Onondaga — From a perfect 21-0 record to the end of a 35-year regular-season league championship drought to a third-place finish in the Section III Class C meet, the Skaneateles wrestling team had a lot to celebrate.

What the Lakers wanted the most, though, was to have one of its eight wrestlers competing in Saturday’s sectional Division II (Small School) meet at SRC Arena win so they could head to Albany’s Times Union Center for the Feb. 26-27 state meet.

Only a win in one of the 15 weight classes would assure a trip to Albany, and J.W. Simmons, the no. 2 seed at 99 pounds, nearly got there, though he made some history along the way.

Simmons started out with a pin over Connor DeForest (Mount Markham) in less than 90 seconds, after which he got another fall in the quarterfinals over Oneida’s Devin Coleman in 3:28.

And when Simmons edged Onondaga’s Dylan Price 3-1 in the semifinal, he guaranteed the first Laker visit to a sectional final since 1981. Central Valley Academy’s Jon Charles pinned Simmons in the title bout, but with his 31-3 record, Simmons could reasonably hope for a wild-card entry into the state meet.

Joey Brillo had his own historic day at 126 pounds. Brillo edged Matt McLaughlin (Cazenovia) 3-2 in the opening round, only to fall to General Brown’s Connor Schissler by that same 3-2 margin in the quarterfinals.

A 2-0 win over Zach Williams (Hannibal) in the consolation bracket kept Brillo going, but he lost, 5-3, to Mexico’s Hunter Howland before a dramatic finale where Brillo, by beating Phoenix’s Zach Carlson 4-2, gained fifth place, improved to 33-6 this winter and earned his 118th career win – tying the school record held by his cousin, Josh, which he’s likely to break since Joey Brillo is still a sophomore.

continued — At 182 pounds, Pat Greenfield had the no. 5 seed and a 29-4 record to defend, with Joey McIntyre part of that same weight class, but while McIntyre lost to Poland’s Jesse Pritchard in the first round, Greenfield had a bit more success.

Nursing a sprained ankle, Greenfield, after a first-round bye, beat Pritchard 11-7 in the quarterfinals, but took a first-period fall against the top seed and eventual champion, Adirondack’s Joe Hennessey, in the semifinals. Still, Greenfield recovered and, by topping Camden’s Dan Birmingham 5-1, finished fifth, just like Brillo.

Christian Daley would wrestle at 113 pounds but run into the top seed, South Jefferson’s Logan LaFlamme, and lose in a first-period fall as LaFlamme went on to claim the sectional title.

Mike Goetzmann, as the no. 8 seed at 145 pounds, lost a close first-round match to Adirondack’s Harry Roberts 8-6. Lucas Sherman just made it to the sectional meet at 160 pounds and also met a top seed and eventual champion, General Brown’s Kyle O’Connor, and also took a first-period fall, just like T.J. Greenfield at 220 pounds.

In the final Division II team standings, Skaneateles, thanks to its three podium finishes, had 41 points and got 13th place. Adirondack, who won the Section III Dual Meet in January, won team honors here, too, with 167 points to General Brown’s 152, with Phoenix (113.5 points) in third place.