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After getting off to a rocky start in its Henlopen Conference showdown with Southern Division-leading Laurel Friday night, Jan. 22, 1999, Sussex Central finished with a flurry and took home its biggest high school wrestling win of the 1998-99 season.

The fourth-ranked Golden Knights swept the final eight weight classes, winning four by pin, and remained undefeated by routing the seventh-ranked Bulldogs 48-18. Central, the Northern Division leader, improved to 7-0 while Laurel fell to 6-1.

"It's a real big win for us. We knew coming over here that this match could go either way," Central coach Phil Shultie said. "Last year they beat us in a close match. This year we beat them. It's always a competitive match between us. Laurel's tough, we knew they were going to be tough."

Central dropped four of the first five matches and trailed 18-6 following the 130-pound bout. But the Knights ruled the higher weight classes and finished off the dual meet with four consecutive pins.

"If you look at all our matches, that's where we're winning," Shultie said. "They wanted to step it up. Their goal was to pin."

After falling behind 18-6, Central pulled even when Teddy Thompson (135) pinned Laurel's Matt Tyndall in the first period and Anthony Andrews won by forfeit at 140 pounds.

Freshman Raheim Brunskill then gave Central the lead for good with a thrilling 8-6 win over Jeff Oliver in the 140-pound bout. Brunskill trailed 6-5 but scored an escape and takedown in the final 25 seconds to earn the victory.

"I looked over and saw everybody getting it up for me and I couldn't let them down," Brunskill said. "It felt real good, I knew we had to win because I broke the tie there."

Jason Riddle followed with a hard-fought 6-2 victory over Luke Blanchfield at 152 pounds, giving Central a 24-18 lead.

"The key was Raheim Brunskill and Jason Riddle coming through like they did. It just got us pumped up," Shultie said.

Central ended the meet with four straight pins, sealing the victory. Deon Brunskill (160) pinned Monte Miller, Kurt Wolfe (171) pinned Alan Moore, Jake Booth (189) pinned Jacob Byrd and Jerone Nocks (HWT) pinned Phillip Hastings.

"They beat us last year. We had to get them back," Raheim Brunskill said. "The seniors, we couldn't let them down."

But the meet got off to a less-then-promising start for the Knights. After Central's James Leyh opened the match by pinning Ray McGinnis at 103 pounds, Laurel's Adam Ralph won by disqualification over Steve Swain, who was battling illness and finally lost the energy to wrestle.

Eric Johnson followed with a 13-9 win over Central's Joey Davis at 119 pounds before Todd Brittingham pinned Cory Strohmeyer at 125 and Derek Conaway defeated Jordan Lowe 6-3 at 130.

"When we got beat there at 119, I told my assistants I don't have a good feeling here," Shultie said.

But the Knights rebounded to win the final eight bouts and remain tied for first place with Caesar Rodney in the Northern Division.