This past Friday night, the Milford wrestling team completed its regular season as it hosted Sussex Tech. After dropping the meet’s first match at 106 pounds, the Buccaneers began to roll, as has been the case most of the season. 8th grader Trevor Copes of Milford would win by forfeit at 113, then the parade of pins would begin.
It would start with senior Corey Messick at 120, then junior Jack Thode at 126, junior Trent Grant at 132 would all win by fall. At 138, 8th grader Aaron Briscoe would win by forfeit, sophomore Ryan Mejia would win by fall at 145, followed by sophomore Avery Copes who would win by forfeit at 152. Sophomore Tim O’Hara would win by fall at 160, before the Milford pin streak would come to an end. Buccaneer sophomore Dwayne Wiltbank would win a 5-1 decision at 170. Milford would finally lose at 182 pounds, with Tech getting its first win by fall at 182 pounds.
A split second, that’s all it was between Milford winning the D-I State title and losing it. In wrestling that split second can seem like an eternity. Unfortunately for Milford last season, it was on the wrong end of that split second and would eventually fall to Smyrna, having to settle for second place. “That is just one of those moments where the call can go either way and it just didn’t go ours. It was so close, but I had no problem with the call,” Milford coach Don Parsley said.
Nothing is given in high school sports, so to expect Milford to enter the State finals or tournament for that matter, is nothing to be taken for granted. In today’s climate what most coaches are hoping for across all winter sports is to just be able to compete. While Milford sets a high bar for itself when it comes to wrestling, this year may be a little bit different. There will be no special tournaments, no invitationals, just 12 dual meets against mainly Henlopen Conference competition. “