Jamel Hudson is a performer who just happens to wrestle. He wants to make that abundantly clear.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t some overlap, though.
“I try my best to put on a show,” Hudson said.
The St. Anthony’s senior had a goal coming into the CHSAA state wrestling championships: He wanted to pin every opponent in the first round en route to a third straight title. Hudson didn’t disappoint.
The 132-pounder pinned Monsignor Farrell’s William Wilson in just 47 seconds in the final and was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler, helping St. Anthony’s to its 12th Catholic state crowd and third in a row. St. Anthony’s bested Farrell, 271-247. Kellenberg came in third with 183.5 points.
Hudson pinned all three opponents in a combined 3:03, showing why he’s the top ranked wrestler in his weight class in New York State and one of the best in the country.
“Jamel Hudson is one of a kind,” St. Anthony’s coach Tony Walters said. “He’s someone, when wrestling is done, we’ll be watching him in the future – whether it’s TV, music, acting, he’s going somewhere with his life.”
Hudson is a renaissance man, which is coincidentally the name of the one-man show he starred in a few weeks ago. The Bay Shore native sings, dances, acts, does stand-up comedy and plays the piano and the guitar. He completely destroys all stereotypes about wrestlers being dumb jocks.
“He’s the best performer,” teammate Matt Szilagy said. “Even when he wrestles, he’s performing. He’s putting on a show for everyone.”
Szilagy didn’t do too badly in that regard either, pinning Chaminade’s Declan Gray in 4:59 at 152. In total, St. Anthony’s had six CHSAA state champions out of a possible eight wrestlers in finals. And one of those wrestlers who didn’t win a title, William Gutekunst, fell to Friars teammate John Twomey at 99 pounds.
Freddy Dunau won a major decision, 13-2, over St. John the Baptist’s Jimmy Gill at 106; John Vrasidas beat Kellenberg’s Evan Lenci, 6-0, at 160 and Andrew Auriemma took a major decision, 12-1, over Farrell’s Casey Redmond at 220.
Walters called the CHSAA states a stepping stone for the NYPHSAA tournament, which takes place Feb. 24 and 25 at the Times Union Center in Albany. No CHSAA team has ever won the team title there.
“Our schedule all year long is against the top teams in the country to prepare us for it,” Walters said. “I think we’re ready.”
St. Anthony’s has become the CHSAA’s premier wrestling program in Walters’ 17 years in South Huntington, the last 14 as head coach. Walters wrestled at Amityville and then West Virginia. When he came to the Friars, he said, the goal was to become a nationally ranked wrestling program.
His squad could take another huge step in two weeks. If so, Hudson will be a major reason why. Only three CHSAA wrestlers have ever won an individual title at the NYPHSAA wrestling championships and he’s the favorite to become the fourth.
Hudson has interest from Division I wrestling programs like Hofstra, Binghamton, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Harvard, but he isn’t sure what he wants to do yet. The 17-year-old would prefer to stay in the New York City area so he can further his career in the performing arts and concedes it would be difficult to do so while competing for a top wrestling program.
“I’d like to continue to perform and wrestle if that’s possible,” Hudson said.
There’s another one-man show in the works, but first there’s that elusive NYPHSAA state title. Hudson finished fifth last year. He says he has “tunnel vision” and is bent on completing that main goal.
For the next two weeks, perhaps he’ll be a wrestler who happens to perform instead of the other way around.
“You’ll never find anyone like Jamel,” Szilagyi said. “Ever.”