Area high school wrestling teams beat everyone else in winter sports in terms of starting practice, hitting the mat one full week (Nov. 15) before the others began. This also meant that the first big events of the season belonged to the wrestlers, too. Chittenango and Morrisville-Eaton both hosted meets on Saturday that drew a total of 12 teams. The Bears would finish on top at its own meet, sweeping all five of the opponents it faced as Marcellus, with a 4-1 mark, finished second. To start with, Chittenango disposed of New Hartford 55-22, then handled Whitney Point by a similar 57-24 margin. After routing Red Creek 63-12, the Bears made it four wins in as many matches by stomping Onondaga 54-13. In the decisive fifth round, Chittenango and Marcellus, both squared off. Though the Mustangs proved tougher than anyone before, the Bears still prevailed, 45-30, to get first place. Morrisville-Eaton’s event also featured Cazenovia – but both sides found themselves trailing Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, who won with a 5-0 sweep as Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA, coached by former M-E star Treavor LeBlanc (son of long-time Warriors coach Duane LeBlanc), went 4-1. The Red Devils tore through the Lakers 52-18, featuring six pins from Brian Ervin (285 pounds), David Rathbun (140 pounds), Aaron Prichard (145 pounds), Lane Frost (160 pounds), Marty Howroyd (171 pounds) and James Simpkins (189 pounds). Ervin and Simpkins got their pins in less than a minute, and Frost took just 11 seconds to pin Anthony Randino. Cazenovia countered with decisions from Dylan Evans (119 pounds) and Brad Nardella (125 pounds), and Mike Nourse, at 130 pounds, pinning Alex Gilbert in 1:30. The closest match saw VVS’s Kasey Proper, at 112, edge Nick Petroff 6-5. VVS, who started with a 60-10 rout of Cooperstown, went on to take out East Syracuse-Minoa (61-13) and the host Warriors (47-13). In the decisive contest, the Red Devils would hold off J-D/CBA 43-34. Four straight wins by Frost (wrestling at 152), Walts (up at 160 this time), Simpkins (at 171) and Howroyd (189) put the match away. Canastota also debuted on Saturday, a team newly loaded by the transfer arrival of Anthony Finocchiaro, a two-time Section III Division I champion at Baldwinsville. The Raiders also return Zach Zupan, a state fourth-place finisher at 160 pounds in 2010, and Tyler Sirota, who was sixth in last winter’s state meet at 145 pounds. With all this talent on hand, the Raiders went 4-1 at the Sandy Creek Duals, losing only to the host Comets 39-36 because it had to forfeit each of the last three matches. Otherwise, Canastota beat South Lewis 57-24, topped Carthage 51-22, held off Lowville 48-34 and also beat North Rose-Wolcott. Joe Tiller took Most Outstanding Wrestler honors on the Raiders’ behalf.