Now the Cazenovia wrestling team is exactly where it wants to be – atop the Onondaga High School League Liberty division.
In Wednesday night’s first-place showdown with Hannibal, the visiting Lakers won six of seven matches in the higher weight classes, five of them pins, accounting for most of the points in a 49-24 win over the Warriors.
Hayden Polhamus, at 195 pounds, had the most impressive effort, pinning Zach Hartranft in just 55 seconds, this after Dan Phillips (182 pounds) finished off Shawn Farrell 36 seconds into the second period.
At 220 pounds, John Nannery earned his pin over Travis Castiglia in 2:43, while Brad Lucas pinned his 285-pound opponent, Dakota Carswell, 19 seconds into the third period and Jake Wilson (160 pounds) took 3:43 to pin Ray Bortle.
Of those six matches in higher weight classes, only Dan Cossitt, at 152 pounds, went the full six minutes, working hard for a 7-4 decision over Nick Shepard.
Up at 106 pounds, Carter Biviano recorded a 51-second pin over Victor Colon, while Awng Hung dominated his 126-pound match, beating Tyler Wyman 19-8. Against Alex Race, who entered the match with a 22-3 record, Teddy Kugler (145 pounds) wrestled well and earned a 5-2 victory.
Two other matches were close, too, as Mike Nourse, at 145 pounds, took a 12-9 defeat to Derek Hilton and Dylan Evans lost his 132-pound match to Dan Wyman 7-1.
A night later, Chittenango took its turn on the mat, but were overwhelmed by long-time power Phoenix in a 63-13 loss to the Firebirds.
All of the Bears’ points were earned in decisions, with only Wes Blanding, at 138 pounds, winning in lopsided fashion as he beat Nate Dietz 13-3.
Cody Carbery worked hard at 113 pounds to get past Nate Bray 6-3, while Matt Bixby (120 pounds) needed two overtimes to get a 1-0 decision over Alex Fatcheric. At 145, Brad Phelps topped William Hillard 3-1.
Cazenovia, after facing Onondaga next Wednesday, will compete on Jan. 28 in the OHSL Liberty/Patriot division tournament. Chittenango has back-to-back meets next week against Herkimer and CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt.
