The heavy hitters came out in support of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame New Jersey Chapter when the organization held its 23rd annual golf outing at Mercer Oaks Golf Course in July.

Plenty of wrestling legends were in the field, but none were bigger than one of the Garden State’s all-time best grapplers: Gene Mills.

A New Jersey state champion and NCAA national champion, Mills was one of 107 golfers to hit the links on the East Course in late July.

The golf outing is the NWHOF-New Jersey organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year, raising money to award scholarships to high school wrestlers throughout the state. This year’s scholarship winners were Riverside’s Patricia Boyle, Delaware Valley’s Owen Francis, Immaculata’s Ryan Goldstein and Point Pleasant Boro’s Eliza Toth. The wrestlers can use the scholarship in any way they chose, as long as it has some kind of connection with wrestling such as a camp, a club or a tutor.

Revenue from the golf outing, which is derived from a number of activities, help the organization pay its annual dues to the national chapter as well as enable it to make charitable contributions to groups that support Vietnam veterans, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the Red Cross and other nonprofits.

“It’s just a fun outing,” said Howie O’Neil, the former president of the NWHOF-NJ who also ran the golf outing for many years. “You get to see some of the guys and the coaches that shaped the sport in the state while raising money for scholarships and other worthy causes.”

Other friends of the wrestling community turned in their whistles for the chance to make some birdie putts. Several members of New Jersey Wrestling Officials Association were among the field at the golf outing.

“It was a great opportunity for us to be a part of this get-together,” said Tracey Emmons, who started his two-year term as president of the NJWOA in July. “And we didn’t play too bad out there either.”

Emmons teamed up with his vice president Guy Mauriello in his group.

NWHOF-New Jersey Chapter president Ken Bernabe was beaming as he watched the gathering of golfers getting ready to hit the links.

“The event includes a variety of people, wrestlers, friends of wrestling and people who are using golf as a medium to come together and participate in an event that will bring recognition to wrestling,” said Bernabe, who previously held the position of golf outing chairman for the organization. “This is our biggest fundraiser for us and it feels good knowing the end results of who we’re able to help and where the contributions are going.”

While there were plenty of legends swinging the sticks at Mercer Oaks on a hot, humid summer day, Mills was the star of the field.

“It’s always nice to give back,” said Mills, who resides in upstate New York. “I love what this sport gave to me. It gave me an unbelievable number of opportunities and I can’t thank the sport enough. So when these guys are doing something to help the sport of wrestling, I’m ready to help out.”

Mills, 68, provided New Jersey wrestling fans with plenty of fond memories during his scholastic days when he won the 108-pound state title for DePaul Catholic in 1976, becoming the first wrestler in school history to achieve the feat.

The Pompton Lakes native went on to wrestle at Syracuse University, where he was a two-time national champion and a four-time All-American. A prolific pinner and a terror on top, Mills set the NCAA Division I record for career pins with 107 and finished his collegiate career with a 144-5-1 record.

Both his NJSIAA title and second NCAA title were won by fall inside Princeton’s fabled Jadwin Gym.

Mills made the United States Olympic freestyle wrestling team in 1980, but didn’t get the opportunity to compete since the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Games.

“Wrestling is a no-excuse sport,” said Mills, who was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000. “If you don’t love it, there is a high probability you won’t succeed.”

Two of the top wrestling coaches in the state were also in attendance for the golf outing: Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale and Rider head coach John Hagney.

“These guys are all legends,” Goodale said. “They’ve been very supportive of me and my program at Rutgers, so to come out and be a part of this, it’s pretty cool.

“There are a lot of faces I haven’t seen in a long time. These are guys who have been in my life for a long time and some that I’ve looked up to.”

One of those people is John DeMarco, a legendary coach from the Shore Conference and a 2006 inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

While he wasn’t able to play golf on this day, DeMarco worked as an ambassador for the tournament, riding in the cart and greeting foursomes out on the course, trading wrestling stories as well as stories about his beloved New York Yankees.

By Tom McGurk, NJ-NWHOF Board Member