By Jon Buzby
MaxPreps.com
No it wasn’t the Super Bowl or Rose Bowl, or any other bowl involving pads and helmets.
What the defending state champion Middletown football team competed in on July 25 was its version of a bowl game: the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
This championship series is a summer competition among current players involving drills that tests agility, conditioning, strength and mental toughness.
There were eight competitions that made up the event. Some competitions were standard football drills, while others – like the one-on-one tire pull similar to a tug-of-war - were creative ways to test strength.
At the beginning of the summer teams were selected by senior players and the coaches then paired competitors up for weekly Friday competitions. The event on July 25 was the championship round to determine bragging rights for the season.
The championship pitted No. 1 seed Team Mark Munzer against No. 2 seed Team Luke Scott. The winning team – Team Scott – not only received a trophy with their names engraved, but also t-shirts and a free meal from Buffalo Wild Wings, the local sponsor.
"The Middletown Championship Series allows our players to be put into a competitive atmosphere while becoming better athletes," said head coach Mark DelPercio. "Since we employ strength, conditioning, plyometrics, agilities and mental toughness in our drills, our players are working hard and having fun at the same time."
New AD at Seaford
Artie Uhlich has been hired as the new part-time athletic director at Seaford, replacing interim Tim Lee, who took over the position following the death of Vince Morris in November.
Uhlich brings a wealth of coaching experience to the position, including a softball state championship at Elizabeth Seton (Md.); stints as coach for the Laurel and Sussex Tech girls’ soccer teams. He also was the boys soccer coach at Sussex Tech and Lake Forest.
What Uhlich also brings to the position is 27 years of experience as a United States Secret Service Agent in Washington, D.C. His only formal teaching experience was as a criminal justice instructor at Sussex Tech.
A part time position, Uhlich is prepared for the challenge.
“I will do whatever it takes to get the job done,” Uhlich, a Maryland graduate, told the Seaford Morning Star. “It will be hard, but it is an honor to follow in the footsteps of Vince Morris and Interim-AD Tim Lee. They both have meant so much to the Seaford community and Seaford athletic program.
“I will do my best to make them proud and carry on the tradition at Seaford.”
Wrestling in Fargo
The annual Cadet/Junior Nationals were held last week in Fargo, N.D., bringing together some of the best wrestlers from around the country.
The state of Delaware was very well represented as five of the 22-man Team Delaware members medaled against the nation’s elite.
Recent Caesar Rodney High School graduate, Alex Meade, placed second in the Junior freestyle 160-pound event. For Mead, who was 11-0 heading into the finals and will attend Oklahoma State on a wrestling scholarship in the fall, winning and placing at national meets is nothing new to the former Rider.
“He’s won all these tournaments around the country so nobody ever expects him to lose,” Dicky Howell, Mead’s high school coach and one of Team Delaware’s assistants, told the Delaware State News.
Meade’s younger brother, Isiah, placed fifth in the Cadet Freestyle 152-pound division.
“Isiah kind of came into his own a little bit,” Howell told the Delaware State News. “He’s wrestled all these years in Alex’s shadow……..but placing fifth in that tournament should really give him a lot of confidence going into the season.”
Smyrnal’s Stephen Swiggett was also undefeated heading into the finals before losing and placing second in the 125-pound weight class of the Cadet Greco Roman division.
What makes Swigget’s showing so impressive is his high school record – just 1-0 at the junior varsity level after taking last winter, his sophomore season, off from the sport.
“Everyone knew he was tough,” Howell told the Delaware State News. “But, until he started winning matches, I don’t think anybody expected him to be All-American or make it to the finals.”
Also placing from Delaware were Salesianum’s Brandon Davis (third, Junior 98 pounds) and St. Mark’s Sean Boylan (third, Junior 105 pounds).
On Your Mark, Get Set...
Fall sports teams across the state of Delaware will officially report to practice on Aug. 15 - the first day teams are allowed to have an organized practice under a coach’s supervision according to the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association rules.
While many teams have been holding informal summer workouts, usually under the direction of team captains and seniors, next Friday will see most teams holding double practice sessions through the weekend.
Many school districts require teachers to report for inservice days the week of August 18, which will limit teams to single sessions for the remainder of the nonleague season.
Scrimmages will highlight the week of Aug. 25 with official games in most sports starting the week of September 1. Football games begin September 5, with several night games across the state.
Jon Buzby is a Maryland and Delaware correspondent for MaxPreps.