Vernon Verona Sherrill’s wrestling team will be a featured attraction in Saturday’s Central New York Tournament in nearby Oneida.
Before that, though, the Red Devils tuned up with back-to-back meets, starting with last Tuesday’s visit from Sherburne-Earlville that resulted in a 51-17 victory over the Marauders.
John Hudson survived a 119-pound opener, getting an overtime takedown to beat Alec Shendown 2-0 before Joe Tiller (125 pounds) got a 16-1 technical fall over Noah Huff and Dan Walts (130 pounds) pinned James Bennett in 1:04.
S-E won two of the next three matches, with a Nate Walts (140 pounds) pin in between, but when Lane Frost (152 pounds) pinned Dakota Nelson early in the third period, it began a five-match win streak.
Josh Parkhurst (160 pounds) and Alex Mieczkowski (171 pounds) both won with first-period pins, while Nick Mieczkowski (189 pounds) took out Justin Coye 12-0 and Kyle Reader (215 pounds) claimed a forfeit. Dylan Kavanaugh, at 112 pounds, closed out the meet with an 11-2 win over Spencer Franklin.
A night later, at Ilion, the Red Devils were in a fight all the way to the end, but had the right man at anchor as it beat the Golden Bombers 34-28.
Twelve matches had left the two sides even, 28-28, so the final contest would settle everything. Again, it was at 112 pounds — and again, Kavanaugh was present. That was enough, as Kavanaugh pinned Bryan Bennett 32 seconds into the third period.
Prior to that, Ilion had won four of the first five matches, with Dan Walts the lone exception as he beat Ryan White 15-6. But David Rathbun (145 pounds) began the turnaround, beating Paul Greenfield 7-4 as Frost topped Jesse Marlowe 4-1 and Parkhurst pinned Casey Seaton in just 1:24.
Though Alex Mieczkowski lost, Nick Mieczkowski pinned Brett Leon in 2:48 as Reader took 1:39 to finish off Zach Smith, all leading to Kavanaugh’s big finish.
Chittenango would also get a come-from-behind win on Wednesday night, rallying to take out East Syracuse-Minoa 31-27.
Nic Bacon (152 pounds) opened with a 10-4 win over Zach Revette, but the Spartans got forfeits in the next four matches, adding up to 24 points.
Then the Bears got its own forfeits to Cody Carberry (103 pounds) and Brad Phelps (119 pounds) and Rudy Farsaci (125 pounds) pinned Kyle Parella in the second period, putting the Bears back in it.
Joe Farmer (119 pounds) lost in overtime to Jarrett Temple 10-8, but John Regan, at 125 pounds, held on in overtime to beat Brendon O’Donnell 1-0, beginning the last and decisive surge.
When Wes Blanding (130 pounds) handled Stephen Loder 16-6, the Bears took a 28-27 lead, but it all hinged on the last 135-pound match between Zak Jackson and ESM’s Conner Webb. Solid from start to finish, Jackson won a 5-2 decision.