The Ride of His Life: Southern senior Wyatt Stout won a thriller to capture the state title at 157
ATLANTIC CITY – A bad slice of pizza that gave him food poisoning. An opponent who had to be ridden out for 30 seconds after already escaping twice in the match.
It didn’t matter what was thrown in the way (or the stomach) of Southern senior Wyatt Stout, he was going to fight through it and win a state title at Saturday’s NJSIAA Wrestling Championships.
After spending the morning vomiting from some suspect Atlantic City boardwalk pizza, Stout summoned the energy to ride out Phillipsburg’s Gavin Hawk in the ultimate tiebreaker to win a 3-2 thriller and capture the state title at 157 pounds at Boardwalk Hall.
“There was never a doubt,” Stout said. “You’ve just got to keep going. Find a way. Find a way through the adversity, that’s pretty much my m.o.”
Southern senior Wyatt Stout won a 3-2 thriller in the ultimate tiebreaker over Phillipsburg’s Gavin Hawk to claim the 157-pound state title. (Photo by Tom Smith/tspsportsimages.com)
The University of Pennsylvania recruit became the sixth different wrestler to win a state title in Rams history, which includes his uncle, Bryan Stout, who won Southern’s first state title at 189 in 1992.
“He’s actually a big motivation for me with how dominant he was,” Stout said about his uncle. “Everyone that always comes up to me, one of the first things they say in the wrestling world is, ‘Bro, your uncle was a beast.’”
Stout’s wrestling on top seals the win
The senior gave the Rams a state champion for the third straight year by persevering against Hawk, who was the No. 1 seed. The two went into sudden victory tied 1-1 after each had scored on an escape, and then both escaped during the rideouts to force the ultimate tiebreaker.
Since Hawk scored first in the bout, he was able to choose down in the ultimate tiebreaker. That meant Stout would have to ride him out for 30 seconds after Hawk had escaped easily twice before.
The senior rose to the occasion, planting Hawk with three mat returns to lock down the title as the No. 2 seed. Stout had a stalling warning against him, so he essentially had to go to mat returns to avoid losing on a stalling call.
“Earlier on in the year, my brother (John) came in. He worked with me on my returns, and I think it really showed there,” Stout said. “I had to do it. There was no other option. It was either that or I was going to lose. So I needed to find a way, and I did.”
“He’s pretty tough on top,” Southern head coach Dan Roy said. “He just wanted it. He’s very good at mat returns. He’s very good at the upper body position. He wasn’t going to let go there. He hit that just right.”
One bad slice
It made it even more remarkable that Stout had the juice to finish strong after he said was “puking all day” from pizza he ate on Friday night in Atlantic City.
“He’s a tough kid, I felt like he was going to find a way regardless,” Roy said. “He’s wrestled before and not felt the best and pulled it out, so I didn’t have any doubts that he was going to be able to do that.”
Stout also showed a quality that wrestlers need in Atlantic City and the collegiate level – the ability to win in multiple ways.
In the final, it was a low-scoring match that came down to rideouts. In the semifinals, it was a scoring-fest in which he held off Camden Catholic’s Kage Jones in a 13-9 win.
Stout shook off the effects of food poisoning to win his first state title. (Photo by Tom Smith/tspsportsimages.com)
“At this level, you can’t always win the same way,” Roy said. “You’ve got to find ways to win. Not everyone match is going to go perfect.”
The heart-stopper over Hawk also gave the three-time Region champion some bragging rights in his own home.
Stout is the son of former Southern head coach John Stout, who finished third in the state at 140 for Lacey in 1990. Wyatt, who was fourth at 144 last year and sixth at 132 in 2023, loved razzing his dad that he was a two-time state medalist compared to John’s one, but John would always have a comeback.
“He said, ‘But you haven’t beaten (finishing) third,’” Stout said before smiling. “Now I have.”
Scott Stump is a freelance reporter, newsletter writer and editor who first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, wrestling, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point.
You can contact him at [email protected]
