A wild Wednesday night closes out wrestling regular season
A wild Wednesday night of Henlopen Conference wrestling featuring takedowns, pins and great escapes closed the door on the regular dual-meet season.
Cape looked to be defeated but roared back with three pins to hold off Sussex Tech 44-29.
“I knew we were chasing and that Cape was strong up top,” said Ravens coach Scott Layfield after the match.
In other Henlopen wrestling action, Sussex Central held off Caesar Rodney 34-26, Smyrna won over Milford 36-32 and Laurel upset Lake Forest 36-30.
“The seeding for the state duals – top eight – will be announced on Sunday,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni.
The Cape-Sussex Tech match had only two lights shining over a black mat. All that was missing was a disco ball replacing the scoreboard.
Cutting to the quick pins, starting at 175, Kalen Benson stuck Jeffrey Rainier in 1:34. The ref was decisive on the call. The large crowd of Ravens fans went boisterously ballistic.
The score was 30-26 in favor of the Ravens, who lost a point for unsportsmanlike conduct, making the score 29-26.
Cape’s Luke Arnold-Decyk (190) pinned Ethan Horner in 1:16 to make the score 32-29, setting up Patrick Donahue (215), who closed the deal and sealed the Cape victory by pinning Malachi Miller in 53 seconds.
Tyler Costello (285), giving up 65 pounds, pinned Landon Sockriter at 4:36 into the match for the final of 44-29.
The featured bout of the night was at 144 pounds, where the state’s top-ranked wrestlers Dustin Elliott of Sussex Tech and Nick Walker of Cape battled for three periods. Elliott prevailed by an 8-4 decision.
Other Cape wins in the match included Austin Guerrieri (106) over Parker Hampton (tech fall, 17-0); Cale Baker (113) over Anthony Costello (pin, 0:56); Max Meadows (132) over Noah Holcomb-Figgs (pin, 3:38); Colin Poulis (138) over Bryan Hatch (decision, 6-3); and Brady Cole (165) over Logan Micinowski (pin, 1:15).
Sussex Tech’s additional wins were Anthony Andrews (120) over Hudson Senard (pin, 2:48); Hobe Govens (126) over Tripp Gannon (pin, 1:09); and Bennett Brumbley over Noah Diamond (decision, 6-0).
Cape completes the regular dual-meet season 15-4. Sussex Tech finished at 8-4.
