Cape wrestling rolls over Sussex Central 55-20; Lares lights up home crowd

 Cape wrestling rolled over visiting Sussex Central 55-20 Jan. 14, recording eight wins by pin in a surprisingly dominant win that was clinched with five bouts remaining. 

The surprise matchup of the night came at 144, where Cape sophomore Tadeo Lares, with a varsity record of 0-0, won an 18-10 major decision over Giovanni Tiano.

“I had won a spot in the lineup two weeks ago and then I got hurt,” Lares said. “So this was my first varsity win.” 

The match followed the traditional lightest-to-heaviest lineup, with Jonathan Ramirez winning by tech fall over Cape’s Nolan Wright at 106 for a 5-0 Golden Knights  lead. 

The Vikings followed with three starting pins, at 113: Jack Hudson over Ivan Rodriguez; 120: Cale Baker over Noah Lewis; and 126: Austin Guerrieri over Seth Milligan.

Cape led 18-5 four bouts into the competition.

Jayden Mieth, 132, won a 7-1 decision over Blake Walker. The score tightened to 18-8. Walker placed third in the state last year at 113 and has jumped three weight classes. 

Cape let the dogs out beginning  at 138, going on a tear of five straight wins: a Tripp Gannon pin over Mark Everitt; 144, Tadeo Lares win by decision; and first-period wins by pin starting with 150, Grayson Davis over Mason Eikenberry; 157, Nick Walker over John Teoli; and 165, Carson Tuer over Jeffery Perez. Cape led 46-8.

Sussex Central got consecutive pins at 175, Ben Lee over Yusuf Smith, and 190, Cody Nichols over Nat Cohen, tightening the score to 46-20.

Robbie Payton, 215, won in sudden victory with a takedown in overtime, followed by Javier Morales at 285 with a win by pin over Lincoln Moore for the final of 55-20. 

The Vikings will compete Jan. 16 in the Grapple at the Brook Invitational Tournament in Maryland before wrestling at Polytech Wednesday, Jan. 21. 

Cape faces a formidable schedule to close out January, battling Caesar Rodney, Saint Mark’s, William Penn, Smyrna and Delaware Military Academy.