Athletes of the Week March 8

Mehkia Applewhite

When the throwdown is about to go down, Cape freshman Mehkia Applewhite is going to show up. In a quarterfinal 57-33 loss to St. Elizabeth March 4, Mehkia was Cape’s only player in double figures, with 13 points. She was an up-and-down, end-to-end force, handling the ball in the open court, driving to the basket and getting to the free-throw line, where she was 4-for-5. Mehkia was also the leading scorer in a state tournament win over St. Georges, scoring 12 points to go with 10 rebounds. Cape 2019 may have been a year away from big success, but the varsity team only loses two seniors and the JV team was undefeated. Applewhite ran track at Beacon and may run for Cape this spring.

Miles Godwin

A Beacon sixth-grader, three-sport athlete and honor roll student, Miles arrived at Beacon with athletic background in Pop Warner football along with travel baseball and Rehoboth Little League. This year, he thought he would try wrestling. Wrestling at 120 pounds March 3, he won his bracket at the Cavaliers Wrestling Tournament in Middletown by pinning in the semifinals and finals round, both in under 1:30. “My regular middle school season I was 5-3,” Miles said. Miles’ dad Marty Godwin is the current tennis pro at Bear Trap. “My dad is 6-foot-7, like 250, so I guess I’ll be moving up a few weight classes,” Miles said. He also said his favorite sport is football, where he plays linebacker and tight end. Miles expects to make the Beacon baseball team this spring.   

Corey Messick

A Milford ninth-grader wrestling 106, Corey compiled a record of 36-9 this season. Corey pulled off a big upset in the semifinal round of the DIAA Individual State Tournament, upsetting Luke Poore of Caravel 1-0. The Cape crowd, including wrestlers and adults, rose to their feet and went wild because they know Corey, and to know him is to like him a lot. Corey was Polytech tournament champion, Milford Invitational runner-up, Battle at the Beach champion, Henlopen Conference runner-up and DIAA state runner-up. He had eight pins in under a minute this season. He plays lacrosse for Milford in the spring and takes AP classes. His dad John Messick was a wrestler at Sussex Central.

Michael Wright

A Sussex Central senior wrestling at 195 pounds, Michael came into the DIAA Individual State Tournament ranked No. 1 with a record of 38-10. He was Henlopen Conference champion. Michael finished second at 182 pounds in 2018. But the storybook ending only happens in Hollywood. Wright was upset in the semifinals 4-3 by Danny Stradley of Salesianum. In wrestling, a championship quest quickly turns to a salvage operation. Michael had to wrestle back, beating the No. 2 seed Nasir Dreuitt of William Penn 5-2, then took down No. 3 seed Masen Wilson of Smyrna for third place. Michael will wrestle at Millersville next year. His father Dan Wright was a three-sport athlete at Cape – football, wrestling and track.