It was as close a high school wrestling match as could possibly take place, but in the end West Genesee won it, turning back Central Square last Thursday night by a single point in a 43-42 decision.
Based on the raw scores, the two sides actually tied, 42-42. But since the Wildcats won eight bouts and the Redhawks just seven, WG earned the “criterium” point that made the difference in the final outcome.
In all, 13 bouts were contested, each side gaining a forfeit as WG’s Ethan Coates did not have to wrestle at 285 pounds. That meant a lot of mat work, and the Wildcats were up to it.
WG won every contest from 120 to 145 pounds, four of them pins. At 120, Tanner Buza finished off Terry Belden with 21 seconds left, while Cole Wade (126 pounds) had his own third-period fall over Cody White.
Devin Earl didn’t waste much time at 138 pounds, earning a 30-second pin over Casey Brennan before Mike Linton (145) pinned Nick Ackley in 1:39. Only Brady Ryan, at 132 pounds, went the full six minutes in that stretch, beating Mike Monica 12-7.
Those wins, combined with Liam Kotas (160 pounds) pinning Laedon Hoyt in the second period and Griffin Sasso (171 pounds) stopping Jamie Battaglia 11-5, helped WG overcome Central Square’s domination in the lightest and heaviest weight classes. All told, the Redhawks had six pins, but needed one more, which the Wildcats didn’t give them.
Coming off a third-place finish at the Dec. 5 Chittenango Dual Meet, Marcellus took on APW/Pulaski last Wednesday night, claiming eight consecutive bouts in the latter stages of the match to take control and win by a 53-21 margin.
Trailing 9-0 after losing the first two bouts (including Ryan Pierce’s 9-7 defeat to Evan Stuper in the 170-pound opener, the Mustangs got on the board when Cory Garvey, at 195 pounds, edged past APW/Pulaski’s Cody Lambert 5-3, and pulled even when Kern Linder (220 pounds) pinned Jon Curcie in 1:17.
But the real run began at 106 pounds, thanks to Noah Carbone (106 pounds) taking just 40 seconds to pin Chad Ocmand. Then the Mustangs got forfeits in three of the next four bouts, with Riley Donovan (120 pounds) the lone exception as he beat Dylan Guthrie in a 15-0 technical fall.
Those forfeits went to Alex Czerniak (113 pounds), Jack Santariello (126 pounds) and Sam Rice (132 pounds), but Ben Hood did wrestle at 138 pounds, pinning Devin Mullin with seven seconds left in their bout. Tristan Duger (145 pounds) took 2:28 to finish off Calvin Kampff as Nick Distefano, at 152 pounds, shut out Nate Cronk 5-0.
Jordan-Elbridge saw its wrestling team go through a three-way meet last Wednesday against Otselic Valley and Cato-Meridian, getting close against Otselic in a 48-34 defeat, but only finding occasional success in a 48-14 defeat to the Blue Devils.
Just five of the bouts against Otselic were contested, with forfeits going to Nathan Mott (152), Donnie Tamblin (170 pounds) and Anthony Ortiz (182 pounds). Alex Parkolap did wrestle, at 132, and beat Jonah VanVoorhis 12-4, with Taylor Rivenburgh (285 pounds) pinning Patrick Gillette early in the second period.
Marcellus, who wrestled Saturday in the Moravia Duals, meets Hannibal Thursday in its last action before the Kenneth Haines Memorial Dec. 28-29 at SUNY-Oswego. West Genesee went from Saturday’s Hunter Holiday Tournament at Penfield to a Thursday trip to Liverpool and an appearance in this Saturday’s Phoenix Round Robin.
