Jan 25, 2007 By Dave Stofcheck 3 min read

Cameron Muma closed the book on his high school wrestling career Wednesday night. Muma rode off into the sunset a winner, but also found it tough not to look back over his shoulder and wonder what might have been.

The Laurel Highlands’ senior wound up with a dominating 16-0 major decision over Uniontown’s Jerry Wilson that helped punctuate the Mustangs’ 59-18 Section 2-AAA victory at Harold “Horse” Taylor Gymnasium on Senior Night.

For Muma, it was career victory No. 75, a number that would certainly be higher if not for chronic neck pain that had kept him out of the lineup this season until Wednesday night.

“It’s bittersweet,” Muma said. “I wanted to go out on a good note, but it’s hard to stop wrestling. I’ve been doing it since the age of six.”

Muma has also battled a neck injury throughout his high school career, one that had gotten so bad that doctors warned him to stay off the mat. But the condition progressed enough for Muma to convince his physician, parents and coach, Irwin Brambley, to let him go one last time.

“For the most part, I wasn’t in any danger,” Muma said. “I was cleared to go, and I trusted in my own ability to prevent anything bad from happening. I’ve been looking at wrestling one more time and I’ve really debated the pros and cons and it’s something I wanted to do.”

Muma’s decision to go perhaps served as motivation for Laurel Highlands, which won for just the second time this season.

The Mustangs closed the match with six straight victories, a streak that began when Dylan Costello won by forfeit at 112 pounds.

Josh Klink (119), Josh Boyle (125) and Michael Mari (130) followed with successive pins, and following Muma’s career milestone, Chris Perdue capped the match when he pinned Uniontown’s Andrew Stepanik at the 1:27 mark of the third period.

“I think the team was a little more motivated,” Muma said. “It made me feel good that they felt that way.”

Allen Wontroba’s win by forfeit gave Laurel Highlands a 6-0 lead, before Uniontown’s Tyler Holt recorded a 9-5 decision over Matt Perdue to slice the hosts’ edge in half.

The Mustangs’ Nick Browne pushed the lead to 12-3 with a first-period pin of Richard Hall, but the Red Raiders’ Clinton Payton won by fall over Spencer Settle and Jason King registered a late reversal for a 3-2 decision over Dave Mari to tie the match at 12.

Laurel Highlands’ Tim Bradley, at 215 pounds, and heavyweight Eric Minerd followed with back-to-back pins to give LH a 24-12 lead.

Uniontown’s last victory came at 103 pounds when Kenny Seliga picked up a win by forfeit.

“I’m disappointed and not pleased that we didn’t show up,” said Uniontown coach Mike Simon. “We just seemed dead; no spark, no fire, nothing. Tyler Holt, Clinton Payton and Jason King wrestled well, and Andrew Stepanik, a first-year wrestler who just came out wrestled a really tight match, but we just didn’t get that effort across the board.

“This time of year, the guys get beat up a little bit and start feeling sorry for themselves. But this sport is brutal; it doesn’t feel sorry for you.”

The Mustangs improve to 2-11 overall and 2-6 in Section 2-AAA, while Uniontown falls to 5-15 overall and 1-7 in the section.