Mallard Creek’s Cameron Stinson, The Observer’s wrestler of the year, has grown fond of the sport

Picture Cameron Stinson Jr. running the 400 meters for Mallard Creek High’s track team … or maybe on the baseball field, playing center field … or perhaps as a defensive back on the football team.

That’s where Stinson pictured himself for a time, about eight or nine years ago, when he took up the sport of wrestling.

When he joined a club team, Stinson said “I really didn’t like it.”

“Practice lasted until 8:30 at night, and to be honest with you, I wasn’t very good,” he recalled.

He’s gotten better. Stinson recently won the North Carolina 4A state championship at 120 pounds.

It was the third straight state title for Stinson, a junior. And it completed a 66-0 season that improved his overall high school record to 145-0.

Bye-bye, baseball, track and football.

“I love it now,” Stinson said earlier this week, while taking part in offseason workouts. “This is my sport.”

A complete package

Stinson, who committed to North Carolina at the start of his junior season, is as close to a sure thing as you’ll find on a wrestling mat.

He combines speed, strength and smarts into a powerful package.

“His stats are crazy, but there’s a lot more to him,” said Mallard Creek coach Ben Barry, who has a couple decades’ experience as a wrestling coach, including the last 10 with the Mavericks.

“He’s a leader on this team, and he’s strong academically,” Barry said. “He has a schedule of AP (Advanced Placement) classes and a 3.7 GPA.”

Stinson’s father, Cameron Sr., placed football and wrestled at South Mecklenburg High. He said his son was encouraged to try several different sports.

“He narrowed it down to three,” his father said, referring to wrestling, football and track. “Then it was two, and finally it was one. Along the way, he delivered a hunger to win.”

Cameron Jr. joined a club team, the Bethel Vikings, when he was about 8. Within a few years, he fell in love with the sport. He joined the track team at Ridge Road Middle but when he arrived at Mallard Creek, it was all wrestling.

‘I had to prove myself’

“High school was different,” Stinson said. “There were a lot of older guys on the team, and for the first time, I felt like I had to prove myself. I worked hard.”

His freshman season was unusual, with wrestling delayed until late spring due to COVID issues. But he dominated the 106-pound weight class and won a state title.

“My sophomore season was a fun year,” Stinson said. “Early in the season, I wrestled someone I had been on a team with several years before. He knew how I wrestled, and it was a tough match.”

Yet Stinson kept winning.

“By late in the season, everyone knew I was undefeated,” he said.

But that didn’t stop him from winning the 4A championship at 120 pounds.

Moving up to 120 pounds was a challenge, he said.

“At 120, you have some guys who are moving up, like I did, and a few who are moving down from heavier classes,” Stinson said. “It’s a very competitive weight class.”

During the annual Holy Angels Tournament in late December in Greensboro, Stinson had a close call.

“I was wrestling someone who had beaten me when I was on the Bethel Vikings,” he said.

That opponent, Owen Rawls, now with Nansemond River High in Virginia, took a 4-1 lead on Stinson after the first period. Stinson rallied and was tied 6-6 after regulation.

“I remember wondering to myself, ‘Is this when it ends?’ ” he said.

But he rallied for an 8-6 victory in overtime.

Stinson said he doesn’t obsess over the unbeaten record. “It’s just something that’s there,” he said.

His father agreed.

“As far as the streak, Cam is like a guy driving down the highway, his windows open, listening to music,” Cameron Sr. said. “He doesn’t really care.”

Changing the program

Barry said Stinson has brought something new to the Mallard Creek wrestling program.

“He’s the one of the first to come through here who had wrestled at an earlier age,” Barry said. “The national exposure, the college recruitment … those are things our other guys hadn’t experienced. It helped our program develop.”

Along the way, Stinson has accumulated a big collection of trophies, medals and Bass Pro Shops hats.

“One time I needed a red hat for a party I was attending,” he said, explaining the hat collection. “My dad had a red Bass Pro Shops hat, so I took it. I really liked it, so I’ve added to the collection.”

When he announced his commitment to North Carolina, he doffed a light blue Bass Pro Shops cap.

His coach said Stinson is one of the first to help others.

“He cares about people around him,” Barry said. “You wouldn’t believe it from what you see on the mat, but he’s really a kind, gentle guy.”

“But don’t let that get out,” Barry added with a laugh.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle