‘Stay there’ and ‘short time’ are wrestling commands relatable to athletes and fans 

Stay there! Stay there! The coach exhorts, “Stay there! Short time!” The wrestler is on top, the seconds are elapsing to zero toward the end of the period. Sitting with a camera near the corner next to the mat, the power of suggestion “stay there” applies to me, not to mention “short time.” No matter what persons of interest I see, I ain’t moving. I capture images but rarely compose photos. But tandem heavyweight state champs from the day when Smyrna had a weigh station for trucks on Route 13 was too much to resist. Matt Graviet (1999) and Joe Booth (1976) are not former champs, but forever champs. I had to annoy them, because if I didn’t then I never would. And while up, I saw three young trainers ambling about. I thought “The Supremes” trainers are just the best of People in Sports. I grabbed a photo of Hollyann Wettstein, Jaycie Kerrick and Ashley Schuster. And then Avery Jacome and his little brother Adrian Hylton, a couple young characters from local wrestling culture. I asked for a photo and started posing like I was doing a young life calendar. My goal when taking photos is to sit so long my feet fall asleep, only awakened when coach Chris Mattioni bellows, “You shoot!”

Rose and Rhue - LaSalle University brought back its Division I baseball program this spring. The Explorers are already 2-0 with a pair of wins over UMES. LaSalle plays at Delaware Tuesday, Feb. 17. Noah Burroughs, grandson of local rocker Mike Daisey, plays for Delaware after transferring from Salisbury. Keeping it local, Austin Rhue and PJ Rose are on the LaSalle roster, and are close friends. PJ is the grandson of Pete Rose, who played for the Reds and Phillies. Austin is the grandson of Brent Rhue and Nancy Clifton Rhue. Austin is batting 1.000, going 1-for-1 with an RBI. 

Taskmaster - I am a human tracking device. Saturday at the wrestling state duals in Smyrna, I was tracking the Mercer men’s lacrosse game versus VMI on live stats, getting live updates from Kenny Riedel on the Cape boys’ basketball game at Dover, receiving updates from Susan on Fred Thomas versus Newark Charter in boys’ basketball from the Capital Classic played at Sussex Academy, and checking insidelacrosse.com to follow the Delaware men versus St. John’s game and the Salisbury women at Catholic University. Two things I was not covering were Winter Olympics curling and tandem moguls skiing. 

Fat records, soft schedules - There are 14 boys’ basketball teams in Delaware that have played .722 basketball or better. Five teams have played better than .800 basketball through 19 games. Any of these teams could win the state championship in an open, single-division tournament. The Henlopen Conference Championship game is Saturday, Feb. 21, at Dover. Teams should be Dover versus Seaford. Can Cape reach the finals and perhaps win its first state title since 1976? Yes, absolutely. Cape is in the mix. Girls’ basketball has 12 teams playing over .700 basketball with Sanford, Cape and St. Elizabeth considered the best. The Delaware indoor track championships are Feb. 21 at the Ott Center on the University of Pennsylvania campus. One division for boys and girls. Last year, the top four girls’ teams were Tatnall, Padua, Saint Mark’s and Smyrna. The top four boys’ teams were Middletown, Cape, Caesar Rodney and Tatnall. 

Snippets - The top five Division III college women's lacrosse teams are Middlebury, Tufts, Salisbury, Gettysburg, and Franklin & Marshall. The top five D3 men's teams are Tufts, Christoher Newport, Salisbury, Dickinson and Bowdoin. Mason Moore of Rehoboth Beach and Mack Leonhartt of Lewes are on the Tufts roster.  Annie Judge is an associate academic advisor with the Temple University Athletic Department. The Daytona 500 brings back memories of the Philadelphia 76ers trading the 1986 first pick (7-footer Brad Daugherty) to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Roy Hinson and cash. Wikipedia: “Following his retirement from the NBA, Daugherty co-owned the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team Liberty Racing, featuring such drivers as Kenny Irwin Jr. and Kevin Harvick. In 1997, Irwin won two Craftsman Truck Series races driving for Daugherty (Homestead-Miami Speedway in March and Texas Motor Speedway in June). Daugherty joined ESPN's return to NASCAR racing telecasts in 2007.” Tyler Reddick won the Daytona 500. Michael Jordan is co-owner of his racing team. The Daytona 500, the biggest race in NASCAR, was on Jordan’s birthday. And now back to curling. Go on now, git!