The dawn of 2015 meant that rest time was over for the Baldwinsville wrestling team, and it was back to the mats –and back to competition, too.
And the Bees, who had not wrestled since the Phoenix Round Robin on Dec. 20, did quite well in its first showing of the new year, rising to third place in a 16-team field at Saturday’s Fallen Heroes Tournament at Canastota High School.
With a total of 193.5 points, B’ville topped everyone except Camden, who won with 273.5 points, and the host Canastota Raiders, who slid into second place with 214 points.
All told, 11 Bees wrestlers had finishes of sixth or better, none topping Connor Ross, the 152-pound champion.
Ross, the top seed, beat Jacob Sherman (Canastota) 10-2 in the opening round, pinned Ben Cohen (CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt) in 1:10 in the quarterfinals and blanked J.P. Musachio (Camden) 6-0 in the semifinals. Then, in the title bought against Cato-Meridian’s Kyle Spratt, Ross took control early and then pinned Sprat 51 seconds into the second period.
Alex Bowen made it to the 195-pound finals in a hard-fought manner, following pins of James Barbarito (Cortland, done in just 48 seconds) and Ben Gerling (Adirondack) with a tough 7-6 semifinal win over Camden’s Dan Birmingham.
Bowen then met another Cato-Meridian wrestler, Seth House, in the finals, where he lost a 4-2 decision, while his teammate, Nick Stanton, claimed fifth place in that same weight class.
Jake Naples (106 pounds) gained third place by winning 6-4 over Adirondack’s Keagan Case in the consolation bracket final following a semifinal defeat to New Hartford’s Kalen McKenna, the eventual first-place finisher.
Mike Spicer lost his 220-pound semifinal to another eventual champion, Canastota’s Elijah Sampo, but then beat pinned William Pearson (Ogdensburg) and then shut out Camden’s Austin Confer 4-0 for a third-place effort.
Josh Peck (120 pounds) made it to fourth place, as did David Rush at 138 pounds. Kevin Lewis, with a default over Odgensburg’s Cordell David, got to fifth place at 113 pounds.
Sam Candee (145 pounds) pinned Ogensburg’s Adam Rickett in 2:33 to get his fifth-place spot, just what Thor Sutphen (160 pounds) did over Canastota’s Isaiah Domena to also finish fifth. Zach Hahn finished sixth at 99 pounds.
A big neighborhood showdown awaits the Bees Wednesday night as it visits CNY Counties League favorite Liverpool before joining a dozen other teams at Saturday’s Cazenovia Invitational at Buckley Gym.
