When the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt wrestling team visited Cortland Wednesday night, it had a good idea about how close it might get.
They had no idea just how close, though.
CBA/J-D saw a big early lead get away, but recovered enough to force the action to the final match – where Matt Lauro’s clutch effort secured a 40-39 victory over the Purple Tigers.
Cortland had a 39-37 lead going into the 125-pound finale, where Lauro squared off against Alec Edwards. Any decision would put CBA/J-D on top.
And with a series of strong early moves, Lauro took charge of the match, not allowing Edwards to recover. When the whistle blew after six minutes, Lauro had a 9-2 victory, and CBA/J-D had won the night.
Much earlier, CBA/J-D had claimed the first five matches. It opened at 130 pounds with J.T. Romagnoli pinning Frank Davenport in 1:49 as Ben Honis (135 pounds) fought past Ryan Webber 8-6 and Greg Bagiryan (140 pounds) earned a technical fall over Jordan Bowers at the end of the second period.
Dan Meile was next, at 145 pounds, taking just 1:33 to pin Jesse Towers, while Aaron Benedict’s fine season continued at 152 pounds with a second-period fall over Hunter Brandon.
Ahead 26-0, CBA/J-D then watched Cortland move in front with five straight wins of its own, four pins plus a close decision where Ryan VanPatten, at 189 pounds, fell to Lucas Bush 5-3.
Brad VanPatten won at 96 pounds, getting Grant Tinker in a technical fall as Arsen Bagiryan (103 pounds) claimed a forfeit. When Max Havens (112 pounds) and Brad Carr (119 pounds) got pinned, it was up to Lauro – who would deliver.
Fayetteville-Manlius was scheduled to face Oswego, but it got snowed out -as did most athletic events in the wake of Wednesday’s persistent snows.
