Canastota — With a CNY Counties League regular-season championship already secure, the Baldwinsville wrestling team will make the short trip to Liverpool this Saturday to try and sweep its way to the Section III Class AA title.
Before that, though, the Bees had one more tune-up, which took place last Wednesday night at Canastota. A pair of well-timed pins late in the match by Alex Bowen and Dan Wicks helped B’ville fight past the Raiders 39-30.
It opened at 120 pounds with a close bout where Jake Naples lost, 2-1, to Nick Rouse, but then Kevin Lewis, whose pin clinched the Jan. 20 win over Liverpool, earned a forfeit at 126 pounds to get the Bees on the board.
Jeremy Pond, at 138 pounds, pinned Frank Clafin in 90 seconds, right before a forfeit to Tom Fuzia at 145 pounds as David Rush, wrestling at 152 pounds, needed just 72 seconds to pin Dakota Diable to give his side a 24-9 lead.
Canastota wasn’t done, though, as it tied the bout, 24-24, aided by a forfeit and pin, plus Ben Marshall defeating B’ville’s Thor Sutphen 5-1 at 170 pounds, but that was before Bowen and Wicks helped the Bees move in front for good.
At 195 pounds, Bowen got the lead on Chris Rutherford and then pinned him with 13 seconds left for the full six points. Then Wicks, at 220 pounds, needed just 84 seconds to finish off Nathan Saunders, and those wins, combined with Jacob Cavallo (106 pounds) holding off Colby Bixby9-6, helped the Bees prevail.
The sectional AA meet at Liverpool begins Saturday at 10 a.m. Top finishers advance to Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena for the Feb. 13 sectional Division I (Large School) championships.
