Sports Shorts

Dean Sherry became the second Brick Recreation Mat Rats wrestler to claim a state championship when he pinned his opponent in the second period of his 65-pound bantam division final at Union High School on Saturday.

"He wrestled his heart out in the four matches he had; he was phenomenal," said coach Pete Anderson. "He won the matches on his feet. Nobody got a takedown on him. He was on fire. He took every opponent down first. There was no stopping him on his feet. It was his quickness there that was the key. He was in the zone."

A week earlier, heavyweight Bill Miller pinned his way through to the title in the intermediate division at Egg Harbor where seven Mat Rats wrestlers were place-winners. Also included in that group were the Nash brothers - Bill, who finished second at 180 pounds and J.T., who was third at 170

On Saturday, Dan Miller finished third in the midget 50-pound division, and Alex Donovan was sixth in the bantam 65-pound class, which gave the Mat Rats a total of 10 place-winners, that included two champions, a runner-up, two third-place finishers, a fourth-place finisher, one who placed sixth and three in seventh.