Twice in a span of 48 hours, the Skaneateles wrestling team squared off with Cazenovia — once in a league setting, the other in a tournament setting. They would split a pair of scintillating contests.
First, Skaneateles visited Cazenovia last Thursday night, with the newly-constituted “Laker Cup” on the line.
And this proved to be a terrific meet, but by earning most of the close decisions, the eastern Lakers subdued the western Lakers and handed it a 34-27 defeat.
Skaneateles had three pins, including Trevor Blum, who won his 135-pound match by pinning Mike Britton in 3:28. John Dougherty, at 152 pounds, pinned Will Eilers with 25 seconds left in their match.
Nick Morgan didn’t have to wrestle at 140 pounds, taking a forfeit, while Matt Blake worked at 215 pounds and edged past A.J. Berry 9-7 to tie the meet, 21-21.
By this point, though, close decisions were going in Cazenovia’s direction, as Thane Green (171 pounds) took a 6-4 loss to Lee Namy. George Dobrovsky, at 189 pounds this time, lost to Mitch Berry 6-2.
Starting at 103 pounds, Cazenovia took three straight matches to clinch it, culminating when Chad Gray (119 pounds) fell to Eric Wells 2-1. Steve King (125 pounds) would pin Noah Shepard in 3:58, but it was too late to change the team result.
Two days later, at the Tiger Dual Meet in Onondaga, Skaneateles would get a rematch with Cazenovia — and win this time, a 31-27 decision that was part of a 4-1 team performance.
During this meet, the Lakers beat Cooperstown 61-12, Solvay 51-22, and host OCS 54-15, losing only to Sandy Creek 52-18. Green was a perfect 5-0, and King was 4-0, to share Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
By far, the meet’s highlight was the western Lakers’ payback against the eastern Lakers, where a late surge put Skaneateles on top.
Green got the first win, at 152, roaring past Phil Kugler 12-3, and Tyrese Kemblowski (160 pounds) pinned Eilers in 1:14. Blake again beat Berry, this time 4-2.
Trailing Cazenovia 21-13, Skaneateles needed to win four of the last five matches to pull it out. Billy Wellington, at 119, began the comeback by topping Eric Wells 10-6, followed by King needing an overtime takedown to beat Noah Shepard 6-4.
Still behind 27-19, the western Lakers needed Trevor Blum (135 pounds) to win — and he did it quickly, pinning Mike Britton in 44 seconds. And in the decisive 140-pound match, Morgan, who just needed a decision, did far better than that, getting his pin over Nye Cary in just 32 seconds.
