Jody Karam ’83
Career Record: 54-8, D11 Champ, NE Regional Champ, Medalist
Tournament Championships: Top Hat
College: Lock Haven (NCAA Qualifier)
1983 – 155 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Champ, State Fifth (31-3)
1982 – 132 lbs.: District Third, Regional Fourth (23-5)
Future Easton head coach Jody Karam was a pillar of the 1983 state championship team.
Karam broke the lineup as a junior, where he and his brother Jeff both won by fall in the season open with William Allen. In his second varsity match, Karam battled to an 8-8 draw with eventual state champion Mike Rudolph (Wilson West Lawn). He was runner-up at the Easton Invitational, beating Southcentral regional champ Ben Randazzo (Reading) 4-3 in teh semis before getting pinned by eventual state champ Bill Hershey (Saucon Valley) in the final. Karam turned the tables on Hershey at the Top Hat tournament in Williamsport, where he took down the Panther star late for his second victory of the season over a 1982 state champion. Karam finished as the runner-up, getting pinned by Lonnie Barnes (Washington) in finals. Karam beat New Jersey medalist Don Margeson (Phillipsburg) in a 16-14 barn burner in Easton’s loss to the Stateliners. At the D11 tournament, Karam advanced to the semis with a pin and a major before getting upset by Bob Wolfe (Pottsville) in the semifinals. Karam wrestled back for third place, winning an overtime bout for the bronze medal and to advance to Northeast Regionals. At Regionals, Karam won 21-4 in his quarterfinal bout to get a second crack at Wolfe, but the Pottsville star pinned Karam in the final seconds of the first period to send him into the consolation bracket. Karam made it to the third place match, but was majored by Joe Ferrari (Mount Carmel) to end his season.
Karam was named a captain in his senior season. He opened with a championship at the North Schuylkill Invitational. He hammered state finalist JIm Karch (Nazareth) 15-3 in a dual win over the Blue Eagles. At Top Hat, Karam earned Outstanding Wrestler votes by scoring 52 points in three bouts to make the finals, then taking down Ohio state champion Brad Wright (St. Edward) four times in an 8-5 win. Controversially, Karam picked up a win over Bethlehem Catholic star Duane Peoples on an illegal slam call in the Red Rovers win over the War Hawks. He suffered his only loss of the regular season in their dual with Shikellamy, in what amounted to at least a nine point swing as Karam was controlling the match with Sam Williams when he was called for an illegal arm bar and disqualified when Williams could not continue. Clearly motivated, Karam pinned his way through the rest of the regular season to head into tournament time as a one-loss top seed. At the D11 tournament, Karam had two falls and a 12-6 decision to make finals, then beat Liberty standout Pete Bearse for a third time on the season, this time a 10-4 decision to win a D11 championship. At Regionals, Karam was dominant, winning 30-7 then pinning his next two opponents in 39 seconds and 3:29 to make his first state tournament. At states, Karam opened with a 20-10 major decision of Greg Dugan (Greensburg Central Catholic). In the quarterfinals, Karam had a solid 4-2 lead over Jim Kwortnik (North Penn) when he was headlocked to his back and suddenly had to get in a shoot-out with the Knights star, ultimately falling 16-11. Kwortnik went on to win the state title. Karam won his next match to guarantee a medal before losing to Solomon Carr (Erie Tech) in the consolation semis. He closed out his Easton wrestling career with a 12-3 major over Pete Bearse for fifth place and his fifth win of the season over the Hurricane. Karam was one of three Easton medalists as the Red Rovers won the 1983 team title at the state tournament.
After Easton, Karam was a star at Lock Haven, where he was a three-time NCAA qualifier and seeded 4th and 5th in his final two tournaments, falling in the Round of 16 both years. After college wrestling, Karam was a longtime successful head coach at Delaware Valley (NJ) and Liberty. He came out of retirement to take over the Easton program in 2020, and returned the Red Rovers to glory, coaching them to the 2024 PIAA State Dual finals and crowning Easton’s first state champion in 14 years when Nick Salamone won the 2025 title at 121 pounds.
History of Easton Wrestling 