Lewis Fernandes becomes first Voorhees wrestler in 20 years to win a state title

ATLANTIC CITY – The brother watched as Lewis Fernandes headed through the gate and up the steps to hug his parents.

“C’mon dad, don’t cry,” said Scott Fernandes with a smile. “I thought you were tougher than that.”

No, it was perfectly fine to shed some tears at Sunday’s NJSIAA individual state wrestling finals. Lewis Fernandes pinned Pennsville Memorial’s Kody Wood in 2:59 to win the heavyweight title at Boardwalk Hall in a meeting of undefeated wrestlers. It was the first Voorhees state champion in 20 years since John Brienza took the 130-pound title in 1998.

At the end, the strong Fernandes lept in coach Eric Hall’s arms with a huge hug, not worried about crushing him. Hall said, “I told him I would catch him, regardless.”

Fernandes then found his parents in the crowd and the celebration was in full swing.

“It’s not just my dad and my mom and my brothers, it’s all of Voorhees,” Lewis Fernandes said. “I mean, they’re family to me. I’m really happy for myself, but I’m more happy for everyone that’s done stuff for me in my life. I mean anything from driving me to practice every day to making me a sandwich for lunch so I have energy for practice. Everyone that’s done it – my coaches, my family, friends, just all those people. I’m more happy for them then I am for myself. I want to share it with everyone. I don’t want to be selfish with it.”

Fernandes weighs 220 – to be exact, he weighed 220.3 during Saturday’s session – making him an undersized heavyweight. But he’s able to compensate for giving up 60 and 70 pounds to some opponents with speed and quickness.

“He doesn’t wrestle like a traditional 220-pounder or heavyweight,” said Hall, himself a former Voorhees wrestler whose dad Bob was also a former longtime wrestling coach at the school. “He has a fantastic, aggressive style of wrestling that’s tough to defend. You have to be a special competitor to keep up and to wrestle with him.”

That was evident from the beginning of his final against the ninth-seeded Wood (42-1). The sixth-seeded Fernandes (43-0) stunned the crowd by spinning behind Wood and throwing in legs for back point. Most heavyweights just don’t use legs. He got more back points to take a 7-0 lead.

In the second period, Wood went for an ankle pick and Fernandes threw in a whizzer, stopped the momentum and threw his hips over and put his opponent on his back for the fall.

“He has an excellent offense, but his defense has developed over the past couple of summers and wrestling seasons and that what really set him apart,” Hall said. “He’s tough to score on and he can score from every single position on the mat. Top, bottom, neutral, it does not matter. So it’s amazing to watch and to coach.”

Fernandes said he knew exactly how to defend the move because his two brothers have used it against him in practice. Scott is a current senior and state qualifier and Michael graduated last season. All three brothers have over 100 career wins.

“I’m happy for him and proud for him,” Scott Fernandes said. “It’s good for the family. It’s good for him. He’s been working really hard for it.”

But unlike Scott, Lewis has stuck to wrestling. In the offseason, he placed at five national tournaments. The highlights included becoming All-Americans in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the prestigious USMC/USAWrestling Cadet National tournament.  

All that work has helped him to improve on his 35-11 finish last season as a sophomore at 195, just missing placing in the state tournament.

It’s perhaps not surprising that Fernandes had developed into such a great wrestler. Hall said that “from the moment he entered our program as a youth wrestler we knew that he was special.”

“I’m just extremely happy,” Hall said. “Lewis works extremely hard. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached. He’s focused. He’s confident. He’s determined and he deserves every accolade that he’s earned. … It’s fun to watch these kids mature as young men and as athletes.”

So how does it feel to win a state title?

“I feel good,” Fernandes said. “I mean, at the end of the day I’m the same person. It’s a great accomplishment, but I’m definitely going to get back to the room next week and start working toward a state title.”

Again.