Cape wrestling rides 14 bonus points to 32-30 win over Sussex Central

Cape wrestling won 32-30 over visiting Sussex Central Feb. 8, in a match that stopped making sense the moment it started.

“Everything pretty much went according to plan,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni with a smile, adding irony to the evening. “We had several guys wrestle well even in losing by not giving up bonus points.”

Cape won six of the 14 bouts, but flowed in an additional 14 bonus points compared to just six for the Golden Knights, and that made the difference.

The match started with a surprise at 285 pounds, as Sussex Central heavyweight Caden Collins was out of the lineup with a hand injury. Central forfeited six points to Lucas Ruppert. 

Central’s Chase Murray (106) pinned Arthur Bennett in 4:51 to tie the score at 6-6. 

Rony Perez of Cape (113) followed with a pin of Austin King in 3:08, thrusting the Vikings into a 12-6 lead. 

Dylan King (120) fought off his back to pin Josh Wright of Cape in 5:41, tying the score at 12-12. 

“Josh wrestled well, the best he ever has, against King,” Mattioni said. 

Central’s Talan Savage (126) decisioned Grant Barczak 6-2, followed by the Golden Knights’ Tyler Hudson (132) winning by decision over Bryan Garcia 7-4.

The 138-pound bout featured Mason Ankrom of Central versus Cape’s Mikey Frederick. The wrestlers are ranked second and third in the state. Frederick led 4-2, employing his two-for-one takedown strategy, but gave up a takedown, and at the end of the second period, the score was tied at 4-4. Frederick let Ankrom up, then walked into a five-point move, fought off the pin and came back from the bottom to score two for the final 10-6 win by Ankrom.

“Mikey is hard-charging; that is his style,” Mattioni said. “I just love his energy.”

Cape trailed 21-12 with just six bouts remaining.  

The Vikings’ Luke Bender (145) pinned Caden Cope in 4:49, followed by Cape’s C.J. Fritchman (152) winning by pin over Cole Jester in 4:43 to surge Cape into the lead 24-21. 

Cape’s Carson Kammerer (160), coming off two consecutive losses, won by tech fall over Ethan Vickers 15-0 for five team points and a 29-21 advantage.

Central’s Gabe Cannon (170) won a 6-3 decision over Mike Elphick, closing the score to 29-24. 

Central’s Josh Negron (182), a pinning machine, got a tough match from Cape’s Dalton Deevey, winning 6-1 to tighten the score even more to 29-27. 

Cape’s flip-flop tandem at 195/220 with Alex Taylor and Jackson Handlin elected to send Taylor out at 195, where he won an 8-4 match over Ivan Neal for a 32-27 Cape lead.

Handlin then stayed off his back, holding off dangerous Dereck Wong. Handlin lost 7-4, but secured the team win for Cape.

The Vikings had lost five straight matches to the Golden Knights. Cape closes out the dual-meet season with Senior Night at home Friday, Feb. 12, at 5 p.m. against Delaware Military Academy.

Sussex Central wrestles at Smyrna Friday, with the match beginning at 6:30 p.m.