Athletes of the Week Feb. 28
Holt Baker
Holt is a Cape freshman who wrestles at 106. He has been grappling since 5 years old. “Holt’s improvement since the beginning of the season has been impressive,” said coach Chris Mattioni. “He battled to a third-place finish in the Henlopen Conference meet in a tough weight class. Holt listens and learns, and wants to get better.” Holt (23-14) is seeded eighth in the state tournament, and if he gets by Jason Cruz of Middletown he’ll run smack into No. 1 seed Gabe Giampetro of Smyrna. “High school is just so intense,” Holt said. “Practices are the same; you just learn to go hard all the time.” Holt added, “I’m just a basic wrestler, not looking to go from a granby to a double leg. And I think I’m best when I’m on my feet.”
Giovanni Bendfeldt
Giovanni won the Henlopen Conference pole vault in 2019 with a personal-best jump of 12-feet-6-inches. He pulled a muscle in the effort and didn’t compete in the state meet. In the 2020 Henlopen Championships, Gio jumped 12 feet for third place, as his teammate Bryan Ciabattoni won the event in 12-9. Gio also placed sixth in the shot put with a throw of 36-10. A year after missing the state meet, he roared down the runway and powered over 13 feet to set a new personal best and win the Delaware pole vault championship. Gio has a hurdling background and has also been on the cross country team. Gio takes honors and AP classes, and goes to Academic Challenge for math. He has been accepted into the mechanical engineering program at the University of Delaware.
Dylan King
Dylan is a junior 113-pound Henlopen Conference wrestling champion from Sussex Central. He enters this weekend’s state tournament as the No. 3, sporting a record of 28-13. Dylan was Central’s stopper down low all season. He had close matches in the Henlopen Conference tournament, beating Josh Wright of Cape in the quarters 5-2, battling Garrett Hudson of Smyrna in the semis 2-0, and beating top-ranked Corey Messick in the championship bout 3-2. Dylan started wrestling with Benny Mitchell and the Henlopen Hammers prior to middle school. “He got to middle school and still came to Hammers practice three days a week,” Benny said. “He’s one of the hardest-working kids I ever coached.”
Travon McVicker
The Sussex Central sprinter, hurdler and jumper snapped at the recent Henlopen Conference Championships, winning the 55-meter hurdles in 7.87, running on the winning 4-by-200 relay team and winning the high jump in 6-4. At the state championships Feb. 22 in Landover, Md., Travon won the state title in the high jump in 6-4, placed second in the 55 hurdles and helped the Golden Knights to a second-place finish in the 4-by-200 relay with a combined time of 1:33.35. Travon sits atop the honors in the high jump for all Delaware athletes. Sussex Central placed a close third in the team competition with 58.5 points to Salesianum’s 68 and Smyrna’s 66 points.
