Sussex Central, Friday afternoon, had little trouble with visiting Smyrna in a 45-17 wrestling victory that gave the squad its second Henlopen Conference Northern Division crown in three years.
The matchup between the last remaining teams unbeaten in conference meets began at 103 and was close until the nationally ranked Golden Knights and their star-studded middleweights turned the bout into a rout.
Central 103-pounder Jeremy West got the victors started quickly with a 16-0 technical fall, but the Eagles answered with a pin at 112 and a 119 decision to take a 9-5 team lead.
From there, however, it was all Knights, as senior Brandon Shultie tied the bout 9-9 with a major decision at 125 and classmate Joel Collins gave Central the lead for good with a 5-2 decision over Zach Carbine.
Starting with Shultie's win, the Knights took six straight matches and nine of the next 11 total.
Knights senior Ryan Walls followed with 3:53 pin at 135, which junior Cody Broomall - who joined Central just days ago after transferring from Smyrna - followed with a 15-7 major decision victory against Eagles freshman Zach Boyles.
Senior Shane Miller and junior Codey Combs flopped their normal weights in the next two Central wins, with the former earning an 8-2 decision at 145 and the latter defeating Cody Carbine 3-0 at 152.
Combs, a two-time defending state individual champ, has not lost to a Delaware opponent in his high school career.
Sophomore Jay Matheus, who bumped up to 171, won by technical fall, while senior Ryann Schafer (189) and junior Joey Spicer (215) earned pins to cap the scoring for the Knights on the afternoon.
Next up for Central is this weekend's Henlopen Conference tournament at Cape Henlopen High School, and Tuesday the club will be at Delaware State University in the state dual meet championships, likely as the No. 2 seed.
