This time around, the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team made the annual Andersen Tournament its starting point for the season.
And as 2014-15 got underway, the Northstars could celebrate the fact that its most recent Section III champion was heading into the college ranks.
Joe Barber, who claimed the 106-pound sectional Division I (large school) championship last February at SRC Arena and advanced to the state tournament in Albany, signed his college letter of intent at a Nov. 12 ceremony and is headed to the University of Maryland.
Entering his senior season, Barber has a career record of 65 wins and 24 defeats. He went 29-10 as a sophomore in 2012-13 and was second in the section at 99 pounds before moving up to 106 a season ago and going 31-10 with 12 pins and a technical fall, including a 1-2 mark in the state meet.
Now Barber, and the rest of his C-NS teammates, joined Liverpool at the Andersen meet, where no less than 26 teams took to the mat.
And it was a traditional power, Fulton, with 158 points, earning the top spot, edging out Lockport (153.5 points) and Fulton (150.5 points), with Liverpool quite impressive as it took fifth place with 131 points. C-NS, posting 62.5 points, gained 12th place.
Barber, for his part, made it to the semifinals at 120 pounds, only to fall to Herkimer’s T.J. Phillpots in a 4-2 decision, later pinning Baldwinsville’s Josh Peck to take fifth place, just behind Liverpool’s Gerald Nash in fourth place.
Austin Miller had C-NS’s best showing, getting to fourth place at 220 pounds. Miller blanked Kyle Frasier (Dolgeville) 5-0 and stopped Ryan Haynes (South Jefferson) 6-1, only to lose his semifinal to Herkimer’s Dan Appley and eventually take fourth place.
The Warriors had plenty of top finishers. Audey Ashkar made it all the way to the 126-pound final, topping Noah Handy (Dolgeville) 12-7 in the semifinals, but falling in the title match to Lockport’s Anthony Orefice 10-4. Orefice had beaten C-NS’s Joe Mayers in the semifinals, and Mayers went on a to a sixth-place finish.
Nate Knox, wrestling at 195 pounds for the Warriors, matched Ashkar’s runner-up effort. Knox edged Zac Caruso (Oswego) 2-1 in the early rounds and then, after a pin of Ian Pisaneschi (Rome Free Academy), had to survive at 2-1 semifinal with B’ville’s Alex Bowen before Dolgeville’s Kasey Foster beat him 8-3 in the finals.
Peter Nash, at 138 pounds, overcame a quarterfinal defeat to win the consolation bracket, claiming three bouts and, with a forfeit over Tyler Field (Onondaga), taking third place.
Also for Liverpool, David Carnie, beaten in the 285-pound semifinal by Massena’s Nolan Terrence, would get to fourth place. Sean Nadeau beat Fulton’s Roy French 9-0 for fifth place at 113 pounds. Mike Mills claimed eighth place at 145 pounds, with Alan Cary eighth at 220.
New Hartford’s Dempsey King was named the Andersen Tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Competing at 138 pounds, King pinned Edwin Ramirez (Millbrook), beat Holden Pelton (South Jefferson) 14-3 and won a semifinal default over Danny Fox (Dolgeville) before beating Canastota’s Nate Walker 8-2 in the title bout.
