By Andy Walter

Caravel took a seven-point lead with one individual match left before edging Cape Henlopoen, 35-34, in a non-conference wrestling showdown on Wednesday night.

The contest was a matchup of last year’s DIAA Division I and II team state champions.

A first-period pin from Luke Poore (132 pounds) gave the Buccaneers their 35-28 advantage. Joshua Wright followed with a second-period for the Vikings but the win left them one point short of Caravel.

The match went back and forth with Cape Henlopen taking a 28-23 advantage on a 43-second fall from Rony Perez-Mejia at 120. But the Bucs answered with back-to-back pins to take the lead for good.

Also winning by fall for the Vikings was Cale Baker (113).

Caesar Rodney 58, Laurel 19: The Riders picked up nine pins in earning the win on Wednesday afternoon.

Brent Polk (190) posted a 26-second fall while Owen Dixon (175) had one in 53 seconds for CR.

The Riders’ other pins came from Alexander McEvoy (106), Cole Moffett (113), Nick Moore (120), Trevor Copes (132), Jaxon Kopp (138), Cameron Cataldi (157) and Nathan Legg (165).

The Bulldogs received pins from Stanley Pete (138) and Joseph Baynard (285).

Football

Date set for Blue-Gold game: The 2023 Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game will be played on June 16 at Delaware Stadium.

Pre-game activities start at 6 p.m. with the contest set to kick off at 7 p.m.

Boys’ basketball

Milford 61, Smyrna 51: The Buccaneers (3-0 North, 4-0 overall) took an 18-point into the fourth quarter before staying unbeaten.

Nine players scored at least three points for Milford, led by Andrew Kravitz (11), Ethan Wilkins (11) and J’Zere King (10).

Obinna Coleman (16), Joshua Wright (10) and Chase Sullivan (10) all scored in double figures for the Eagles.

Cape Henlopen 67, Caesar Rodney 61: The Vikings rallied from a four-point halftime deficit in the North win.

Drew Zimmerman had a team-high 21 points for Cape Henlopen, which was also led by Jayden Dukes (11), Trey Leggins (10) and Odin DeLazaro Potemski (10).

Malachi Brinkley scored a game-high 24 points for the Riders with Adam Bailey adding 14.

Girls’ basketball

Cape Henlopen 59, Caesar Rodney 27: Sophomore Faith Re (20) and junior Mya Maull (14) combined to sink seven three-pointers in the Vikings’ North win.

Ja’Onna Lee (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Amalia Frutchman (10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks) also led Cape Henlopen, which outscored the Riders, 17-4, in the third quarter.

Syllest Barrett scored 11 points for CR.

Smyrna 53, Milford 19: The Eagles led 30-4 by halftime before winning their second in a row.

Kai Burnette (15), Amiyah Ellerbe (10) and Taleny Pierce (10) all paced Smyrna.

College basketball

MEN, Wagner 58, Delaware State 51: The Seahawks scored the last nine points of the game to post a hard-fought win over the Hornets on Tuesday night.

Wagner (6-4) won its second game in a row while the Hornets (1-11) dropped their 10th straight.

Delaware State led 51-49 when Brandon Stone knocked down a three-point shot with 2:27 left. After Brandon Brown made a free throw to pull Wagner to within a point, Delonnie Hunt hit a layup off a Hornet turnover to give the Seahawks the lead for good, 52-51, with 1:41 remaining.

Wagner scored on its next position to pull ahead 54-51, and hit four free throws in the final 19 seconds to seal the win.

Stone led all players with 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field, including two three-pointers on five attempts. Hornet forward Kyle Johnson tallied 10 points, and season-highs of 10 rebounds and five blocks.

There were 13 lead changes and 11 ties in the game. Wagner was ahead by as many as seven points in the first half, and held a 28-25 lead at the break.

Delaware State’s biggest lead was three points, 38-35, after Jevin Muniz (7 points) hit two free throws at the 12:15 mark of the second half.