Only the hosts from Central Square kept the Baldwinsville wrestling team from battling its way to the top of the standings during last Saturday’s Section III Class AA tournament at Paul V. Moore High School.
Overall, the Bees compiled 170.5 points, beating everyone in the field of 12 except the host Red Hawks, who prevailed with 200 points. Watertown was third with 140.5 points.
And B’ville did this with just one wrestler in the finals — Corey Buyck, at 171 pounds. Buyck pinned Seth Willis (West Genesee) in 20 seconds and held off Brandon Kyles (Solvay/Westhill) 1-0 in the semifinals before John Denslow (Central Square) beat him with a first-period pin in the championship match.
B’ville racked up a long-list of top-six finishes, piling up points along the way and securing a large contingent that will head down Route 31 to Cicero-North Syracuse Friday for the Section III Division I (large school) championships.
Pete Cole, wrestling at 125 pounds, earned third place by beating James Seagars (CNS) 8-5 in the consolation bracket final. Keith McComb (130 pounds) also was third, holding off Charlie Marsala (Fayetteville-Manlius) in a high-scoring classic that ended 12-11 in McComb’s favor.
Continuing this trend, Nate Russell, at 140 pounds, got to third place with a 10-4 victory over Watertown’s Josh Pierce, as Kyle Sheridan earned third place at 285 pounds by shutting out Gerald Petty (Watertown) 10-0.
Jeff Needle was fourth at 96 pounds, with Tim Hamm fourth at 112 pounds and Joe Senf fourth at 135 pounds. Andrew Giormini (160 pounds) also had a fourth-place effort.
Vince Todzia got the fifth-place award at 189 pounds after beating F-M’s Stephen Breen with a second-period pin. Cookie Caloia earned sixth place at 119 pounds. In all, 12 Bees will make the trek to CNS.
