CENTRAL NEW YORK – Now the post-season is at hand for the area’s trio of wrestling teams, with Jamesville-DeWitt/Christian Brothers Academy hosting the Section III Class AA championships next Saturday where Fayetteville-Manlius will compete too.
Before that, though, there was J-D/CBA girls wrestler Akasha Nunnally making her way to a podium finish at Friday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Invitational at SRC Arena.
Competing at 107 pounds, Nunnally began her tournament with an exciting finish in her bout with Shenendehowa’s Ishita Singh, pinning Singh with 25 seconds to go.
However, in the quarterfinals Nunnally fell to top seed Teegan Sibble (Bolivar-Richburg), who would go on to a second-place finish in the tournament.
Put into the consolation bracket, Nunnally started well, shutting out her Section III teammate, Phoenix’s Sonia Munetz, 7-0, only to take a 10-4 defeat to Sidney’s Isabella Phelps as both tried to reach the consolation bracket final.
Still, Nunnally would close her state tournament with a victory, pinning Jericho’s Ava Zucker in 4:13 to earn herself a fifth-place finish.
Meanwhile, F-M’s boys wrestlers had some momentum from what it has accomplished so far in 2024, from its Jan. 13 victory in the Cazenovia Invitational to an impressive 45-22 win over Jordan-Elbridge in a non-league match last Wednesday night.
Jackson Schwab provided an exciting moment at 285 pounds, earning the Hornets’ fastest pin of the season when he took just nine seconds to get Trent Sherman’s shoulders on the mat after Francis Barr (215 pounds) pinned Noah White at the end of the second period.
A close bout at 108 pounds had Joe Rafuse edge Ben Lamson 6-5, after which Sam Reikes (116 pounds) got a second-period pin over Liam Mantell. Eric Kozlowski, at 131 pounds, pinned Lucas Witter midway through the third period.
Luis Rivera engaged in a wild 138-pound bout with Logan Merriam before taking an 18-16 defeat in overtime as forfeits were claimed by Elliott Olech (101 pounds), Trent Gloo (145 pounds) and Charlie Caput (152 pounds).
Back on Jan. 20, J-/CBA took part in the King Bison Invitational at Shaker High School, near Albany, where it picked up 71 points to finish ninth in a 24-team field.
Max Griffin, at 124 pounds, won his consolation bracket final by pinning Cortland’s Jackson Marks in the third period. At 215 pounds, Bryce Dadey held off Long Island Luthearn’s Rodney Mills 5-2 for that same spot as Hayden Fleet, at 285, prevailed over teammate Mykola Fabian. Mason Porter got sixth place at 145 pounds.
East Syracuse Minoa, who will go this Saturday to the sectional Class A meet at Carthage, went 0-5 last weekend in the Akley Duals at Oswego, with Peyton Spencer named the Spartans’ top wrestler by winning all three of his bouts, with Owen Roche (170 pounds) and Niko Skandalis (285) both going 2-1.
Phoenix topped ESM 51-15 to open the day. A 36-21 Defeat to host Oswego followed, with the Spartans also taking losses to Liverpool, Mexico and Southern Hills before a 78-0 defeat to West Genesee last Friday night.
