Before going to Saturday’s Section III Dual Meet, the Canastota and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill wrestling teams both had meets on Wednesday night.
The Raiders fought off Mohawk 42-39 and the Red Devils, fighting for the top spot in the Tri-Valley League, took a 52-18 loss to Holland Patent.
Canastota’s win over the Mohicans included two forfeits on both sides, but the Raiders won six of the 11 contested matches, a key point coming when Sam Farfaglia, at 160 pounds, beat Clayton Domion 5-2. Billy Rinauto, at 135 pounds, got a 12-9 victory over Dan Gardner.
Otherwise, it was all pins, including Tyler Sirota over Taylor Smith in 47 seconds. Anthony Finocchiaro (140 pounds) and Fred Sherman (215 pounds) both won in 1:09 over, respectively, Josh Lasher and James Costello. Wyatt Albanese (152 pounds) earned his pin over Mike Backus with 29 seconds left.
Meanwhile, VVS never had a lead against Holland Patent, who came into the week no. 11 in the state small-school rankings. The Golden Knights won four of the first five matches, the only interruption coming when Dylan Kavanaugh, at 125 pounds, edged Matt Herringshaw 3-2.
Aaron Prichard also got a win at 140, pinning Ed Knamm at the end of the second period, while Nathan Walts (152) shut out Taylor Short 3-0 and Kasey Proper (103) claimed a forfeit. At 171, James Simpkins lost 1-0 to Barrett Joseph and Dustin Comings (189) fell to Ryan Crego 3-1.
Oneida, who did not qualify for the sectional dual meet, had a close match Wednesday against Whitesboro, but fell to the Warriors 40-31 on the Indians’ Senior Night.
Two of those seniors, Connor LoMonaco (140 pounds) and Lon Palmer (145 pounds), earned wins as LoMonaco pinned Landon Slawson in the third period and Palmer topped Lynde Schultz 10-2.
Conner Russ (119) pinned Josh Ricci late in the second period as Matt Fisher, at 152, earned a technical fall over Dylan Tuttle. Jake Straczuk, at 160, needed 2:35 to finish off Zacy Przbyla and Nick Yardley (215) earned a 15-6 decision over John Dimbleby.
