Clayton-Glassboro co-op finds success on mat

Wrestlers tend to speak the same language.

"We hate each other when we're on the mat," Clayton's Tom Rementer said. "But when a bout is over, you accept them as a wrestler. You're friendly with them because they show the same respect as you. They have the same discipline as you."

In that sense, it's not surprising to hear Mike Jacobs' assessment of his new team.

"It's honestly like a family," he said. "I felt right at home from my first day here. I have to say, of all the teams I've been on, this is the closest group of guys I've been around."

Jacobs, a 160-pound senior, transferred from Delsea to Clayton after last school year. He joined a Clayton wrestling team in its fourth year of a co-op with Glassboro.

Jacobs (20-2); heavyweight Rementer (21-0), a Glassboro senior; and 157-pound Clayton junior Steminto Rowe-Akins (22-0) form the core of the strongest team Clayton has had since the merger. The team is 18-1 in dual meets, and No. 5 in the Group 2 Power Rankings.

Clayton and Glassboro are about five miles apart. The combination of the two schools, coach Dan Antonelli said, has been a blessing. Not just for the wider pool of talent, but because, in his eyes, watching the bond his wrestlers quickly formed vindicated what he loves most about the sport.

"It was neat. Within the first two weeks of the first year we did this, you couldn't tell these kids went to different schools during the day," said Antonelli, in his 17th year as head coach at Clayton. "The sport of wrestling is just unique. Wrestlers are a breed of their own. Off the mat, they jell.

"And I think I actually saw that more when we put the programs together like this."

Antonelli, also the athletic director at Clayton, proposed the merger five years ago when neighboring Glassboro's dwindling wrestling program was down to just six participants.

"It was hard for them, budget-wise, to justify keeping the program going," Antonelli said. "So I saw that they had a swimming program. We didn't have a swimming program.

"So I reached out to the athletic director at Glassboro, and we worked it out so our swimmers can join their team and their wrestlers can join us.

"It's been very successful since then."

Part of what made for such a seamless transition was that Antonelli was close with Glassboro coach Frank Damminger.

Damminger joined Clayton as an assistant when his program went under. Having the two seasoned coaches, the wrestlers say, is a big reason why they've seen such increasing success.

"They just keep improving us," Rowe-Akins said. "They push us, they make us better, and they both bring their own unique styles."

Added Rementer: "They both get along like they're brothers, and that rubs off on the rest of the team. It's a great atmosphere that we have in the room. They treat us like we're family."

The 26-member team, which has nine wrestlers from Glassboro, has lost just once this season, by one point to Tri-County Classic Division rival Pennsville.

But if Pennsville, undefeated in the division, slips up in a conference meet, Clayton is confident it will be there to end the Eagles' string of four straight division titles.

Individually, the team is looking forward to at least a few appearances in the state tournament and a few trips to the podium in Saturday's Tri-County Conference Tournament.

"Winning the TCC would mean the world to me," Jacobs said.

And even though it might offer a bit of convenience, and maybe some added school pride if Glassboro still had a wrestling team, Rementer said wrestling for Clayton doesn't bother him - it never has.

And he is the first to say how proud he is to bring home any title to the Clayton wrestling program.

"I think the co-op should never end," Rementer said. "It's been a completely positive experience, and I can honestly say I'm a better wrestler because of it."