The Selbyville Middle School wrestling team placed third among a field of 14 teams on Saturday in the Henlopen Middle School Wrestling Invitational Tournament 2007, at Seaford High School. Winning the tournament were Upstate perennial powerhouses Smyrna and Fifer.
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Timmy Bokinsky takes down his opponent and tries to move in for the pin.The Selbyville matmen sent eight wrestlers into the semifinals, including Jerrantra White at the 82-pound weight class, John Briddell at 88 pounds, Mark Batlan at 94 pounds, Max Wilkinson at 100 pounds, Timmy Bokinsky at 124 pounds, Cyrus Powell at 130 pounds, Derrantay Turner at the 149-pound weight class and Elijah Foreman at 155 pounds. Katteem Harmon helped SMS by winning enough matches to advance to the consolation semi-finals.
At that stage of the tournament, the SMS matmen pulled away from 12 other Henlopen teams looking to place in the conference finale, including favorites Postelwait, Milford, and Sussex Central.
In the finals, John Briddel (10-2) placed second, Timmy Bokinsky (10-2) placed second, Derrantay Turner (10-2) scored a second-place and Elijah Foreman (12-0) was crowned the champion in the 155-pound weight class.
“Elijah’s dominated everyone all year,” Selbyville co-head coach Joe Bellistri said. “And it hasn’t mattered where we wrestled him.”
Foreman wrestled at both the 148- and 155-pound weight classes.
In the consolation finals, Jerrantra White (12-0) scored a third, while Max Wilkinson (11-1), Mark Batlan (7-4) and Cyrus Powell (8-3) took fourth.
The greatest comeback of the day came from Derrantay Turner. On his way to the finals, he was down 8-0 at the end of the second period. In the third period, Turner scored two takedowns, an escape and two near-falls — the last near-fall coming in the last two seconds of the match — to win 10-9.
The Selbyville Indians wrestling team finished the season with a 6-6 record, including a 43-42 win over Sussex Central Middle School last month.
And according to Bellistri, the Indians had never placed higher than sixth at the conference tournament, so this year’s finish was particularly fulfilling.
“This was a great way to end the season,” he said. “The kids really worked hard in practice and it paid off for them.”
“This is a tough tournament,” Bellistri continued. “And to have eight in the semi-finals was unbelievable. We we’re absolutely pysched.”
The middle-school wrestling season will conclude following the Delaware Kids State tournament, which set for Sussex Tech High School on Feb. 25.
For highlights and photos of the wrestlers in tournament action, go to the Web site at www.indianriverwrestling.com.