Cape wrestling uses 18 bonus points to top Sussex Tech
Lightweights and underweights sandwiched at opposite sides of a back-and-fourth dual wrestling match at Sussex Tech Dec. 17, as the stands sizzled with excitement.
Cape’s 215-pound wrestler Robbie Payton put a mathematical end to the drama with a pin of Jonathan Degrand at 1:19, giving the Vikings a 36-28 margin with one bout remaining. Cape’s Javier Morales closed with a fall at 285 at 5:56 for the final 42-28 victory.
“I’m a three-sport athlete [football, wrestling, baseball] so I have no problem being in the spotlight of the big moment,” Payton said. “I didn’t wrestle last year – I was just worn down – but now as a senior, I want to do what I can to help Cape win matches. I started off slow, but it’s starting to come back to me.”
Coach Chris Mattioni said Payton’s dad Frank needs to feed him more; he only weighs 199 pounds.
The match rolled light to heavy, with Cape picking up big wins from Nolan Wright at 106, a 9-8 decision over Brody Callaway, and at 113, where freshman Jack Hudson, in his first bout as a high schooler, won 6-5 over Kaden Von Arx.
“I was mostly the JV guy in middle school,” Wright said. “Last year, as a varsity starter, I was not happy with the way I wrestled. I worked really hard over the summer, and coaches tell me it shows that I am wrestling much better.”
Hudson had been sidelined with a broken left hand, which was wrapped for his first match.
“I just had to lose three pounds today, which I did, so here I am,” Hudson said.
Cape won eight of 14 bouts, including six pins for 18 bonus points. In addition to Payton and Morales, Cape got pins from Cale Baker (120) over Drake Rodgers in 1:33, Austin Guerrieri (126) over Cason Andrews in 3:15, Grayson Davis (150) over Cullen Nichols in 3:15 and Nick Walker (157) over Chris Heck in 1:01.
Sussex Tech had two pins and two tech falls for 10 bonus points.
Winning by pin for the Ravens were Noah Holcomb-Figgs (138) over Hudson Senard in 5:57 and Kayden Andrews (175) over Owen Mattioni in 2:39.
Winning by tech fall for the Ravens were Anthony Andrews over Blake Walker 15-0 and Bennett Brumbley (165) over Carson Tuer 27-12.
Wins by decision for Sussex Tech were Logan King (144) over Tripp Gannon 5-0 and Isaiah Fountain (190) over Yusuf Smith 16-9.
There were 19 JV bouts preceding the varsity competition, with most of those decided by pin.
“We’re really happy with this JV group,” said Cape coach Shane Jensen. “We’re more athletic than we’ve been in a long time.”
Sussex Tech won the girls’ match 42-12, with nine bouts contested rolling from 107 to 235 pounds. All matches were won by pin.
For Cape, Mackenzie Mears pinned her opponent in 28 seconds in the 126-pound match, while Zorah Pope won by pin in 2:22 in the 152-pound bout.
