Fresh off its season-opening sweep at the Morrisville-Eaton Duals on Dec. 4, the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill wrestling team kept on winning.
In Wednesday night’s Tri-Valley League opener, the Red Devils brought a full squad to New Hartford, and that translated into a 66-15 romp of the Spartans.
Dylan Kavanaugh, at 130 pounds, opened the meet by pinning Tony Karam in 3:50. It was the first of five VVS pins, none quicker than Marty Howroyd (189 pounds) finishing off Jim Laurenzo in 1:04.
Howroyd’s win came after James Simpkins, at 171 pounds, pinned Marshal Cominski midway through the second period and before Kyle Szkotak (215 pounds) earned a pin over Patrick Parker in 1:45. Later in the meet, Kasey Proper (112 pounds) pinned Blake Haddad 30 seconds into the third period.
Six different times, VVS earned points due to forfeits as Alex Gilbert (135), Aaron Prichard (140), David Rathbun (145), Nate Walts (152), Lane Frost (160) and Brian Ervin (285) won without having to take the mat. Jon Hudson, at 125, lost a close 3-1 decision to Sean McKenna.
A night earlier, Oneida, in its first Tri-Valley match of the season, spilt its matches with Holland Patent, but still lost to the Golden Knights 45-32.
HP won seven of the first eight matches – three by forfeit. The only Oneida interruption came at 119 pounds, when Nick Hopkins rolled past Josh Evans 14-3.
At 140 pounds, Connor Lomonaco pinned Ed KNamm as the second period was ending. Then Matt Fisher (145 pounds) beat Tyler Mytych 12-4 and Lon Palmer, at 152 pounds, shut out Luke Miles 6-0.
Jake Straczuk (160 pounds) earned a pin over Matt Grogan with 14 seconds left in their match, as Tyler Miller (171 pounds) topped Barrett Joseph 6-2. And Nick Yardley, at 215 pounds, claimed a forfeit. Joe Casella (135 pounds) lost a 6-2 decision to Todd Stevens.
VVS went to Whitesboro for Saturday’s Ed Wadas Dual Meet and continued its strong start, going 4-1 against a high-quality field.
The Red Devils beat Watertown 56-24, topped Copenhagen 51-30, claimed a rematch with New Hartford 60-30 and held off Rome Free Academy 45-34. Only Central Square caught VVS, the Red Hawks prevailing 44-31 to earn first place in the tournament.
In Saturday’s Herkimer Invitational, the Indians finished 11th in the 21-team field, with 69 points. Lomonaco made it to the 140-pound final before falling to Aaron Benedict (CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt) in a third-period pin.
That proved a contrast to Chittenango, who made it all the way to second place with 116.5 points, a number only topped by Spencerport, who won with 276 points. Canastota finished sixth with 97 points.
For the Bears, Wes Blanding took the title at 130 pounds, beating Onondaga’s Alex Potts in a 20-9 decision in the title match. Three others made finals, as Cody Carberry (103 pounds) lost a close 3-2 final to Spencerport’s Sal Mingoea and Gunnar Brooks (119 pounds) took a 4-1 defeat to Camden’s Natalio McCormic in his title match. In the 145-pound final, Chittenango’s John Regan lost, 7-1, to Spencerport’s Steve Maier.
Most of Canastota’s top wrestlers, like Zach Zupan, Anthony Finocciharo and Tyler Sirota, did not wrestle at Herkimer. But Fred Sherman did win at 189 pounds, outlasting Onondaga’s Matt Tiss 2-1 in overtime as, at 160 pounds, Sam Farfaglia lost his final to Spencerport’s Joe Inzana in a first-period fall.
