Grayson Davis, a freshman wrestler, is making waves in the Cape Henlopen High School wrestling program. His journey has been a bit circuitous, mostly wrestling in national tournaments, but in 2025-26, he is in the Cape lineup.
Grayson was a 130-pound middle school grappler in the same class as Blake Walker, now a Cape sophomore who placed third in the state as a freshman. Grayson, a former Beacon state champion, was homeschooled last school year, wrestling mostly in tournaments. A freshman stud middleweight wrestler in a Cape lineup that includes state champs Austin Guerrieri and Nick Walker, Grayson is ready to rock the Vikings uniform.
Grayson weighs about 150, but according to coach Chris Mattioni, he plans to go down to 144 for the Southern Slam and Beast of the East.
Impressive Performance at the Beast of the East Tournament
Wrestling in the Beast of East guarantees a series of chilling challenges and hellacious hurdles that can quickly humble those who take them on. Two Delaware wrestlers managed to succeed at those tasks well enough Dec. 21 among the 1,011 entered to land on podiums reserved only for the tournament’s elite. That was no small achievement for precocious Cape Henlopen freshman 144-pounder Grayson Davis, who placed fifth, and 113-pound Caesar Rodney senior Benjamin Donato, who finished eighth.
“It’s something special,” Cape coach Chris Mattioni said of Davis’ showing. “He’s our third [top 8] place-finisher here [from Cape] so he’s in elite company. Not many kids are able to place in their four-year career, let alone as a freshman. The future looks bright for him.”
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Donato was the only First State entry to reach the quarterfinals on the morning of Dec. 21. Though his championship bid ended there, he did the necessary work in the wrestle-backs to earn a coveted place-finish. “No matter what, he gets to be on the podium now and can call himself a Beast All-American the rest of his life,” CR coach Trey Mitchell said.
The 33rd edition of the tournament, viewed as among the nation’s most competitive, is run by the Delaware Wrestling Alliance. Proceeds, which now surpass $1.3 million in tournament history, provide college and trade-school scholarship money and summer camp financial aid for First State wrestlers.
Davis, who’ll wrestle at 150 the rest of the season, has come up through the McDonald Wrestling Academy in Millsboro operated by former three-time Sussex Central state champ Connor McDonald. "It takes a lot of work," Davis said. "I got a great support system around me to get me here. … It means a lot."
Davis won his first two championship round matches before losing to the No. 2 seed Dec. 20. He then won four straight matches to put himself in position for a top-six finish.
“The most impressive thing about Grayson is just the composure that he keeps,” Mattioni said. “… He handles adversity. He’s loose. The best guys are able to relax and compete at a high level. He wrestles with a lot of confidence and stays in good position so he’s tough to score against.”
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110 Lbs Quarterfinals (8 Team) - Grayson Davis, Pennsylvania Blue Vs Efrain Rivera, North Carolina
Ben Donato's Success at 113
Donato was state 106-pound champ last year and, by the looks of it as someone not cutting weight, was taking on some bigger and stronger Beast foes up at 113. He met the challenge, specifically in a 5-4 consolation-round win that assured his podium finish. It was earned with an early takedown and several subsequent counters of opponent Charlie Mutschler’s takedown tries as Dontao avenged a recent loss to the Archbishop Spalding wrestler.
“I couldn’t be happier for him,” Mitchell said, mentioning Donato is a product of the Young Riders youth program. “He did the hard work. He put all the time in. He bought into the process. I could sit in the corner the rest of my life and say I got to coach Ben Donato.”
Cape Henlopen Earns Governor’s Trophy
Cape Henlopen was also the highest-scoring Delaware team, thereby earning the Governor’s Trophy for the first time. In addition to Davis’ place-finish, Vikings Austin Guerrieri at 126 pounds and Nick Walker at 157 pounds reached the consolation round Dec. 21.
Delaware Girls Place
Two Delaware girls were place-winners in the fourth annual Beast girls tournament Dec. 18 and 19. Dover junior Isabella Thompkins took seventh at 130, and St. Georges senior Lenieka Walker placed eighth at 235. St. Georges also won the inaugural girls Governor’s Trophy as First State team champ.
| Date | Time (UTC) | Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 27-30 | 1:00 PM | Powerade Wrestling Tournament |
| Dec 27-28 | 5:00 PM | Marshfield Holiday Tournament |
| Dec 29-30 | TBD | Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tourn |
| Dec 29-30 | TBD | 57th Akron Holiday Tournament |
| Dec 29-30 | TBD | Southmoreland Holiday Classic |
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