Caravel’s Keith Medley, top, controls Newark’s Nazr Roberson at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday. Medley defeated Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class.
Caravel’s Keith Medley, right, grabs the leg of Newark’s Nazr Roberson at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday. Medley defeated Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class.
Caravel’s Keith Medley (right) defeated Newark’s Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound match at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday.
Caravel’s Keith Medley, right, defeated Newark’s Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday.
NEWARK – Caravel wrestler Keith Medley learned a valuable lesson on Saturday night.
Be ready at all times.
Medley came out a little sluggish, and Newark’s Nazr Roberson nailed him with an early takedown in the 220-pound final at the Yellowjacket Invitational on Roberson’s home mat.
But Medley recovered and grinded out an 8-4 decision, good for outstanding wrestler honors in the 18-team tournament at Newark High.
“Honestly, I didn’t bring my ‘A’ game,” Medley said. “It was more of a gut check for me.”
Medley, who finished second in the state at 220 last season, transferred from St. Mark’s to Caravel before this school year. He took Roberson’s early move, which put him behind 2-0 just 30 seconds into the match, as a challenge.
“I work hard, and I expect myself to get out of situations like that,” Medley said. “I just tried to get in the best position to wrestle and score points.”
The junior scored enough points to win, and now looks forward to next weekend’s Beast of the East tournament at the University of Delaware. The annual event draws some of the best high school wrestlers from around the nation, so Medley is sure to have his hands full.
“Anything can happen to anybody at any given moment,” Medley said. “I didn’t have the sense of urgency I should have during that match. But I will focus on that this whole week.”
Caravel teammate Josh Dailey scored three pins, including a takedown of Hodgson’s Attila Brisco in 1:29 in the 160-pound final.
“It was pretty good,” Dailey said. “It was a slow start, but I got out there and my coaches were just telling me, ‘You need to go, you need to go. Get it over with.’”
Hodgson scored one over Caravel in the 126-pound final, as senior Tyler Harris made a quick, decisive takedown just 20 seconds into overtime to earn a 7-5 decision over Christopher DiEdoardo.
“I tried to execute, overcome my tiredness to get the win,” said Harris, who also won his weight class in the Green Knight Invitational at Mount Pleasant last year. “I knew I had to get a shot off the whistle, because he’s a very good wrestler. I knew I had to get him quick, pull that leg in and climb to the top and get my two points.”
The Silver Eagles also got individual titles from Dante Beadle (106), Anthony Dominelli (113) and Joey Conner (138) and won the team title by outpointing Caravel 240-232. A.I. du Pont (187) was third, followed by Archmere (176) and Mount Pleasant (144).
Caravel also got individual titles from Nick Barnhart, who pinned all four of his opponents at 132, and Colin Adams at 195.
Other weight-class winners were Archmere’s Matt McCurnin (120), A.I. du Pont’s Jamier Schaener (145) and Jacob Somerville (285), Mount Pleasant’s Caleb Lum (152), Conrad’s Andrew Chin-A-Loy (170) and Tatnall’s Benjamin Van Duyke (182).
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ