Cape wrestling shuts the door on Sallies 32-25
Ten of 14 bouts went the distance Feb. 11 at the Cape Big House, as Salesianum battled Cape in a riveting wrestling match that saw the Vikings come back from an 0-12 hole to win 32-25.
The match was iced at 190 pounds when Alex Taylor secured a 3-1 decision over James Miller, giving Cape a 32-19 advantage with Max Agresti of Sallies, the Beast of the East champion, holding the hammer at 215.
“We needed to have the match won before Agresti stepped onto the mat,” Cape coach Chris Mattioni said. "The entire meet didn’t go the way we thought, but we got some big wins in toss-up matches.”
Andrew Semmel (285) opened the action with a 1-0 win over Tyler Costello.
Mason Catania (106) followed with a 12-5 win over Tripp Gannon, then Leo Marini pinned Cale Baker (3:37) as Sallies jumped out to a 12-0 team lead.
Max Meadows (120) got Cape on the board with a 15-6 major decision over Michael Turner to bring Cape’s deficit to 12-4.
Cam Davis (126) outlasted Holt Baker 4-2, as Sallies surged to a 15-4 lead.
Cape responded with four straight wins: Nick Walker (132) over Brady Bartkowski 3-2; Josh Wright (138) pin over Matt Copeland in 5:16; Brady Cole (144) over Colin Honaker 9-3, and Andrew Schaen (150) major decision over Sam Munch 10-1.
Sallies’ Anthony Dellicompagni (157) won by major decision over Hayden Wheeler 10-1.
The dual meet was tied at 19-19 with four bouts remaining.
“We had three of our best guys still to wrestle, so I felt pretty good about our chances,” Mattioni said.
Luke Bender (165) pinned Gardner Hall in 34 seconds, then C.J. Fritchman (175) won by major decision over Beau Minner 11-3.
Cape led 29-19.
Cape’s Alex Taylor, ranked third at 215, dropped down to 190 to face James Miller, the state’s second-ranked grappler at 190.
“Don't get caught and don’t get stuck,” Alex said after the match. “I had to wrestle smart, so I didn't take as many shots as I normally would.”
Taylor prevailed 3-0, securing the match 32-19. A Max Agresti (215) pin over Mason Couchman made the final score 32-25.
The top four seeds in each division will host a match Wednesday, Feb. 15. The dual-meet semifinals are scheduled for Smyrna Saturday, Feb. 18.
Wednesday night matches beginning at 7 p.m. are: Charter at Sussex Central, St. Georges at Cape, Smyrna at Caesar Rodney and William Penn at Salesianum.
Takedowns - The 27th annual JV State Invitational was held at Polytech Feb. 11. Cape’s Luke Arnold-Decyk (192) and Patrick Donahue (217) were tournament champions. Mason Trench (115) and Robbie Payton (177) placed second. Jeff Rainer (159) placed third, while Erick Uffelman(146) placed fourth. Saleianum wrestling lost dual-meet matches this season to Caesar Rodney 35-34, Sussex Central 37-31 and Cape 32-25. The Sals are a dangerous team in the upcoming state duals. Sussex Central won matches over Cape 36-30, Salesianum 37-31 and Caesar Rodney 37-27.
