In a high-profile manner, the Skaneateles wrestling team entered the fray again, going up against one of its biggest rivals and engaging in a season opener that featured plenty of momentum shifts.
But when the work on the mats was done last Thursday night, the Lakers, despite seven victories and three different leads during the evening, lost, 39-33, to Marcellus.
They started at 182 pounds, where Francis Lombardi lost to the Mustangs’ Kevin Morrissey late in the first period, but then Skaneateles won the next two bouts with falls to take a brief 12-6 lead.
It started with Joey McIntyre, at 195 pounds, taking charge against Cory Garvey and pinning him just before the second period ended. Then, at 220 pounds, Pat Greenfield needed just 36 seconds to pin Garrett Furnia.
Not flinching, Marcellus went back in front with three straight wins. With six seconds to spare, Aleksandr Popov pinned 285-pound opponent T.J. Greenfield before Cahal Donovan (99 pounds) earned a 7-0 shutout over J.W. Simmons and Alex Czerniak, at 106 pounds, won a 4-1 decision over Christian Daley.
Again, the Lakers responded with back-to-back wins to get in front 22-18. Max Collier, wrestling at 113 pounds, earned a fall over Drake Satter at 1:41, just before Joey Brillo (120 pounds) shut out Riley Donovan in an 8-0 decision.
Once more, the Mustangs reclaimed the lead, this time with consecutive pins from Ben Hood (126 pounds), who finished off Nevan Rourke in 1:09, and Zach Ruggles (132 pounds), who got his fall over Matt Goetzmann in 2:27.
A key point came when Maverick Janes, at 145 pounds, beat Nick Distefano, but only got three points out of a 9-3 decision, right after Josh Brillo (138 pounds) used a single escape to fight past Tristan Duger 1-0.
So Skaneateles only led by two points, 24-22, and knew that it had to forfeit at 160 pounds to Nate Long. Thus, when Dan Tierney worked his way to a 2-0 decision over Mike Goetzmann, the Mustangs clinched victory, even though Andrew Newton blanked Nate Lukin 6-0 in the 170-pound finale.
Two days later, the Lakers wrestled at the Rebel Duals, hosted by the combined APW/Pulaski team, and completely dominated that event, beating all five of its foes by lopsided margins.
In order, Skaneateles beat APW/Pulaski 75-9, and then romped past Red Creek 84-6 before taming Marathon 73-9 and Sandy Creek 84-6 before finishing the day with a 61-19 victory over Syracuse’s Institute of Technology Central.
Seven wrestlers – Simmons (99), Collier (113), Rourke (120), Joey Brillo (126), Josh Brillo (132), McIntyre (180), Pat Greenfield (192) and T.J. Greenfield (285) – went a perfect 4-0 on the day.
Janes (145) and Newton (160) won all three of their bouts, while Daley (106), Mike Goetzmann (152) and Lombardi (170) were each 4-1. Matt Goetzmann (138) added a 2-1 mark as Josh Brillo was named the team’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the day.
Skaneateles is on the road throughout this week, going to Chittenango on Thursday night and heading to a tournament at Portville, in Cattaraugus County south of Buffalo, on Saturday.
