Cape wins Grapple at the Brook wrestling tournament

Vikings crown six champions

The Cape wrestling team poses for a photo with the Grapple at the Brook trophy. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Dave Frederick

January 16, 2022

The Cape wrestling team won the 13th annual Grapple at the Brook Invitational tournament in Maryland Jan. 14-15. The Vikings scored 260.5 points in the throwdown performance, as host Springbrook finished second with 163 followed by Winston Churchill with 149.5, Poolesville with 129, Reservoir with 113, Northwest with 112 and Walt Whitman with 107.5. There were 15 teams in the tournament.

Cape crowned six champions: Josh Alvares (126), Mikey Frederick (145), C.J. Fritchman (160), Alex Taylor (195), Dalton Deevey (220) and Lucas Ruppert (285).

Holt Baker (120) and Carson Kammerer (170) both placed second, each losing to undefeated wrestlers in the finals.

“We had eight wrestlers in the semifinals, and all of them won by pin to advance to the championship round,” said coach Chris Mattioni said. “Call that a school record, because I’m sure it's never happened before Cape.”

Mattioni was jacked by the performances of his freshmen. Max Meadows (113) wrestled back to place third, going 5-1 on the day, his only loss coming to top-seeded Andrew Dolezel of Reservoir 8-7 in the quarterfinals.

Jacob Goodsell (106) placed fifth, going 4-2 for the tournament. Andrew Schaen (138) wrestled back to place fourth.

Other highlights included Alvares (126) and Taylor (195) winning their first bracket championships.

Frederick (145), Deevey (220) and Ruppert (285) won their second tournaments of the season.

Frederick won by tech fall in the finals 24-6, the highest point total posted in the tournament. Deevey recorded three falls in a total time of 3:31 to reach the top step of the podium.

Ruppert escaped from the bottom in the final seconds of his title bout to win 1-0. He won his semifinal by fall after fighting off his back. “I thought he was gone,” Mattioni said.

Since losing state champion stud wrestler Luke Bender to season-ending elbow surgery, the Vikings have posted comeback wins over Stephen Decatur 34-27 and Smyrna 34-30 while winning the Governor Mifflin and Grapple at the Brook tournaments.

“We miss Luke every practice and match,” Mattioni said.

Cape will host Polytech Wednesday, Jan. 19, then travel to DMA Friday, Jan. 21.