Whether it’s this coming weekend in Region 3 at West Orange, or March 13-15 in the NJSIAA state individual finals at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, it’s doubtful that there will be a wrestler with a better makeup in terms of toughness and determination than Caldwell’s Carmine Sipper.
That may not be a guarantee of resulting in a state championship, especially with a returning state champion in Delbarton’s Cam Sontz now in his weight class; however, the Chiefs’ senior appears quite capable of having what it takes to make a strong bid for a state title.
Coming off a dominant performance in winning the 120-pound weight class in this past Saturday’s District 11 Tournament at Morristown when he was presented the ‘Outstanding Wrestler’ award, Caldwell’s standout senior wrestler is the Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week.
Sipper (36-2), who is fourth in the 120-pound weight class in a recent state ranking published on nj.com, pulled off as impressive a run through the 113-pound wrestlebacks as anyone could in last year’s NJSIAA tourney.
Following a temporary setback with a narrow state quarterfinal loss, he showed an incredibly short memory and great persistence while bouncing right back from defeat to win four straight bouts, including avenging his earlier quarterfinal setback in earning a third-place at 113, which was the highest finish by a Chiefs wrestler since current assistant coach Steve Martell won a state title back in 2004.
Now, Caldwell’s U.S. Naval Academy commit is wrestling at a very high level once again as he looks to have a strong weekend in Region 3 with hopes of reaching the championship bout this Saturday afternoon in West Orange’s Tarnoff Gymnasium.
Delbarton’s Sontz, who could be a likely obstacle at some point in the upcoming state tourney, will be the No. 1 seed in Region 3’s 120-pound bracket.
Caldwell’s veteran coach has the utmost confidence in his elite wrestler in terms of having big-time performances the rest of the way in the waning days and nights of the 2025-2026 wrestling season.
“’Carm’ is peaking at the right time,” said sixth-year head man Sean Romano. “He does all the right things and has been there before when it comes to the tough matches in March as he brings all that great experience into these next two weekends.
“We’re very excited to see him do some really good things once again as he continues to hit a high point in his senior high school season.”
Sipper roared through his two matches as the top seed in District 11, pinning fourth-seeded Anthony Adriano of Morristown in just 52 seconds in the semifinals, and then dominating second-seeded David Vazquez of North Bergen in the finals with a 10-0 major decision.
His championship victory in the Districts was also the Chief standout’s 153rd as he continues to increase that total career number as the program’s all-time winningest wrestler.
“You do always want to be peaking at the end of the season,” he said as he was returning from a Sunday afternoon workout. “I certainly know that my weight class has some really good wrestlers in both the Regions and states, so I just keep going as hard as I can every day.
“Whatever God has planned for me I can’t control, and all I can do is continue to wrestle to the best of my ability and just control how hard I compete in each match.”
Sipper may try to take a little time this weekend to follow how Navy does in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) tournament in Washington, D.C., which is one of the biggest events in every college wrestling season for East Coast and Mid-Atlantic region schools such as Navy, West Point, Lehigh and Ivy League programs.
