Cape wrestling loses at Caesar Rodney 37-24
Cape wrestling got flat-out beaten 37-24 Feb. 3 at Caesar Rodney, with emphasis on the flat.
“Things didn’t feel right from the first match at 113,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni. “Toss-up matches, not getting bonus points, and giving up points – none of it seemed to fall our way.”
Cape not only gave up the driver’s-seat position in the Henlopen Conference Northern Division; they have jumped free from the truck.
“Good luck to Cape against Smyrna on Saturday. We need it,” CR coach Mike Rigby said, smiling.
Smyrna had lost to Milford earlier in the season, but beat Caesar Rodney, so if Cape wins at Smyrna, the Eagles will have two losses and the North will go to the Riders. If Cape rebounds and beats Smyrna and Sussex Central, the Vikings will be tied with the Riders and lose the conference on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Cape came out of the first three bouts trailing 13-0. Dylan Bennett (113) beat Rony Perez 7-1; Marlon Smith (120) won by major decision over Josh Wright 8-0, and Cameron Cataldi (126) pinned Grant Barczak in 4:33.
Cape stormed back, taking a 21-13 lead on wins by Bryan Garcia (132) over Nathaniel Atchley 8-3; Mikey Frederick (138) fall over Gabe Stone; Luke Bender (145) forfeit; and C.J. Fritchman (152) fall over Cody Waski.
The Riders then ran off four straight wins to take a 28- 21 lead. Dane Wilson (160) decisioned Carson Kammerer 7-3; DeVaughn Baker (170) decisioned Mike Elphick 12-5; Brock Connor (182) decisioned Dalton Deevey 10-3; and Shamar Nelson (195) pinned Alex Taylor with four seconds left in the bout.
Cape’s Jackson Handlin, wrestling in 220 but weighing 193, slugged through a match with Josh Dyer to win 1-0. The victory was the 100th of his career, but there were no posters, balloons or flowers.
The team score closed to 28-24, but two-time state champion Kevin Hudson awaited Lucas Ruppert at 285, and the Riders had Alex McEvoy for Arthur Bennett at 106.
Hudson and Ruppert battled for three periods, with Hudson winning 2-1. Hudson is crafty in close matches; he is just hard to put away.
McEvoy at 106 closed out the match with a pin of Arthur Bennett for the final score of 37-24.
A highlight of the match came in the undercard during a JV bout when Cape freshman Luke McCarthy, trailing 11-2, caught and pinned Jaxon Kopp with 32 seconds left in the bout.
Cape’s next match comes Saturday, Feb. 6, when the Vikings travel to Smyrna. The Eagles are coming off a 52-18 loss to Salesianum. Smyrna beat Caesar Rodney 46-32, but lost to Milford 37-33. Cape beat Milford 41-23. Comparing team scores in wrestling does not reliably project outcomes. It’s all about matchups and who shows up ready to wrestle.
