Both inside and outside the CNY Counties League, the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team earned a fair amount of success before hitting the holiday break.
At home Monday for a non-league meet against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, the Northstars shook off a slow start and roared back to beat the Red Devils 48-31.
Thanks to a forfeit, pin and major decision, CNS trailed 14-0 before the 170-pound division, where Andrew Osborne pinned Eddie Bently in 61 seconds for the first of four straight wins.
David Griglock (182 pounds) got a pin over Trevor Simzer midway through the second period, and after a forfeit to Noah Whritenour at 195 pounds, Jared West won a tough 220-pound match over Carter Kimball 3-1.
Of the last seven matches, CNS won five of them, including forfeits to Joe Barber (99 pounds) and Drew Dyer (106 pounds). Joe Copani (120 pounds) pinned Gabe Faherty in 3:24, while Matt Dunham had his own second-period pin of Arik Prichard at 138 pounds. Tony Battista (126 pounds) held off Kasey Proper in a 3-0 shutout.
Two nights later, the Northstars paid a visit to Central Square, and it won all eight matches from 113 to 160 pounds on its way to a 45-25 victory over the Red Hawks.
Of them, Battista, Osborne and Jake Murdock (132 pounds) had pins. Battista finished off Nick Phillips in 1:19 and Murdock earned a second-period fall over Josh Brown as Osborne needed two full periods to pin Jerrett Norton.
Three other matches were one-point decisions. Joe Copani, at 120 pounds, got past Ben Mayers 4-3 as Tom Peterson (145 pounds) beat Dillan Purdy by that exact same score. Dunham also had to hang on to beat Brandon Engebretsen 2-1. Craig Martin (152 pounds) beat Jake Fortune 12-8.
West would pin D.J. Patchen in 1:47 and Matt Mastro, at 285 pounds, needed just 65 seconds for his pin over Robert Harper. From there, CNS would practice and train through, and after, the holiday break, not ending until Jan. 11, when it had a first-place showdown with Baldwinsville.
