One more time, Jack Williams led his Liverpool wrestling team into the Section III Dual Meet, held last Saturday at Oneida High School.
However, the Warriors, who had the no. 10 seed, could not get out of the opening round, falling 45-21 to the Watertown Cyclones.
After Watertown took the first two matches, Colin Veney, at 145 pounds, got his team on the board by pinning Nathan Greene in 3:45. In doing so, Veney set a new standard as he passed Tim Green and, with 105 victories, became the all-time winner in Liverpool wrestling history.
Two matches later, at 160 pounds, Jon Jimenez pinned Peter Bailey with 55 seconds left. When Ryan Burns (189 pounds) beat Pat Parker 8-1 and Zach Murphy (215 pounds) pinned Brandon Stanley in 59 seconds, Liverpool had a 21-18 lead.
However, the Cyclones answered by winning each of the remaining five matches. The only challenge came at 125 pounds, where Eric Ernestine engaged in a classic against Stefan Jones before taking a 15-13 defeat.
Just before the dual meet, Liverpool picked up another victory last Wednesday night, taking out the Oswego Buccaneers 40-21 on Senior Night.
Right from the start at 145 pounds, the Warriors were in control, taking four of the first five matches despite not having Veney in the lineup.
Derek Eason beat Paul Ruggio in a third-period technical fall, right before Kevin Ritch (145 pounds) pinned Tony Alelunas in 3:25.
After an Oswego win, Jimenez (160 pounds) emerged and rolled past Frank Guelli 15-6, and Jeff Oleksak won at 171 pounds by pinning Shane Bartrum in a scant 56 seconds.
A pair of tight heavyweight matches followed. Burns lost to Zach Zufelt 5-4, but things evened out when Murphy won his own 4-3 decision, over Kevin Fox.
Moving up to 112 pounds, Alex Hathaway easily beat Tammy Guzman 10-1, and Paul DeLair (119 pounds) earned his pin over Kyle Rossi in just 1:05. Ernestine pinned Don Champagne in 3:10. Matt Sullivan (140 pounds) took a tough 4-2 loss to Eric Haines to close out the match.
Liverpool competes Wednesday, at Rome Free Academy, in its lone action this week.
