Cape wrestling rockets to 48-22 win at Smyrna
Leading 17-16 after seven of 14 bouts at Smyrna Jan. 11, Cape rocketed home to a 48-22 dual-meet victory.
The regular-season win at Smyrna was the first in school history for the Vikings. Cape had recently beaten the Eagles at home 34-33 in 2019 and 34-30 in 2022.
Cape also beat the Eagles 33-31 at Smyrna in the semifinals of last year's state dual-meet championships.
“We wanted Alex [Taylor] on [Kael] Howell at 190 and Josh [Wright] on [Tyree] Heath at 138,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni. “We got the matchup and results we wanted.”
Taylor decisioned Howell 6-1 and Wright pinned Heath at 3:01 of the second period.
The Vikings got huge wins from freshman Tripp Gannon at 107, a 19-4 tech fall over Ian Alfree, and Max Meadows at 120, winning 10-3 over Wyatt Miller.
“Max worked hard and had just descended down to 120 where we needed him,” Mattioni said. “We get [Luke] Bender back from injury next week, and we had three additional guys out sick tonight. The recent Iron Horse duals [eight matches] gave all our guys valuable experience.”
Closing out the match, Cape got wins from Nick Walker (132) over Kyle Davis 4-3, Andrew Schaen (150) with a major decision over Jesse Dixon 11-2, Hayden Wheeler (157) with a pin over Ricaldo Camacho (1:11), and C.J. Fritchman (175) with a pin over Teagan Gratkowski (2:21).
Smyrna’s 22 points came from Chijioke Eule (285) with a pin over Sean Costello, Warren Coates (113) with a pin over Cale Baker and Qwantez Watkins (126) with a major decision over Holt Baker.
Cape forfeited 165, while the Eagles forfeited the 144 and 215 weight classes.
Cape will wrestle in the Grapple at the Brook Invitational Jan. 13-14, then head to Polytech Wednesday, Jan. 18, before hosting Delaware Military Academy Friday, Jan. 20.
Takedowns - Sussex Central continued to dominate in dual-meet competition, beating Sussex Tech 71-6. Milford beat Polytech 39-36, while Salesianum beat Caravel 41-27. C.J. Fritchman is on the doorstep of 100 career wins and will likely accomplish that milestone at the Grapple at the Brook tournament this weekend.
