William Penn High senior Patrick Hunter made his first climb to the top of the victory stand Saturday at the Blue Hen Conference Wrestling Tournament and couldn’t help but admire the view.
He’d just had a short stay on the mat, getting a 126-pound championship match pin in 35 seconds.
“I didn’t want to risk anything,” Hunter said of ending his match so quickly.
His visit to the podium was longer.
“Whoa I’m tall,” Hunter exclaimed after reaching the desired height.
On this particular night in the Alexis I. du Pont High gym, Hunter and his Colonial teammates enjoyed being once again perched on the pinnacle.
William Penn repeated as Blue Hen Conference Wrestling Tournament team champion, overtaking a St. Georges team that had beaten the Colonials in a January dual.
Hunter was the only senior among the four William Penn individual winners, as he was joined by juniors Daniel Sinclair (138) and Ziyad Badreldien (182) and freshman Franklin Norris (160).
“There’s history and there’s tradition [at William Penn] and we’re moving it back in the right direction,” said fifth-year William Penn coach Joe Archangelo, a three-time Blue Hen champ at the old Claymont High in the late 1980s.
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William Penn had also won the 2020 tournament title, its first since 2016. There was no Blue Hen Conference Tournament in 2021, however, due to COVID-19 precautions that limited competition.
St. Georges had a 20-point lead over William Penn entering Saturday’s afternoon competition, where the Hawks had three second seeds lose matches in the semifinals and were passed by the Colonials. William Penn entered the consolation finals ahead by seven and the championship matches up by 16½ and outpointed Flight A dual-meet champ St. Georges 258-228. Middletown, Appoquinimink and Flight B champ McKean rounded out the top five.
Sinclair also won the Blue Hen title his freshman year and but is motivated this season by last year’s 13-11 loss in the state finals to Milford’s Trent Grant at 132.
“When I know I have a hard match coming up, I see pictures of me with my head down and Trent Grant walking off the mat, head high,” Sinclair said. “It gets me going a little bit harder. I’m just trying to be a little more technical, trying to improve my craft whenever I wrestle.”
Badreldien, who didn’t wrestle last season because of the COVID situation, scored a takedown with two seconds left to prevail. Norris kicked off a promising career, Archangelo saying “We’re looking forward to seeing him grow in our sport. He’s got a really good future.”
The top four finishers at each of the 14 weight classes qualified for the DIAA Individual Championships next weekend at Cape Henlopen High, along with the top four from the Henlopen Conference and Independent Schools meets. The remaining four participants in each of the 16-wrestler weight brackets for the state meet will be selected Sunday by a committee comparing individuals’ results from the 2021-22 season.
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Only three of the 16 teams entered had a wrestler in every weight class, a sign of the struggles Blue Hen Conference schools continue to have in filling rosters for some sports, especially one as demanding as wrestling. There were four wrestlers in the 113-pound division. Newark, which has more place-winners in Blue Hen tourney history than any school except William Penn, didn’t even field a team this season.
The Most Outstanding Wrestler Award went to Delcastle senior Julian Rapuano, who improved to 26-5 on the year with his win at 113.
“He’s got a great work ethic,” said Delcastle coach Jeff Hewes, a Blue Hen place-finisher in his days as a William Penn wrestler. “He puts out every day in the room and he was able to showcase that today against another top-flight wrestler.”
Rapuano was taken down early by St. Georges senior Matt Meadows but then took command for a 9-2 win.
“I know I’ve been working since my freshman year to win it,” Rapuano, a two-time third-place finisher at states, said of the award, “but I can’t say I’m satisfied because I still got one more job to do next week.”
One Blue Hen champ stayed unbeaten, as Middletown 195-pounder Brendan Timmons improved to 34-0 with a pin at 195. Thomas was a Blue Hen runner-up his sophomore year and placed sixth at states last year.
“I’m feeling really good,” Timmons said. “I’m really confident about what I’ve been working on. I put in the work over the summer and am just making sure I’m having fun. That’s a big part of it.”
Middletown nearly matched William Penn’s haul of four title winners as Jacob Ebaugh (152), just a freshman, and sophomore Dakarie Oretade (220) also prevailed.
Appoquinimink had a pair of winners in Logan Russo (120) and Wyatt Uhde (145), 106-pounder Louis Zitofsky gave St. Georges an individual title and 132-pounder Anthony Crespo from A.I. du Pont gave the home fans reason to cheer. Timothy Eddinger won at 170 for Hodgson and McKean’s Theo Kerr closed the night with a win at 285.
Blue Hen Conference Wrestling Tournament
At A.I. du Pont High
Team scoring
1-William Penn, 258; 2-St. Georges, 228; 3-Middletown, 188; 4-Appoquinimink, 173; 5-McKean, 118.5; 6-A.I. du Pont, 87.5; 7-Delcastle, 86; 8-Hodgson, 72; 9-Howard, 64; 10-Concord, 63.5; 11-Glasgow, 59; 12-Odessa, 47; 13-Brandywine, 39.5; 14-Mount Pleasant, 25; 15-Christiana, 23; 16-Dickinson, 16.
Championship finals
106 – Louis Zitofsky (St. Georges) pinned Roman Kubbler (Appoquinimink) 2:58.
113 – Julian Rapuano (Delcastle) dec. Matt Meadows (St. Georges) 9-2.
120 – Logan Russo (Appoquinimink) dec. Luis Pena (A.I. du Pont) 5-4.
126 – Patrick Hunter (William Penn) pinned Nolan McHale (St. Georges) :35.
132 – Anthony Crespo (A.I. du Pont) dec. Dean Horner (Concord) 4-0.
138 – Daniel Sinclair (William Penn) tech. fall Chance Hickey (St. Georges) 17-2 (4:14).
145 – Wyatt Uhde (Appoquinimink) dec. Thomier White (St. Georges) 24-13.
152 – Jacob Ebaugh (Middletown) dec. Kendrell Mason (William Penn) 5-3.
160 – Jason Wallace (Middletown) maj.dec. Franklin Norris (William Penn) 14-3.
170 – Timothy Eddinger (Hodgson) dec. Chase Timmons (Middletown) 3-1.
182 – Ziyad Badreldein (William Penn) dec. Evan Boyd (Middletown) 3-2.
195 – Brendan Timmons (Middletown) pinned Hamid Sunzar (Glasgow) 2:43.
220 – Dakarie Oretade (Middletown) pinned Christian Pope (Howard) 3:09.
285 – Theo Kerr (McKean) pinned Makhai Mitchell (Glasgow) 1:11.
Third place
106 – Ellis (WP) pinned Santiago (McK) 3:00; 113 – Murray (WP) pinned Killingsworth (App) 2:14; 120 – DiTomasso (StG) dec. Gordy (WP) 5-0; 126 – Oldaker-Banks (Od) dec. Juarez (Hod) 6-4; 132 – Hendricks (WP) pinned Hackett (StG) 2:22; 138 – Savage (AI) pinned Jones (Bw) 3:35; 145 – Harding (WP) pinned Ramirez (McK) 2:32; 152 – Brock (StG) maj. Dec. Luciano (Hod) 14-5; 160 – McCabe (MP) dec. Beam (Appo) 10-9; 170 – Davis (How) pinned Hinton (StG) 2:37; 182 – Halloway (McK) dec. Clark (StG) 4-2; 195 – Arrowood (StG) pinned Massey (WP) 2:18; 220 – Zavala-Rosiles (G) dec. Chupany (AI) 4-3; 285 – Steinberg (Mid) pinned Sarson (Chr) 2:36.
Fifth place
106 – Mulrooney (Delc) pinned Ramos (AI) 5:01; 113 – No match; 120 – Archy (Delc) pinned Smith (McK) 4:41; 126 – Mills (Appo) dec. Camputaro (Mid) 9-5; 132 – Bond (Mid) dec. Johnson (How) 11-10; 138 – Leach (Delc) dec. Lebrew (McK) 2-0; 145 – Cura (Bw) dec. Richards (How) 6-4; 152 – Biasotto (Bw) dec. Simpler (Appo) 7-1; 160 – Hawkins (Hod) dec. Cheeks (StG) 9-2; 170 – Daniels (Conc) pinned Brown (WP) :58; 182 – Ramsey (Delc) pinned Queen (Appo) 2:33; 195 – Williams (Appo) pinned Eubanks (McK) 2:37; 220 – Beatie (Appo) pinned Schleeweis (Conc) 1:20; 285 – Jarquin-Torres (WP) won by forfeit over Lupi (Conc).
Semifinals
106 – Zitofsky (StG) pinned Santiago (McK) :45; Kubbler (App) pinned Ellis (WP) 3:22; 113 – Rapuano (Delc) pinned Killingsworth (App) :52: Meadows (St.G) pinned Murray (WP) 4:54; 120 – Pena (AI) pinned Gordy (WP) :27; Russo (App) dec. DiTomasso (StG) 9-5; 126 – Hunter (WP) pinned Oldaker-Banks (Od) 2:46; McHale (StG) pinned Juarez (Hod) 1:41; 132 – Horner (Conc) dec. Hackett (StG) 5-2; Crespo (AI) pinned Hendricks (WP) 3:47; 138 – Sinclair (WP) pinned Lebrew (McK) 3:19; Hickey (StG) pinned Savage (AI) 1:12; 145 – White (StG) tech.fall Ramirez (McK) 16-0 (5:33); Uhde (App) maj.dec. Harding (WP) 11-2; 152 – Ebaugh (Mid) dec. Biasotto (Bw) 3-0; Mason (WP) dec. Brock (StG) 11-7; 160 – Wallace (Mid) maj.dec. McCabe (WP) 12-3; Norris (WP) pinned Beam (App) 2:44; 170 – Eddinger (Hod) pinned Hinton (StG) :44; Timmons (Mid) pinned Davis (How) 3:46; 182 – Boyd (Mid) dec. Halloway (McK) 2-1; Badreldein (WP) dec. Clark (StG) 10-6; 195 – Timmons (Mid) pinned Massey (WP) 3:42; Sunzar (G) dec. Arrowood (StG) 13-9); 220 – Oretade (Mid) pinned Schleeweis (Conc) 5:59; Pope (How) pinned Beatie (App) 1:09; 285 – Kerr (McK) pinned Jarquin-Torres (WP) 1:22; Mitchell (G) won by injury default over Lupi (Conc) :42.
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