Skaneateles wrestler Kevin Pembridge continued his superb season-long effort with a victory at 140 pounds during last Saturday’s Section III Class B championship meet at Oneida.
Pembridge, who improved to 24-2 on the season, began his journey by holding off Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Aaron Prichard 5-2 in the quarterfinals. Then came a semifinal against John Regan (Chittenango), where Pembridge would keep Regan off the board in a 3-0 shutout.
All this led to the final against Oneida’s Connor LoMonaco. Despite the fact that LoMonaco was wrestling on his home mat, Pembridge made the necessary moves and won his third straight decision by a three-point margin, this one 7-4.
Overall, Skaneateles put up 71 points to take ninth place in a 12-team field, far from Phoenix, who won with 245.5 points.
Chris Wise, beaten in the 171-pound semifinals by Hannibal’s Rob Burnett, rebounded with two consolation bracket wins to claim third place, culminating in a 14-0 romp over Homer’s Cameron Ashley. Garrett Navaroli salvaged fifth place at 285 pounds with a 3-0 win over VVS’s Josh Legler.
Jacob Brillo worked his way to the semifinals at 160 pounds, only to see Casey Hanson (South Jefferson) pin him en route to victory as Brillo eventually finished sixth. Josh Brillo, like his brother, settled for sixth place at 96 pounds after going 1-2.
Tyler Saunders (119 pounds) beat Eric Petrie (Homer) 12-5 in the first round, but lost to eventual champion Nick Tighe (Phoenix) in the quarterfinals. Much the same happened to Ryan Dick at 125 pounds, Dick pinning Brandon Harrington (Phoenix) in the first round but falling to VVS’s Dylan Kavanaugh a round later.
At 145 pounds, Jake Valentino took out Alex Carter (Chittenango) 6-2 in the first round, but lost in the quarterfinals to another VVS wrestler, Nate Walts. Owen Sheppard (130 pounds) and Jon Laubner (152 pounds) lost in the first round and Connor Rourke fell in the 215-pound quarterfinals.
Pembridge and Wise have qualified for the Section III Division II championships, which take place Saturday at 9 a.m. at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
