VIDEO: Prep pulls away from Lower Cape May in battle of two of the state’s top wrestling teams

Posted: February 4th 2026

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

ERMA – The Lower Cape May Regional High School wrestling needed a lot of things to go right for it in order to have a chance to beat powerful St. Augustine Prep Tuesday evening.

There’s a reason, however, why the Hermits haven’t lost a match to a Cape-Atlantic League school in nearly a decade.

The Prep won enough of the toss-up matches, prevented Lower from getting maximum bonus points in others and went on to post a 35-25 victory over the Caper Tigers in a match featuring two of the best teams in the state.

“There were too many fireworks we were trying to control,” Lower coach Billy Damiana said. “We thought we’d get more points in some of the matches. In places where we thought we could get pins, we didn’t get them.

“It just wasn’t our night, and a lot of the reason was because we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds, and we have to fix them fast.”

Tristan Rosemeyer recorded Lower’s lone win by fall at 113 pounds. 

Eli Glover (132) and Chase Hansen (144) each won by technical fall, Glover by a 19-3 scoreline and Hansen by 21-6. The Tigers got decisions from Bryce Paley (120), Shane Morrell (175) and David Douglass (215). The Douglass-Dan Francis bout was one of the most exciting of the evening, Douglass rallying from a 10-1 deficit to win a wild one by 22-16. But Francis not conceding bonus points clinched the team competition for the Prep with one bout to go.

St. Augustine improved to 17-7 in dual matches. The Hermits haven’t lost a match to a CAL team since the 2017 season.

Lower dropped to 14-3.

Lower is set to host a quad on Saturday that includes Ocean City, Cherokee and Washington Township. Damiana enters Saturday’s action needing one victory for the 150th of his career.

(Photos courtesy Heidi Ray.)

Lower Cape May's Eli Glover has leg control of St. Augustine's Robert Meyer at 132 pounds. Glover won by 19-3 technical fall.