Cape wrestling fells Lake Forest 62-18

Cape wrestling trailed 12-6 at Lake Forest after three bouts Feb. 8, forfeiting at 120 because Max Meadows and Mason Trench were both unavailable to wrestle.

From there, it was foot on the gas or crank up the voltage, as a hybrid lineup won 10 of the next 11 bouts for a runaway 62-18 victory. 

Cape will host Salesianum at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 11, in the final non-tournament dual meet of the season.

The Vikings had eight pins, a forfeit and two major decisions on the way to 62 points, while the Spartans benefited from two pins and a forfeit. 

Tripp Gannon (106) pinned Drew Stevenson in 26 seconds to get the competition started. DeMarion Russ (113) won by fall over Cale Baker (2:31), followed by Cape’s forfeit at 120.

Holt Baker (126) pinned Jermaine Taylor in 1:38; then Nick Walker (132) earned a major decision 10-0 over Jerusalem Howard.

The Vikings followed with 24 straight points over the next four matches, as Josh Wright (138) pinned DeMarcus Russ in 1:18, Brady Cole (144) pinned Charles Troutman in 3:22, Andrew Schaen (150) pinned Coen Dempsey in 3:32 and Luke Bender (157) accepted a forfeit.

Cape led the match 40-12 after nine contests. 

Shawn Farrell (165) of Lake fought off his back and reversed Hayden Wheeler to win by fall in 3:50. C.J. Fritchman (175) won by fall over Brogan Thomas at 3:10; then Patrick Donahue (190) pinned Chase Lewis in 0:46 to bring the score to 52-18.

Alex Taylor (215), back in the lineup having cleared concussion protocol, won by major decision 16-7 over Cullen Parsell. Tyler Costello (285) closed out the night with a pin over Tre’sonz Stanley at 1:20.

Takedowns - A big match Wednesday night featured Sussex Central winning over Caesar Rodney 37-27. There were five wins by decision (all close matches) closed out by CR’s Nick Moore (120) over Chase Murray 4-2, and Central’s Evan Cordrey (126) over Trevor Copes 3-2. The Golden Knights are 20-0; they have locked up the No. 1 seed in the state duals and secured the Henlopen Conference regular-season, dual-meet championship. Salesianum lost close matches this season to Caesar Rodney 35-34 and Sussex Central 37-31. A Sallies win at Cape on Saturday would make Cape, CR and Sallies all 1-2 against each other. The DIAA  state dual-meet tournament of eight teams in each division opens Wednesday, Feb. 15, with the top four teams each getting a home match.