Well-rested following its Dec. 20 sweep of the Groton Duals, the Cazenovia wrestling team put up another strong effort in last week’s Brett Dixon Memorial Duals at Central Square, beating six out of seven opponents over a two-day span to begin a week full of accomplishments.
Early drama at Centrtal Square came against Penfield (Section V), but the Lakers beat the Patriots 42-35, after which it topped Port Byron 58-13, routed West Genesee 72-12 and handled La Salle 60-21 to complete a 4-0 run through the early stages of the tournament.
Only Cortland would trip up the Lakers in a 47-19 defeat, the Purple Tigers winning the first four bouts before Alex Nannery (160 pounds) blanked Colton Keating 1-0.
Alex Cuff, at 170 pounds, handled John Davie 9-1, with Kevin Frega (220 pounds) fighting past Dakotah Miller 3-1 and Dan Phillips (285 pounds) pinning Reilly Brown in 1:51. But the Lakers won just one match the rest of the way, Will Khalil’s 5-4 decision over Jacob Smith at 120 pounds.
Two matches remained, and the Lakers won both of them, holding off Northern Adirondack 42-35 with three forfeits, plus pins from Billy Heselden (138 pounds), Hayden Polhamus (who moved up from 220 to 285), Jacob Wells (99 pounds) and Will Shephard (113 pounds).
Finally, the Lakers engaged in a tight battle with host Central Square, but managed to rally past the Redhawks 42-31.
Trailing 13-0 after the first three bouts, Cazenovia began the turnaround with John Nannery (182 pounds) beating Isaac Havens 6-2. Pins by Frega, Phillips and Polhamus followed, all of them in 61 seconds or less, with Phillips taking a season-fast 12 seconds to finish off Mack West.
Wells kept it going with an 8-5 decision over Peyton Rupracht, and two bouts later Shephard pinned Cody White in 52 seconds. Khalil’s second-period fall over Paul Taylor helped clinch the match, and Heselden finished things off by taking exactly one minute to pin Caden Rupracht.
From there, Cazenovia went to Saturday’s Port Byron Invitational and won the team title there, picking up 267 points to hold off Skaneateles, who was second with 229 points, and a field of more than a dozen challengers. Marcellus was thrid with 223.5 points.
Cazenovia nearly swept the upper weight classes. John Nannery won at 182 when his finals opponent, Chris Pinckney (Port Byron), took an injury default, while Kevin Frega blanked Geneva’s Darnell Parker 10-0 for the title at 195.
Phillips made it to the 220-pound title match, and then pinned Skaneateles’ T.J. Greenfield in the second period to finish first. Polhamus made it to the 285-pound final, but lost to Geneva’s Alex Gonzales.
Curr finished third at 170 pounds, while Alex Nannery was fourth at 160. Heselden beat Nick DiStefano (Marcellus) 7-6 to get third place at 138 and Wells beat Nate Purtell (Otselic Valley) 9-3 for fifth place at 99. Zach Maxwell made it to fifth place at 126 pounds, with Matt McLaughlin fifth at 120 and Shephard fifth at 113. Sam Deleson finished sixth at 106.
Chittenango, meanwhile, ventured up Route 5 to Canastota for the Fallen Heroes Tournament, where it finished eighth in the team standings as Camden, with 273.5 points, finished on top.
For the Bears, Will Young reached the 145-pound final before Camden’s Garrett Mitchell beat him in a technical fall. Justin Cox had a second-place finish at 220 pounds, getting to the title bout, only to see Canastota’s Elijah Sampo pin him in the second period to claim the title.
Connor Fredericks, wrestling at 152 pounds, lost in the semifinals, but recovered to beat J.P. Musachio (Camden) 5-1 in the consolation bracket final to finish third. Tony Cutrie claimed fourth place at 182 pounds.
