By Andy Walter

GEORGETOWN — Jack Thode couldn’t help but be a little anxious when he took the mat on Saturday night.

What if the Milford High senior was this close to making school history and lost?

“That was going through my head the whole time,” Thode admitted. “But, after I shook off the butterflies, I was fine.”

And Thode did indeed make history, becoming the first Milford to win four Henlopen Conference individual titles when he won the 132-pound crown with a third-period pin as the two-day conference tournament concluded at Sussex Central.

Smyrna’s Gabe Giampietro also won his fourth Henlopen championship although his was more anti-climatic. The senior captured the 120-pound championship by forfeit after his opponent in the finals was medically unable to compete.

And after falling to Cape Henlopen in the DIAA Division I dual-meet state finals a week ago, Caesar Rodney edged the Vikings to win its first Henlopen tourney team crown in several years. The Riders finished with 252.5 points to 247 for Cape.

CR, which put five wrestlers in the finals, didn’t have any individual champions but had 13 wrestlers finish in the top six — with the other placing seventh.

“We’ve had a really good tournament team all year long,” said Riders coach Dan Rigby. “We’ve struggled a little bit in dual meets. I wasn’t necessarily expecting to win but I wasn’t surprised.

“It’s just a great way to end the season for these guys. The good thing was they all wrestled for each other and they all wrestled for two full days. We really made our money today on the backside of the bracket — not just winning but pinning.”

Cape Henlopen added to its already-impressive winter by having five individuals win championships out of the seven it put in the finals. That group included Mikey Frederick (145), C.J. Fritchman (160), Carson Kammerer (170), Alex Taylor (195) and Dalton Deevey (220).

Host Sussex Central had three champions, with Malachi Stratton (106), Chase Murray (113) and Josh Negron all winning in their home gym.

Milford and Smyrna both had two conference champs: Thode and Aaron Briscoe (138) won for the Buccaneers with Giampietro and Qwantez Watkins (126) winning for the Eagles.

The other two champions came from the Henlopen South with Lake Forest’s Nurrideen Ahmad-Statts (152) and Indian River’s T.J. Burke (285) winning titles.

While the Henlopen tournament wasn’t held last year because of the pandemic, the coaches did vote for an all-conference team based on the regular season. The first-team selections were considered the conference champions.

Thode said he was aware that he had a chance to be Milford’s first four-time Henlopen champ.

“I’ve been looking at that for the whole year,” he said. “It was always talked about but I never thought it would come true until I started working harder. Every year I’d see myself getting better and my goals get bigger as I progressed.”

“To dominate the conference tournament for four years is really an outstanding achievement,” said Milford coach Don Parsley. “I couldn’t be more proud of Jack.

“You can’t just wish to be a champion and the magic wand is waved and you become a champion. You have to put in the time and effort and all of those things. Over the years, Jack has done a tremendous job of doing the extra things.”

Thode won all three of his tourney matches by pin. That included a fall in 5:52 over CR’s Marlon Smith in the finals.

Likewise, Smyrna’s Giampietro had a couple pins heading into the finals. He would rather have won his fourth title on the mat.

“It kind of stinks that I wasn’t able to get a match but a title is a title,” he said. “I don’t like it. I was pumped and ready.”

Next weekend, Giampietro is expected to be a strong contender for something even bigger. He’ll go into the individual state tourney looking to become only Smyrna’s second four-time state champion.

“I can’t wait,” said Giampietro. “The week can’t go by any slower. It’s killing me, I’m anxious for it.”

Notes

The top four finishers in each weight class earned automatic berths into next weekend’s DIAA individual state tournament, which is being held at Cape Henlopen. The other top finishers from each conference’s tourneys will go into a pool. ... Cape Henlopen’s Chris Mattioni was named the Henlopen Coach of the Year.

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.