's not only his hard work, speed, technique, and strength that make him unbeatable. It's his ability to focus on an objective and block out all distractions.

For all that, Baldosaro is The Inquirer's Wrestler of the Year in South Jersey.

One distraction occurred seven seconds into Baldosaro's state championship bout with Bishop Ahr's Joe McAuley.

Officials stopped the action because the mat had wet spots, which took 14 minutes to dry.

Baldosaro laughed it off after he beat the previously undefeated McAuley, 7-3.

A bigger diversion surfaced at the beginning of the season, when it became known that Baldosaro and two other wrestlers from the Voorhees Junior Wrestling Club had transferred into the Eastern School District and would become part of the Vikings' team.

The Eastern wrestling program was criticized. Baldosaro was unmoved.

"I started out to Eastern, and everybody hated me for it," said the soft-spoken junior. "My family legitimately moved. My best friends were there."

The best of his best friends, Hank Stinson, started wrestling with Baldosaro when they were 6 years old at the Voorhees Club. One reason Baldosaro wanted to go to Eastern was to win a state title with Stinson, according to Eastern coach Gary Worthington, who added that others in the wrestling room want to be just like the two-time state champ and have raised their work level.

"I would have loved to win back-to-back titles with [Stinson], but things just didn't go our way," Baldosaro said. "When he comes back, we can do it next year."

Stinson, the 135-pound state titlist in 2008, wrestled only 10 bouts this season because of injuries.

So he encouraged Baldosaro at Boardwalk Hall and watched him win by 8-0, 14-3, 9-3 and 7-3.

Baldosaro said he won the title for both of them.

"That was great when he said that," Stinson said. "I was just trying to be positive, telling him to wrestle his match, a lot of movement on his feet. He's tough on top, and kids barely score points on him.

"There are days in the off-season when he works out twice a day. That's what separates people who want to be good from people who want to be great."

Someone asked Baldosaro if he thought about winning three state championships. Only three South Jersey wrestlers have done so, the last being Sterling's Mark Manchio in 2001 at 135 pounds.

"Personally, I was thinking about winning four, freshman year," Baldosaro said. "You've got to set your goals as high as you can. You've got to want to be the best. You can't settle for anything less."

Only the great ones talk that way.