NEWARK, Del. — Jack Campbell could have gone down a dark hole after a personal mistake cost him the first three weeks of his senior season at Nazareth.
He could have pressured himself right out of the Beast of the East tournament championship bracket after things did not go well almost immediately in his first match Saturday at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center.
Instead, Campbell trusted those closest to him with sage advice and relied on his natural ability to recover from an early deficit in his first match to win that one and two more to reach the 144-pound quarterfinals, which are at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
“The reason I sat out, I could have thought my life’s over,” the senior four-year starter said. “A lot of bad things could have come out of it. But I think coach [Dave] Crowell and my parents helped me put myself on the right track, and I think I grew a lot as a person.”
Campbell also received encouragement and perspective from former Nazareth state champion Sammy Sasso who had a similar off-the-mat issue.
That support cleared Campbell’s head. He also helped himself by releasing more internal strife by thinking he had to win every match.
“I think I thought of it as pressure the last two years,” Campbell admitted. “That took some of the fun out of it, honestly. Now, as much as I love wrestling, I would do it all day if I could. But there’s a lot more to life than just wrestling. That perspective has helped me enjoy it.”
Campbell’s reshaped mindset was tested early Saturday in his season debut when he gave up a takedown 35 seconds into his first match against Mountain View’s Benjamin Aguilar. He still trailed into the third period before getting three takedowns in the final 83 seconds to win 11-6.
“My first match was terrible,” he said. “I’m like, ‘I cannot lose my first match at Beast my senior year.’ But I was able to break the kid, get some takedowns and win the match. Other than that, I felt pretty good.”
Campbell, the No. 6 seed, followed with a second-period pin and an 11-3 major to reach the quarters, where he’ll face No. 3 seed Jackson Butler of Bishop McCort.
A dozen other Lehigh Valley-area wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals, including a pair of returning PIAA champions who are wrestling free of pressure and full of confidence: Easton’s Nick Salamone and Whitehall’s Willmont Kai, both at 132 pounds.
Kai, who tweaked his knee and missed the second day of this tournament last season, picked up four bonus-point wins as the No. 4 seed to reach the quarters where he’ll face Cedar Cliff’s Kavin Muyleart, who lost to Salamone in last year’s 121-pound state final.
“Wrestling free is all I do,” the Zephyrs senior said. “I have to go out there and have fun, can’t be tensed up. I don’t want to have any regrets my senior year. I want to go out there and put everything on the line no matter what kind of match it is.
Salamone, the third seed, had a major decision and two grinder decisions to advance, including a tie-breaker victory over a familiar foe in Bethlehem Catholic’s Reef Dillard — who somehow is unseeded.
“Since Day 1, I put all my work ethic in coach [Corey] Keener,” Salamone. “If I believe in him, anything is possible. That’s another reason why I give all my faith to him. Every time I get a takedown, hit a breaking period, I just look over and get a boost of confidence.
“From a technical standout, I don’t think much changed. But I think I just got more gritty. That’s the main thing.”
Beast of the East seeding often has been criticized. That was evident with a round-of-32 meeting between Salamone and Dillard, a two-time state qualifier.
The Red Rover needed that grit to win 2-1 in the second tie-breaker by escaping then riding out the Golden Hawk. It was the fourth consecutive time the two have needed at least overtime to decide their meetings.
Their three previous meetings: Dillard 2-1 in TB-2 in last year’s Northeast Regional final; Salamone 2-1 in an ultimate tie-breaker in the 2025 District 11 Class 3A final, and Salamone 5-2 in sudden victory in last January’s Escape the Rock semifinals.
They have split their eight varsity matches.
“Since we were 5 years old,” Salamone said, “we’ve probably wrestled each other all the way up. You going to have a close match every single time you go out there. I just believe in myself. The rideout, I got a quick stall call on me. That was in the back of my mind. I can’t give up another stalling call or the match is going to get more interesting if I let him up.”
Other quarterfinalists: Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Max Quarry (106), Cael Muller (113), Dominic Sumpolec (190) and Connor Smalley (215); Nazareth’s Cade Campbell (157), Elijah Simak (175) and Brayden Zuercher (190); Saucon Valley’s Carter Chunko (126) and Mack Santoro (144); plus Bethlehem Catholic’s Keanu Dillard (138).
Santoro beat Notre Dame-GP’s Gavyn Kelton 17-14 in a wild overtime match in the round of 16 thanks to a takedown with three seconds left. It was Santoro’s second consecutive comeback win. The sophomore was down 10-6 before getting a cement job of DePaul Catholic’s Delvan Rotte.
Chunko, a returning state runner-up, was dominant with three technical falls by a combined 55-5 score. The No. 2 seed faces No. 10 seed Eli Gabrielson of Archbishop Spalding (Md.) in the quarters.
Sumpolec and Zuercher are one more win each away from another meeting at 190. Both won three matches Saturday by bonus points as the Nos. 3 and 2 seeds, respectively.
Zuercher faces Don Bosco Prep’s Nevin Mattessich in the quarters. Mattessich pinned Easton’s Justin Cosover in the round of 16. Zuercher majored Cosover in a dual meet earlier this month.
Sumpolec takes on Lake Highland Prep’s unseeded Colton Bell in the other quarterfinal in the bottom half of the bracket.
Zuercher beat Sumpolec in two grinders during last year’s postseason, 9-5 in the District 11 Class 3A final and 3-2 in an ultimate tie-breaker in the Northeast Regional final.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
