In the waning days of 2010, the Skaneateles wrestling team had various forms of competition to further test itself before hitting the heart of its schedule in the new year.
First, the Lakers met Homer in a contest that was in doubt until the last seconds of the last match before the Trojans squeaked out a 34-33 victory.
Homer had won the first three matches to go up 10-0 as Jake Valentino (145 pounds), Jon Leubner (152 pounds) and Neil Ruggles (160 pounds) fell.
But Jacob Brillo, at 171 pounds, got Skaneateles on the board with a 10-7 win over Cameron Ashley, and Chris Wise (189 pounds) followed with a 48-second pin of Tony Neal.
Garrett Navaroli claimed a forfeit at 285 pounds and, when Josh Brillo did the same at 96, Skaneateles moved out in front for the first time – though it had to surrender a forfeit at 103 pounds to even things up again.
Tyler Saunders, wrestling at 119 pounds, beat Homer’s Eric Petrie with a technical fall, after which Ryan Dick (125 pounds) topped Hugh Kiernan 4-1 to put Skaneateles back in front 30-28 with three matches left.
Homer promptly took the next two matches, both with close decisions as Adam Notarpole (130) lost to Jon Cottrell 4-0 and Dominic Petrocci (135) fell to Matt Norris 4-1.
So trailing 34-30, Skaneateles needed a technical fall or pin from Kevin Pembridge in the 140-pound finale against Eric Petrie, since the Trojans owned the criterium point for having eight wins.
Pembridge controlled his match, twice nearly pinning Petrie, but could only manage a 7-0 decision, good for three points – which left Skaneateles one short.
From there, the Lakers went to Thursday’s Lewis County Duals at Copenhagen, where it would go 3-2 to tie for second place with the host Gold Knights and Lowville. Ilion won with a perfect 5-0 mark.
Skaneateles started with a 63-15 romp over Fonda-Fultonville where it won the first six matches, including pins from Wise and Brillo.Petrocci, Pembridge, Jon Leubner and Brillo also would earn pins, with Valentino adding a technical fall.
The Lakers then lost to both Ilion 46-33 and Copenhagen 48-36, but finish strong. In a 67-15 rout of South Lewis, Skaneateles benefited from nine forfeits, while in a 51-30 win over Lowville Pembridge and Wise would contribute pins.
To begin 2011, Skaneateles hosts Jordan-Elbridge Wednesday in a key OHSL Liberty division match before going to Deposit-Hancock on Saturday for the Stan Elinsky Memorial Tournament.
