No one would say that the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team eases into a new season.
The Northstars saw its first competition Saturday when it hosted the annual Andersen Tournament, a gathering of 20 teams from inside and outside the Section III ranks.
CNS would rise to fourth place in that field, earning 116.5 points. Baldwinsville would finish on top, with 158.5 points, while Amsterdam was second (135 points) and South Jefferson, with 124 points, was third.
Tony Battista, at 126 pounds, and Andrew Osborne, at 160 pounds, reached the championship round. Battista pinned Matt Kenyon (Windsor), shut out Zac Alexander (Cortland) and pinned Curtis Barney (Canandaigua) to get to the finals, where Isaiah Perry (Massena) edged him 9-7 on his way to Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
As for Osborne, he pinned Ethan Nelson (Chenango Forks) in 39 seconds, Matt Calascibetta (West Genesee) in 1:39 and Dan Smith (South Jefferson) in 1:59, all of them first-period falls. Yet he never got into the final against Watertown IHC’s Aaron West, dropping a 17-2 technical fall.
Joe Caponi, wrestling at 120 pounds, lost in the quarterfinals to South Jefferson’s Holden Pelton, but rallied for a third-place finish. Caponi claimed three matches in the consolation bracket that culminated in a 10-4 decision over Pelton, avenging that earlier pin. Drew Dyer took fourth place at 106 pounds.
Matt Dunham rose to fifth place at 138 pounds with a 9-1 romp over B’ville’s Jake Norton, while Tom Peterson (145 pounds) also claimed fifth by pinning Cortland’s Mike Southwick in 3:12. Matt Mastro pinned South Jefferson’s Kyle Denny in 3:40 for his own fifth-place finish.
CNS is hosting all sorts of big meets this season, including the Jan. 21 Section III Dual Meet and the sectional Class AA championships on Feb. 4.
The Northstars have two CNY Counties League contests this week, going to Fayetteville-Manlius Tuesday before hosting West Genesee Thursday night. The annual JV Blindmen’s Tournament takes place on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.
Here’s the full list of finals results from the Andersen Tournament:
99: Dandre Norman (Rome Free Academy) pins Charlie Kennedy (Elmira Free Academy), 5:17
106: Kyle Kelly (Chenango Forks) TF over Kevin Paul (Baldwinsville), 16-1
113: Nathan Marshall (Massena) beats Nate Hayes (Windsor), 1-0
120: Brandon Lapi (Amsterdam) beats Jacob Green (Chenango Forks), 3-1
126: Isaiah Perry (Massena) beats Tony Battista (CNS), 9-7
132: Jessy Williams (Windsor) beats Curtis Grant (Elmira Free Academy), 5-2
138: Nick Koemel (Watertown IHC) beats Christian Rivera (Whitesboro), 8-5
145: John Northrup (Rush-Henrietta) pins Wesley Howard (South Jefferson), 1:20
152: Eb Foote (Canton-Potsdam) beats Parker Warrick (Elmira Free Academy), 9-6
160: Aaron West (Watertown IHC) TF over Andrew Osborne (CNS), 17-2
170: Shayne Brady (Carthage) beats Mike Garrison (Amsterdam), 10-3
182: Logan LaFlamme (South Jefferson) beats Joe Nasoni (Baldwinsville), 9-7
195: Pat Nasoni (Baldwinsville) beats Jesse Angevine (Windsor), 8-1
220: Matt Abbott (Windsor) beats Ken Garcia (Amsterdam), 4-0
285: Chris Rodriguez (Amsterdam) beats Sean McGinley (Elmira Free Academy), 11-2