Sussex Central wrestling holds off Cape in Saturday afternoon special
“It’s all about matchups,” said Shane Miller, Sussex Central wrestling coach.
Cape 175-pounder Jacob Goodsell was back in the starting lineup Jan. 25, after sitting out two weeks with a shoulder strain. Goodsell was losing to Ben Lee before he caught and stuck Lee with 10 seconds remaining, closing the team score to 27-20 with three bouts remaining.
“There are no moral victories in wrestling," said Cape assistant coach Shane Jensen after the Vikings lost a close match 39-26. Head coach Chris Mattioni was away at his uncle’s funeral.
Cape bumped up, figuring it was their best shot. David Citro went out at 190 but was decked by Jimmy McLane at the end of the first period to give the Golden Knights a 33-20 lead with two bouts remaining. A large crowd roared, keenly aware that a 13-point comeback with two bouts remaining was not statistically possible.
Luke Arnold-Decyk walked into the wheelhouse of Ivan Flores and was pinned in 29 seconds. Cape’s Patrick Donahue closed the match with a first-period pin of Anthony Roblero for the final of 39-26.
“We still have away matches at Caesar Rodney, DMA and Salesianum,” Miller said. “There are a bunch of tough teams out there.”
The feature bout of the Saturday afternoon special was at 120 pounds between the top-rated grapplers Malachi Stratton of Central and Austin Guerrieri of Cape. The two had never wrestled before.
“Different styles,” Mattioni said a day before the match. “Austin needs to be patient and to stay low to slow Stratton down.”
Stratton was slowed and more cautious, unlike his usual buzz-saw approach, but Guerrieri couldn’t lay a glove on him, as Stratton won by decision 8-1. The two will meet again in the Henlopen Conference meet if they both stay at 120.
The Golden Knights also won bouts at 106, Austen Decker over Nolan Wright (fall 0:58); 126, Jayden Mieth over Cale Baker (9-5); 138, Evan Cordey forfeit; 144, Justin Craig over Colin Poulis (tech fall 15-0); and 157, John Rovillard over Aidan Baum (MD 12-1).
Cape’s additional wins were: 113, Blake Walker over Seth Mulligan (5-3); 132, Max Meadows over Peyton Conaway (7-3); 150, Nick Walker over Josh Dempsey (tech fall 15-0); and 165, Carson Tuer over Cruz Mota (8-6).
Sussex Central will next wrestle at Milford Wednesday, Jan. 29; at Caesar Rodney Friday, Jan. 31; and at Delaware Military Academy Saturday, Feb. 1.
Cape will wrestle at Dover, Jan. 29; at St Georges Tech Jan. 31; and at Germantown Academy Feb. 1, when the Vikings will wrestle Germantown and Saint Mark’s.
The state duals begin Wednesday, Feb. 12, with eight teams in each division. The top four seeds get a home match.
