A 'stable influence' since 1976

Hedley "Sandy" Thame doesn't know or care how many wrestling matches he has lost as Camden's coach.

"Don't remind me," Thame said before another one Wednesday night at Eastern.

Camden's loss, 60-15 to Eastern, was the 543d of Thame's career. That sounds bad. Actually, it's good.

Think how good of a coach you have to be to lose more than 500 times. Think what that staggering total of setbacks says about your longevity, resiliency, fortitude.

Winning more than 500 might be easier, and just four coaches have done that in South Jersey history. But none of them have been asked to return to the wrestling room - day after day, season after season, decade after decade - and teach a handful of inexperienced athletes the intricacies of the most demanding of sports.

Thame has been doing it since 1976. He's 59 now - "old and slow," he says. But his voice still booms across the mat during matches, and he's still the self-styled "evil one" waiting for his kids after school every day.

"They know I'm going to be there," Thame said. "They know they have to deal with me every day. They know they have that stable influence, and if there is anything I can do to help them, I'll do it."

Thame has been the wrestling coach at Camden since Clarence Turner was in his fourth season as Panthers basketball coach. Since Paulsboro wrestling coach Paul Morina was a junior in high school. Since Eastern wrestling coach Bobby Ray Stinson was a figment of his parents' imagination.

"He's an inspiration," said Stinson, who won a state title at Camden Catholic in 2002. "He's dedicated himself to helping those kids day in and day out, year in and year out."

Thame said wrestling is a "disease" that he contracted as a 13-year-old in Bridgeton. He has been on the mat ever since.

"My kids asked me the other day if I ever went skiing," Thame said. "I said no because you ski in the winter time. I'm on the mat every day. There's no other place I'd rather be."

Camden went 3-3 against Eastern in matches that were wrestled. But the Panthers forfeited at the other eight weights.

That has been pretty typical for Camden through the years as Thame has tried to field competitive teams in a sport with little allure in the city.

"It's not basketball," Thame deadpanned of wrestling's status in Camden.