Liverpool’s wrestling team was all set for a showdown last Wednesday night against Baldwinsville, only to have the winter weather get in the way and force a postponement.
A day later, Cicero-North Syracuse’s meet with West Genesee did get made up, and struggles in the middle and upper weight classes doomed the Northstars in a 43-35 defeat to the Wildcats.
From 99 to 120 pounds, C-NS was a perfect 4-0. David Cicciarelli, at 99, pinned WG’s Nyeem Hameed eight seconds before the first period ended, with Joe Barber (120) pinning Jake Jones in 1:36 and Travis Harrington (106) pulling away for an 18-6 win over Cole Wade.
Forfeits went to Ray Sorensen (113 pounds) and Drew Dyer (132 pounds), while at 220 pounds Christian Anoceto got away from Keith Gardner in a 10-2 majority decision and Chris St. Denny (285 pounds) used an overtime takedown to beat Ethan Coates 6-3.
But the Northstars were swept in every bout from 138 to 195 pounds, seven in all, with six of them pins. Only Josh Bigford, at 145 pounds, went all six minutes, taking a 12-5 defeat to Victor Elias, while Angelo Shaw-Perez (195) got pinned by Dalton Elias with just three seconds left in their match.
C-NS was in action again two days later in the Cazenovia Invitational at Buckley Gym, tying Homer for sixth place in a 16-team field with 84.5 points. Ironically, the same B’ville team that was supposed to face Liverpool earlier in the week won here with 194 points.
Harrington, moving down to 99 pounds, won that division, beating Dean Shambo (Mexico) 10-6 in the semifinals and then edging Port Byron’s Joe Powers 6-4 in the title bout.
Barber, meanwhile, prevailed at 113 pounds, pulling away from Garrett Lockwood (Groton) 16-4 in the semifinals before a championship match with Herkimer’s T.J. Philpotts that proved much closer, but Barber, by a 3-2 margin, claimed the title.
No other Northstars wrestler reached the finals, but David Ciciarelli claimed third place at 99 by sweeping the consolation bracket, capped by a 2-0 win over Shambo. Sorensen was fourth at 106 pounds, with Anthony Carella fourth at 170 pounds. Austin Miller (220 pounds) pinned Victor Palmer-Ortiz (Institute of Technology Central) to finish fifth.
Liverpool, off since its trip to Louisiana in the last days of 2014, resumed its season Saturday at the Central Square Duals and beat four of its five opponents.
To start with, the Warriors handled the host Central Square Redhawks 54-19, after which it handled Chenango Valley 55-22 and shut out the combined APW/Pulaski squad 85-0.
One more win landed Liverpool against Cortland in the decisive round, but it was all Purple Tigers as it defeated the Warriors 42-16.
Jerry Nash (120 pounds) was named his team’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the meet, beating Cortland’s Jacob Smith 4-2 early in that meet. Audey Ashkar (126 pounds) topped Kiegan Brown 7-3, with Peter Nash (138 pounds) blanking Drew Towers 6-0.
But after Zach Khatib (160 pounds) stopped Colton Keating 5-2 and Jalen Barron (170) dominated John Davie 15-2, Liverpool saw Cortland win the last seven bouts, three of them pins. It also included Nathaniel Knox’s 3-2 defeat to 195-pound opponent Dakotah Miller, David Carnie (285 pounds) falling to Nick Edmonds 5-3 and Sean Nadeau (113) falling to Trent Jones 3-0.
Liverpool is set to host its own dual meet on Saturday, with B’ville one of the visiting sides. C-NS goes to the Hannibal Duals after visiting Fayetteville-Manlius on Wednesday.
