Cape wrestling wins Henlopen Conference tournament
A two-day wrestling tournament is a wellness clinic of constant motion with performances and emotions ranging from pretty good to downright disappointing.
Cape escaped the two-day lockdown at Sussex Central’s new gym with the Henlopen Conference tournament crown, which was propelled by its three hammers driving home individual championships – Austin Guerierri at 126, Grayson Davis at 150 and Nick Walker at 157.
Cape’s 209.5 points was followed by Caesar Rodney, the regular-season dual meet champion, with 201, Smyrna with 184, Sussex Central with 184 and Sussex Tech with 163.
Walker’s (38-4) win over Lake Forest’s Jerusalem Howard (42-2) established the senior as Cape's only four-time Henlopen champion.
Gusty third-place finishes were achieved by Jack Hudson at 113, Cale Baker at 120 and Carson Tuer at 165.
Baker achieved his 100th win prior to his victory in the third-place match.
Trip Gannon placed fourth at 138, Yusuf Smith took fifth at 175, Robbie Payton finished fifth at 190, Nolan Wright placed seventh at 106, Blake Walker secured sixth at 132 and Alex Barth claimed eighth at 285.
Tuer was the whack factor for Cape, turning the tables on Theodore Egolf of Delmar for a pin while trailing 16-4. He followed that with a pin in his third-place match over Ben Lee of Sussex Central.
“We had some great step-up efforts to win that Henlopen Conference trophy,” said Cape coach Chris Mattioni as he was surrounded by his team.
Notes: The top four wrestlers for each of the three qualifying tournaments receive automatic bids to the individual state tournament. At-large spots come from fifth- and sixth-place finishers based on season records and strength of opposition.
Scores from the Independent qualifying tournament were Salesianum with 314, Delaware Military Academy with 245, Charter School with 140 and Caravel with 126.
Scores from the Blue Hen qualifying tournament were St. Georges with 286, William Penn with 277, Middletown with 165 and Appoquinimink with 156.
Cape assistant coach Aaron Mattinoni received a flagrant misconduct penalty for repeated questioning of a call and/or non call at the end of a match. The penalty in wrestling is always assessed against the head coach and could result in a one-day suspension on the first day of the state tournament to be served by head coach Chris Mattioni.
