Central wrestling tops Cape, upsets CR, falls to Sallies in D1 final
Sussex Central wrestling ran out of magic Feb. 15 at Smyrna High School, losing 43-28 in the Division I dual meet state finals to favored Salesianum.
The Golden Knights had rolled over Cape at The Castle Feb. 14 by a score of 51-17, then stung Henlopen Conference regular season dual meet champion Caesar Rodney 30-26 in the Feb. 15 semifinals.
Delaware Military Academy repeated as Division II champions, beating Saint Mark’s in the finals 42-24.
“The season is a meat grinder,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni. “And it’s about to pick up in the next two weeks with the conference and state tournaments.”
Cape won just four of 14 bouts at Sussex Central, starting with Max Meadows’ (138) 9-6 overtime win over Peyton Conaway. Nick Walker (150) won by tech fall over Josh Dempsey, Patrick Donahue (285) pinned Anthony Roblero in 2:42 and Blake Walker (113) won an 11-8 decision over Seth Mulligan.
There was a lot of bump-and-run strategy in the match. Sometimes best-on-best showdowns reach a saturation point, with wrestlers opting to take their best shots when the stakes are highest.
With the team score no longer in doubt when the match reached the 120-pound bout, Cape elected to not send Austen Guerrierri out to wrestle Malachi Stratton. Instead, they sent Geoffrey Davis onto the mat. The Sussex Central fans crowd booed. Stratton won by tech fall 18-1.
Jaydan Mieth (126) of Central followed with the upset of the night when he beat Guerrieri 7-5.
Evan Cordrey closed out the night at 132 by winning by pin in 2:42 over Tripp Gannon.
Unsung - Sussex Central sophomore Josh Dempsey is sometimes inserted into the varsity lineup at 150 when coaches elect to bump John Rovillard up to 157 for a more favorable matchup. Dempsey faced the top dogs in the 150-pound weight class, losing to Nick Walker Feb. 14, then Ricky Jewell Feb. 15. Both losses came by tech fall, but the sophomore did not get pinned and saved his team two team points.
Complete results of all matches in the state duals can be found at trackwrestling.com.
The Henlopen Conference wrestling championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22 at Milford Central Academy.
