Polytech beats IR in Division II wrestling semis before capturing title
Last year, Caravel narrowly edged Indian River in the final match of the Division II Team Dual State Wrestling Championship, but this past Tuesday, Feb. 14, at Smyrna High School, both teams were stopped short in the semifinals. The Indians powered past Seaford in the quarterfinal match after a slow start but were bested by a determined Polytech team, fueled with emotion that eventually carried them to the Division II title.
Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark
Indian River's Max Wilkinson wears down Seaford's Jonathon Lynch-Cay during the 160-pound bout of the quarterfinal match at the DIAA Dual Met Wrestling Tournament this past Tuesday, Feb. 14, at Smyrna High.
The Indians, who finished the regular season 7-7, entered Tuesday’s tournament as the sixth seed out of the state’s Division II schools and began their afternoon against No. 3 Seaford. The Blue Jays set the tempo with three victories, for an early cushion, but Indian River answered back, as Phillip Bradford (132 pounds) and Justin Lopez (138 pounds) grabbed decision wins to level the score.
The Indians capitalized even more with four consecutive pins from Devontae Mitchell (152 pounds), Max Wilkinson (160 pounds), Matt Selba (170 pounds) and Jake Troublefield (182 pounds). Davonte Waters (220 pounds) and Nathaniel Pereira (285 pounds) snagged decision victories against their Seaford counterparts to help the Indians advance along to the semifinals, where top-seeded Polytech awaited.
“Seaford is a well-coached team,” said Indian River head coach Jeff Windish. “We knew we were facing a team that was peaking at the end of the season. We came out a little slow, which is something we can’t do against the powerhouses in the state. But we battled through that and won some critical matches.”
The Indians were met by the Panthers of Polytech, who managed to overcome a tragedy that had occurred less than 36 hours earlier.
Only a day prior, Polytech had been struck by the news that one of their wrestlers, junior Nicholas Capetola, had passed away. Though the news came out of the blue, Polytech put their mind at the task at hand.
“We’ve been caught in a rollercoaster of emotions in the past day,” said Panthers coach Dan Boone. “But we knew that if we were going to succeed, we had to band together and push on as a team.”
Rashaun Odom (120 pounds) and Garrett O’Nealgave the Panthers some early work, securing a pin and a decision, respectively, for an early Indian River lead. But the two teams traded blows, and the Panthers kept in stride. Jalen Griffin (145 pounds) and Wilkinson registered wins and points for the Indians before a late third-round pin from Pereira gave IR a 27-26 advantage, with two weight classes left to wrestle.
“Our guys wrestled tough,” said Windish. “I knew it would come down to the wire. We had forfeited some weight classes the first time we wrestled Polytech this year, but I thought we matched up well this time and did a great job to keep it close.”
The Panthers, who put together a 12-1 record on the regular season, finished off the Indians with a major decision from Kody Stevens (106 pounds) and a pin from Andrew Schmeusser (113 pounds), by a 36-27 margin, good enough for advancement into the title match.
“Our guys were able to come out and get wins over wrestlers that they didn’t beat last time,” Windish said. “We had the match right there at the end. It was ours to win, and it came down to the final guys.
“It was a one-match swing, but it just didn’t fall our way. I’m really proud of what our guys have done this season, though.”
Polytech squared off against St. George’s Tech, which advanced past Caravel Academy in the semifinals. With only a 10-point gap, the Panthers defeated St. George’s and in the process grabbed their first state team dual championship in the school’s history.
In the Division I tournament, Caesar Rodney defended last year’s title, besting the hosting Smyrna squad in the championship. With the victory, Caesar Rodney solidified their name in the books, picking up their state-leading, eighth dual team wrestling championship.
The Indians still have an important weekend ahead of them as they prepare for the Henlopen Conference Championships on Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18, at Sussex Central. Performance in the conference bouts will help to seed wrestlers for the Individual Wrestling Championships, which will be held later this month at Cape Henlopen High.
“We have a big weekend ahead of us,” Windish noted. “I really want to get kids through to the state individual tournament, and I think I have a good shot of getting most of them there. But this week, we’ve got to shift gears from a team mentality to more of a one-on-one aspect of the sport. Individual meets bring a whole different mindset to the game.”
