Warrior wrestlers showed their toughness this season

By Josh Lashley
MILFORD — Season's end is a chance for competitors in the grueling yet superbly rewarding sport of wrestling to heal lingering injuries and reflect on techniques and approaches that need work before the next season begins.
As wrestlers and coaches at Delaware Valley High School look back on the past winter, they'll have much that's quite positive to reflect upon. The Warriors not only finished with a winning overall record of 11-7, but they went 5-0 in the Lackawanna League and 7-1 versus District 2 opposition.
The match against Scranton was memorable, said Delaware Valley head coach Lou DeLauro.
"We won 33-30,” he said. “It was a big win for the team. Scranton ended our 39-match Lackawanna League win streak last year. It was the first time we lost in the LWL in eight years. We beat them in an intense match, it was great to get some revenge and take back the Lackawanna League Championship.
“The first two rounds of District Duals were memorable with that fact that we were able to host for the first time ever. We had a packed gym with a lot of noise and beat Coughlin 40-26 and West Scranton 43-27 to put us in the District finals. Another great match which we were on the losing side against was Stroudsburg. It was very competitive with a lot of energy from both teams, we lost 33-27. This was a dual in which we needed the coin flip to get all the matches we wanted. If we did, the outcome could have been different. However, it is always beneficial when two good programs battle it out. It only makes both teams better.”
Coach DeLauro was proud of the time and effort his athletes took to become more complete wrestlers.
“Our entire team showed a lot of improvement throughout the course of the year,” he said. “We were a very young and inexperienced team, but every day the kids worked hard and improved."
He said three wrestlers who really stand out are Shawn Davis, Hayden Thompson, and Troy Moore.
"Troy had a very slow start and didn’t have the success he would have liked early on in the season," said DeLauro. "However, he came up big in matches that really counted. Both Shawn and Hayden didn’t have the success they would have liked but they really had a successful District Tournament. Hayden placed fifth and Shawn placed fourth and won a match in the Regional Tournament.
“We had some great leaders step up in our junior class with Mike McKinney and John McCarthy. Both took a leadership role in the practice room, matches and throughout the school. They were very encouraging and motivating to their teammates.”
The Warriors have the depth and talent to be a force on the mat throughout 2017-18.
“I am very optimistic for the future,” DeLauro said.
Moving the team forward is its District champ, John McCarthy (220 pounds) and seven Regional qualifiers returning, he said. Two of the returning Regional qualifiers finished sixth place in the Region.
"When you have that type of talent returning," he said, "you have to be confident in future success.”