East Syracuse-Minoa wrestling senior Dustin Moss had one more big event on his agenda this winter – namely, the state Division I championship meet.
And when Moss joined all the state’s top competitors Friday at Times Union Center in Albany, he had just one slip-up, in the quarterfinal round – but recovered to be perfect the rest of the way on his way to third place.
Moss, the Section III champion at 171 pounds, began in dominant form, quickly seizing the lead against Salesian’s Nick Terp in the first round and recording a pin in 1:41.
In the quarterfinals, Moss met Francisco DeCristo (Springfield Gardens), a New York City wrestler who would prove to be a bit too tough.
They traded early points, but after DeCristo made an escape late in the first period to go up 3-2, he never trailed again. Moss closed within 6-4 in the third period, but two late takedowns allowed DeCristo to pull away and prevail 10-5.
Moved into the consolation bracket, Moss began with a win, holding off Clarence’s Zach Ward 6-4, then fought his way to a 4-0 victory over Lansingburgh’s Chad Obzud to clinch his podium spot. But the best part lay ahead.
Against Minisink Valley’s Ryan Nicholas, Moss took over again, pinning Nicholas in 2:53 to earn a trip to the consolation bracket final against Pioneer’s Tony Lock.
Adding a terrific exclamation point to his high-school career, Moss again took charge early, then pinned Lock with 21 seconds left in the second period to end up in third with a season record of 44-2.
