SBHS junior reached states in style by winning region title
By Rich Fisher, Sports Editor
FLEMINGTON — Brendan Vercammen had one goal at the end of last season, and it got upgraded during this season.
As it turned out, that second goal still turned out to be too low.
”At the end of last season my goal for this year was to make it to regions,” Vercammen said. “Toward the beginning of this season I switched my goal to making it to states, however I had to do it.”
That meant he had to finish in the top three at last weekend’s Region 5 Tournament at Hunterdon Central. But the South Brunswick High junior upgraded his reservations in Atlantic City by winning the 171-pound weight class.
The top-seeded Vercammen defeated Hillsborough’s third-seeded George Goddiess, 2-1 in overtime in the finals.
”I didn’t even come out of districts last year, so this is good,” said Vercammen, who has a district and region title to his credit this year, along with a 31-7 record. “The pressure was off after I won the semifinals, because I knew I was going to states. That was my goal.
”I knew winning regions would be tougher than districts, but I thought I could hang. I came into practice and found out I had the one seed and I was real surprised. I thought ‘OK, that makes it a little easier.’”
Indeed it did. First off, by winning districts, Vercammen did not have to wrestle in Tuesday’s first-round matches. Not to mention his opponents set up nicely.
”He beat (Old Bridge’s Trevor) Haughney in the district finals, and that kid went to states last year so it was a good quality win,” Vikings coach Joe Dougherty said. “It helped us get a good top seed, which kind of helps you along a little bit. You’re not wrestling three hammers. You’re wrestling a couple, but he got a good spot because of what he did in district finals.”
Vercammen opened regions by pinning Bishop Ahr’s eighth-seeded CJ Hart in 4:53, then eked out a 3-2 win over Hunterdon Central’s fourth-seeded Cody Lewis in the semifinals. There would be no district finals rematch, however, as Goddiess pinned second-seeded Haughney in the semis.
That set up a finals with not much action, through little fault of Vercammen.
”He did what he had to do,” Dougherty said. “Their kid was real defensive. I thought we were doing all the offensive maneuvering in neutral, and most of the match was in neutral.
”I started getting a little worried because we were taking all the shots and each of them had a warning for stalling. Brendan was taking shots like he was supposed to be and the kid was kind of hanging back. It was kind of hard to wrestle that way when the kid is sitting back waiting for you.”
Vercammen got a point on a second-period escape and Goddiess tied it with a third-period escape.
After a scoreless sudden-death neutral OT period, Vercammen started the second overtime on top and hung on, then got an escape when starting on the bottom in the third OT.
”I just wanted to hold him down, then get out as fast as I could,” Vercammen said. “After that, there was like 15 seconds left. I didn’t back up, I stayed in my spot and waited for him to attack and kept a good stance.”
The Viking survived an anxious moment when Goddiess nearly took him down before going out of bounds without getting control in the final three seconds.
”When they called it out of bounds I knew he didn’t have any control,” Vercammen said. “But he almost had it, it was close.”
When asked if his heart jumped at that moment, Dougherty broke into a big grin.
”My heart always is jumping,” he said. “But, I’ve been coaching a long time. If it’s meant to be . . .
”Once I saw the second leg I knew we were OK. Brendan was intelligent, he stuck his second leg back, he already knew he was out of bounds, all he had to do was keep that second leg out of reach because that kid had to keep his feet inbounds. That was the first serious shot the kid took all match.”
The win gave South Brunswick a region champion for the third time in four years, and provided the Vikes with a state qualifier for the 10th consecutive year and the 18th time in 21 years.
Vercammen realizes that Convention Hall is a whole new world when it comes to a wrestling arena, but he welcomes the experience.
”I’ll just go out there and do my thing,” he said. “At states, everyone is strong, everyone has good technique and everyone is aggressive, so it’s gonna be tougher. It would be nice to place, but this is my first year there. I’m just going to do as much as I can.”
Dougherty insists there is even more the junior can do. The coach feels Vercammen has gotten this far and still hasn’t shown all that he’s capable of.
”I still think he’s too cautious,” Dougherty said. “He’s never experienced this before. He needs a mindset of ‘I need to be aggressive.’ Kids for the most part are thinking of it at in different perspective. They’re thinking ‘I want to get to states, I want to win a region title.’
”I’m looking at the overall picture, at how I can get this kid to place in the state tournament. You have to have a mindset where you’re looking for improvement every time they step out on the mat. Not that I didn’t see improvement, I definitely saw a little, but I’m looking down the road to get him to place in states, not win regions.”
But in the big picture that has been painted so far this season, Vercammen has certainly been a work of art.
”Brendan’s an athlete,” Dougherty said. “He’s a pretty good soccer player, he’s got a really supportive family, they’ve taken him to a strength and conditioning coach that has helped him. You can see the transformation in his body from last year to this year. He’s got a solid body. For his weight class, his body is solid through and through; his hips and legs.
”With age comes, hopefully, maturity. I think Brendan did mature this year. We’re still hoping he can mature a little bit more. He was a good wrestler last year and the year before that. He was just in a tough weight class.”
And now, he’s making his weight class tough for the other guys in it.
BACKPOINTS: Vercammen has his work cut out for him in the first round. He is seeded sixth in the top bracket and will wrestle third-seeded Omar Akel of Long Branch, who brings a 37-0 record into the states. Akel has nine pins, nine major decisions and three technical falls . . . prelims and prequarterfinal bouts will be held Friday, the quarterfinals and semifinals are Saturday, and the finals are Sunday at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Convention Hall.

