Smyrna holds off Beacon at Middle School Wrestling Classic
The 2018 Steve Stewart Middle School Wrestling Classic contested Feb. 3 at Milford Central Academy featured 15 middle school teams from the Henlopen Conference.
Smyrna defended its team championship with 259 points, followed closely by Beacon with 226. The rest of the team scores included Fifer 178, Postlethwait 145, Georgetown 142, WT Chipman 139, Seaford 121, Millsboro 108, Mariner 87, Dover Central 81, Laurel 80, Milford 57, Woodbridge 51, Selbyville 50 and Delmar 12.
Champions by weight include: 76 pounds, Hunter Durham, Seaford; 82, Cameron Cataldi, Postlethwait; 88, Gabe Giampietro, Smyrna; 94, Luke Bender, Beacon; 100, CJ Fritchman, Beacon; 106, Dylan Knight, Smyrna; 112, Derek Davis, Smyrna; 118, Jack Thode, Chipman; 124, Averi Copes, Chipman; 130, Jett Furbush, Laurel; 136, Bryce Mullen, Smyrna; 145, Nik Hall, Fifer; 155, Dalton Deevey, Beacon; 170, Dalton Hall, Selbyville; 185, Shamar Nelson, Fifer; and 250, Lucas Ruppert, Beacon.
Beacon place finishers included the following: 76 pounds, Lucas Stevenson, sixth; 82, Tajear Freeman, fourth; 106, Mikey Frederick, second; 112, Carson Kammerer, fourth; 118, Joe Joe McLean, sixth; 136, Gary Hayes, fifth; 170, Jordan Baines, fourth; and 185, Kevin Leonard, fourth.
Mariner place finishers included at 100 pounds, Joseph Nsiah, fourth; 112, Giovanni Gaurino, fifth; 130, Jaden Johnson, fifth; 136, Daniel Saez, fourth; 145, Cole Windish, fifth; 185, Maliki Lewis, fourth; and 250, Steve Ramirez, fourth.
Beacon’s Ruppert, Bender and Fritchman all finished the season undefeated. Ruppert was voted Outstanding Wrestler based on a dramatic come-from-behind finals match where he fought from the bottom position down one in double overtime to secure a pin in the final seconds. Ruppert was 13-0 this season, all matches won by pin.
Deevey at 155 was a repeat tournament champion.
Frederick, 106, in his first year of wrestling, came from the fifth seed in a bracket with three undefeated wrestlers and beat the top seed in the semifinals before losing to unbeaten Knight in the finals.
“We had a great season, 9-1,” said Beacon coach Patrick Irelan. “I thought just maybe we could beat Smyrna today. They have been a part of every championship since 2007.”
Coach Gerald Windish of Mariner said: “Our kids wrestled well at the tournament. Three of our place finishers were first-year kids. We placed seven of the 12 wrestlers we brought to the tournament. Between the talent at Mariner and Beacon, Cape’s wrestling future looks bright.”
