The day was a long time coming.
After heartbreaking losses in the final round of the PIAA Wrestling Championships in 2024 and 2025, Bishop McDevitt’s Camden Baum enjoyed the taste of victory Saturday night, winning gold at 139 lbs. in the last match of his high school career.
Pointing victoriously toward a crowd of Crusader fans, putting his hand to his heart and letting the tears come, Baum wore his emotions on his sleeve after his 7-1 win over Delone Catholic junior Gavin Green.
And no one could blame him.
“It feels amazing. I don’t know what to say. It just feels amazing. I’m so blessed right now,” Baum told a host of media members after coming off the medal stand. “I’ve wrestled [Gavin] and have been friends with him outside of competing. He’s a great kid, but you have to go wrestle and someone has to win. I was just blessed to take advantage of it.”
Baum was a silver-medalist the past two seasons, falling short both times to Montgomery’s Brandt Harer, the winningest wrestler in state history with just one loss in his career.
It’s why this year’s win was so emotional, Baum told The Witness.
“Losing two years in a row and knowing tonight would be my final match, the emotion came out. Words just can’t describe this feeling. It’s the perfect way to end my career. I was just so happy I could get this done,” said Baum, who has committed to Perdue.
“I felt I was more loose today than in previous years,” he said of his mindset going in. “I was excited, in the moment and happy to compete and be out there. It’s an awesome environment to wrestle in.”
The Baum-Green match was, by all accounts, the first PIAA finals match between two competitors from diocesan high schools. Green, a junior at Delone, finished his season with a silver medal and a 38-7 record.
In the 133-pound final, Trinity’s Will Detar also made good on his last opportunity for state gold, edging Tanner Guenot of Bald Eagle Area in a nail-biting 1-0 win after scoring an escape in the second period.
“It’s something I’ve been trying for my whole life and haven’t been able to get it,” Detar said of the win. “Now, my senior year, my last chance, I was able to pull it off.”
Detar was a bronze medalist as a freshman and junior and a runner-up as a sophomore. He said he entered the finals feeling a lot looser than in previous years.
“I’ve tried to approach my whole season that way. It was my last shot at a state title. In practice, my mindset was, ‘These days are never coming back; train like a state champ,’” he said.
“Coming out for the match, I knew I could win if I wrestled my way. I just wanted to enjoy every moment of it,” said Detar, who has committed to Northwestern.
The Trinity senior got multiple take-down attempts on his opponent throughout the match, urged on by head coach Kyle Shoop, who shouted words of encouragement to a calm and collected Detar.
Asked if he would have preferred more offense in the match, Detar said, “It would have been cool to run the score up a little bit and get my offense going, but at the same time I was taking what he was giving me and not forcing anything. That’s ultimately why I was able to control the match.”
Detar’s teammate Arav Pandey earned silver at 107 lbs. in his first state tournament appearance. The freshman gave up a reversal in the second period, falling to Kooper Deputy of Chestnut Ridge, 3-0.
Last year’s gold medalist at 107 lbs., Bishop McDevitt junior Braiden Lotier also came home with a silver medal, losing in the 114-pound finals to Grove City’s Chase Karenbauer, 9-8.
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
