Rory Bonner Takes 5th at State Wrestling Tournament

It was only a few weeks ago Rory Bonner had his arm raised , and now he can say he’s one of the best in the state.

Bonner wrapped up his run through the 182-pound bracket in Atlantic City Sunday with a 3-1, grind-it-out win over Moorestown’s Thomas Forline for fifth place.

The match came down to a single takedown midway through the first period, giving Bonner the early edge and a lead he’d never relinquish.

Though Forline earned an escape just before the end of the first, the Moorestown wrestler couldn’t find any momentum the rest of the way, and eventually conceded a stalling point as Bonner tried to fight out in the third period.

It was another solid performance from Bonner, who busted up the bracket after coming in unseeded, .

“He’s a workmanlike kid,” West Deptford coach John Craig said of Bonner earlier this season. “He’s all about business—he works hard, he trains hard.”

The fifth-place finish is the highest for any Eagles wrestler in the past several years, and puts Bonner in a good position heading into his senior season, with an eye toward becoming West Deptford’s first individual state champion since Frank Pulio, who won the 98-pound weight class back in 1964.