Bethlehem Catholic’s Keanu Dillard brought an impressive list of accomplishments into his Beast of the East 126-pound championship bout in December.
He was a junior world medalist, a two-time Pennsylvania state champion, a Lehigh commit and the No. 6 ranked wrestler at his weight in the country.
And he didn’t stand a chance.
St. John Vianney’s Anthony Knox dominated the bout, scoring a late takedown to lock in the major decision in a 13-3 victory that earned the senior and country’s No. 1 ranked 126-pounder Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
Knox is aiming to become New Jersey’s fifth four-time state champion, a journey that will begin Saturday at the District 25 tournament at Collingswood. But he isn’t just chasing history. He’s chasing a legacy, too, with a resume that could put him atop the best wrestlers in New Jersey history.
“Nobody goes to tournaments I go to and puts up numbers I do,” said Knox back at the Beast of the East. “How many kids in the country can go to Beast of the East, Super 32 and major their way through a tournament? I just wrestled a kid who was third in the world and scored 13 points on him. Nobody else is doing that.”
Knox has excelled at offseason tournaments like Super 32, which he has won three times. He became USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week after becoming the first wrestler to ever win four matches at Who’s No. 1 and has also been a Fargo champion.
Knox has lost just once in his high school career. As a freshman, he fell to Delaware Valley (Pa.)‘s Zachary Jacaruso in overtime of the Escape the Rock final.
He won the title that eluded him the following year.
Mike Grey - who will be Knox’s coach at Cornell next year - Anthony Ashnault, Andrew Campolattano and Nick Suriano were the other four-timers. Ashnault and Suriano were undefeated.
“Suriano and Ashnault never lost, so I’d go with them,” said Brick Memorial coach Mike Kiley on who he would put at the top. “But Knox wins everything, there’s no blemishes.”
There are three-timers who could be part of the conversation, too.
Scott Winston never lost a match in his career though didn’t get to chase a state gold as a freshman because of an injury. Current South Dakota State coach Damion Hahn was a three-time champ and four-time finalist who dominated at the same level as Knox - and as an upper weight.
“Damion Hahn was a beast,” said Knox. “My coach always told me Damion Hahn put up more takedowns than you can. He’s a beast, and he’s running a great program out there.”
Knox has impressive foes on his slate. As a sophomore, he defeated Adrian DeJesus and Daniel Jones in the state tournament - both by major decision.
DeJesus is a two-time state champion. Jones was a former state champion who lost in two other years to Knox.
As a junior, Knox reached the final with three technical falls and a 15-second pin and won the championship over Donovan Catholic’s Kurt Wehner, 15-8.
It’s the level of domination that could separate him. Ashnault and Suriano wrestled tight matches in their senior-year finals.
If Knox blows through the field this year, it would add to his resume. Until he wins his fourth, Knox said he would go with Suriano as the greatest.
Suriano won four Beast of the East titles and also went out to California and captured the prestigious Doc Buchanan title multiple times.
“Suriano went to the big tournaments and won,“ said Knox. ”Ashnault and Coach Grey ...He’ll be mad at me but they weren’t going to Super 32. I don’t think there was Super 32 when Coach Grey was wrestling."
Suriano was as stingy as a wrestler as there ever was in New Jersey. Knox may be the most explosive - with the possible exception of Hahn.
Dave Bell, who just led North Hunterdon to a state Group 4 title and coached Suriano at Bergen Catholic, said it would be a dream match if they faced each other in their high school primes.
“I’ve spoken with Mr. Knox about this,” said Bell. “When Anthony was in eighth grade he was considering BC. He always asked me what do you think? Their work ethic seems to be on par. Nick had one of the most incredible work ethics, it was one in a million and judging by everything Anthony has done it’s the same.
“Nick was undefeated and he was only scored upon once. He was taken down in his second match of his first tournament at the Beast of East. He was pancaked to his back and came back to win. That’s the last time he was scored upon in his career. Nationally, Nick completed at the Doc Buchanan, Beast of the East, against Blair, Wyoming Seminary. He wrestled a legendary (offseason) match against Daton Fix that lasted 30 minutes.
“Anthony is technically proficient and slick. Nick was such a stingy wrestler. They had different styles. I’d say it would be almost impossible to come to one definite judgment or say what an outcome between the two of them would be.”
Bell mentioned the likes of Lou Durant, Gene Mills, Darrion Caldwell, Pat Lynch and Joe Melchiore as part of the greats of all-time discussion. He noted that current athletes have the ability to make a statement at a national or international level at younger ages.
“It’s the modern standard, but each one is special in his own right,” said Bell. “They’ve all come to define the sport and represent the state.”
St. John Vianney coach Chris Notte said right now he would put Grey at the top, but what if Knox wins out — and continues to dismantle opponents the way he has through the first three championship runs?
“He could be, we haven’t seen that level of domination,” said Notte. ”Usually you have close matches in state finals, he’s separated himself from his finals competitors.
“Mike Grey is an ’06 guy. I’m an ‘06 guy. He was very dominant, too. But as the head coach of Cornell he has his young protege coming up, and (Knox) could beat out his dominant performances.”
Grey agreed that the number of top competitors Knox has beaten puts him high up in the discussion. He also noted talking about the best ever depends on the criteria.
“You look at his accomplishments and who he’s beaten at the highest level,” said Grey. “From a high school standpoint, you would have to say it’s one of the four-timers, but then it’s also the body of work (after). Are you a three-timer or four-timer who won an NCAA title?
“And then who is the best wrestler to ever come out of New Jersey? It’s (Olympic gold medalist) Jordan Burroughs, right? And he only won one state title. I’m just excited for Anthony because I know he has lofty goals as I did, and then it’s on to achieving his goals in the NCAA and internationally.”
Delbarton’s Bryan Stoll coached Grey when he broke through to become the state’s first four-time champion. His Green Wave faced Knox and Vianney three times this year.
“(Knox) is one of the most impressive guys we’ve ever had in this state,” said Stoll. “I don’t like comparing, but you can put him right in the conversation with Grey, Ashnault and Suriano. Ultimately his career will be judged on what he does at the next level and he knows that, what he does at the NCAA level and hopefully we’ll see him on the Olympic team one day.”
As he prepared to face Knox in the Beast of the East quarterfinals, Washington Township state placewinner Colton Hagerty said, “It’s just a great opportunity to step on the mat, go against greatness and see what I can do.”
Hagerty, a region champion and state placewinner, is currently ranked No. 3 in the state at 126 pounds. He hung tough for a period, but Knox eventually turned it on to win by technical fall, 20-5.
Hagerty came back to take seventh, then went on to win the prestigious Mustang Classic with a finals pin in 26 seconds, showing the caliber of wrestler he is - but also the distance between Knox and the field.
Knox believes he could be the best ever. But he knows there’s work to be done and even a wrestler of his caliber knows better than to look too far ahead.
“Yeah, it would be nice, but looking at your legacy is a slippery slope and I don’t want to focus too much on that,” said Knox. “I’m living in the moment. If people want to say I’m the best at high school wrestling, obviously that would be great.”
Bill Evans can be reached at bevans@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @bybillevans.
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