As the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt wrestling entered varsity-level competition again, the question was how long it would take for them to legitimately match up against more established opponents.
Not long, as it turned out.
The Brothers, coached by former Morrisville-Eaton state champion Treavor LeBlanc, used a run of five consecutive victories, mostly in the higher weight classes, to knock off Chittenango 35-33 in last Wednesday night’s meet.
Even with the Bears at home, and even after it fell behind 12-0 due to pins against Ben Honis (130 pounds) and Brad Kogut (135 pounds), CBA/J-D did not panic.
Instead, Aaron Benedict, at 140 pounds, put his team on the board by routing Zak Jackson in a 17-2 technical fall, which kept the Brothers within sight as Chittenango won the next two matches, again through pins, over Abraham Khatib and Brad Delevan.
The comeback started at 160 pounds, where Zach Anderson pinned Kevin Seltzer in just one minute. Sparked by that, CBA/J-D saw Eric Thompson (171 pounds) pin Brian Perriello in 1:51 and Mikel Wynn (189 pounds) claim a forfeit.
Now tied, 24-24, the Brothers took the lead for good when Ryan VanPatten, at 215 pounds, won a 17-2 technical fall over Zach Graham.
It took Andrew Romagnoli (103 pounds) beating Cody Carbery 10-6 and J.T. Romagnoli, at 119 pounds, taking out Brad Phelps 16-8 to give CBA/J-D the clinching points. Dan Meile (125 pounds) wrestled well, too, in an 8-4 loss to Rudy Farsaci.
