Cape wrestling earns 40-29 win over Caesar Rodney
Andre Currie moved up to 182 pounds and notched a 15-4 major decision over Mekel Treadwell for his 100th career victory Jan. 8, propelling the Cape wrestling team to a 40-29 victory over the visiting Caesar Rodney Riders.
Cape improved its dual-meet record to 10-2 and will wrestle at Delaware Military Academy on Friday, Jan. 10.
“Caesar Rodney is a little off this year, but with great tradition and coaching, you still have to go out and beat them a weight class at a time,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni. “We wrestled well tonight across the lineup. There were some great bouts out there.”
The match started at 113 pounds, where Josh Wright pinned Mekenna Dolt at 2:38. That was answered at 120, where Marlon Smith pinned Brexton Carter in 48 seconds. The score leveled at 6-6.
Cape’s CJ Fritchman secured a tech fall over Dawson Mitchell followed by a Carson Kammerer pin over Mason Bush in 2:49 to give the Vikings a 17-6 advantage.
Freshman Luke Bender (138) had a tough match versus senior Patrick Wisniewski, losing a 5-4 decision and closing the score to 17-9.
Mikey Frederick (145) was trailing CR senior Caleb Adamowicz 5-2 in the second period before hitting a five-point move – takedown and back points – for a 7-5 lead and going on to a 13-5 major decision. The four team points gave Cape a 21-9 lead after six bouts.
“The Adamowicz kid is good,” Mattioni said. “Those four team points put us in good position.”
CR’s Jackson Dean (152), a defending state champion, pinned Finbar Rishko in 3:36. Juan Lares of Cape cancelled out those six points with a pin over Jha-ki Goslee, recalculating the score to 27-15 halfway through the bout with seven weight classes remaining.
Cape’s Gary Hayes (170) earned a 2-1 decision over Samuel Tolson; then Andre Currie (182) followed with a major decision over Mekel Treadwell. Cam Smith of Cape (195) was pinned by Shamar Nelson in 1:06. The score tabulated to 34-21 in favor of Cape with three bouts remaining.
Cape’s Jackson Handlin (220) pinned Josh Dyer to give the Vikings a 40-21 secure lead with just two bouts remaining.
“We had a couple of moves to make in this match, and moving Jackson up to 220 was one of them,” Mattioni said. “He said that Dyer was really strong, so he tried to stay away. Once Jackson gets on top, he is tough.”
Lucas Ruppert (285) battled defending state champion Kevin Hudson into the second overtime before losing 4-3. Ruppert was all blood and sweat but no tears at the end of his bout.
Cameron Cataldi of CR (106) closed out the match with a 15-0 tech fall of Holt Baker.
The Riders hold a 7-5 advantage over Cape over the last 12 seasons, but Cape hadn’t beaten the Riders since a 35-31 win in 2017.
The Riders have won eight Division I dual-meet state championships, with the last coming in 2018 when the Riders upset Smyrna 30-29 in the finals.
