Cape wrestling shuts down Smyrna 46-24
Smyrna led the Cape wrestling team 18-15 after seven of 14 bouts in a Feb. 5 match that started at 150 pounds.
The Vikings responded by posting a 31-6 crooked number, winning six of the final seven matches, including four pins and a major decision, to earn a 46-24 home victory.
Cape wrestles at Sussex Tech Wednesday, Feb. 7, to close out the dual meet season. Cape is now 14-4. Sussex Tech is 8-7.
“I figured the Smyrna match would be close,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni. “We had two starters out of the lineup with injuries, Hayden Wheeler (165) and Luke Arnold-Decyk (190).”
The Vikings were trailing 9-0 after Smyrna’s Ricaldo Camacho posted a 4-1 decision over Noah Diamond at 150, followed by a Brandon West pin over Cape’s Brady Cole at 157 in 2:26.
Cape’s Connor Kugelmann ignited and delighted the home crowd by pinning William Wesley in 1:27 in the 165-pound match. Cape’s Jeffrey Rainier earned his second straight win 5-3 with an overtime takedown of Jeremiah Heath at 175 to tie the score at 9-9.
Teagan Gratkowski, Smyrna’s 190-pounder, pinned David Citro in 1:21. Patrick Donahue, Cape’s 215-pounder, followed with a win by pin over Mason Schulenburg in 4:14, knotting the score at 15-15.
Cape’s heavyweight Tyler Costello took Chijioke Eule to double overtime before losing 2-1.
Cape trailed 18-15, but responded with three straight wins by pin, starting at 106 with Austin Guerrieri pinning Michael Pierson in 3:27; 113, Cale Baker over Caeden Price in 1:04; and 120, Hudson Senard over Russell Freed in 2:13.
The score settled at 33-18 in favor of Cape.
Smyrna’s Warren Coates won by fall over Tripp Gannon in 1:36 in the 126-pound match, closing the score to 33-24 with three matches remaining.
Cape’s Max Meadows decisioned Donald Smith 9-7 at 132, followed by Colin Poulis winning by major decision 9-0 over Smyrna’s Victor Hernandez-Bryant at 138.
Nick Walker of Cape closed the contest at 144 with a win by pin over Jacob Kaminski in 55 seconds.
Takedowns - The state dual-meet championships featuring the top eight teams in each division will begin Wednesday, Feb. 14, with each of the top four seeds getting a home match. The semifinals and finals for each division will be held at Smyrna Saturday, Feb. 17. Smyrna won the recent middle school tournament and is projected to soon be back as one of the top dogs in the state.
