A 15-5 record helped the Baldwinsville wrestling team land a spot in Saturday’s Section III Dual Meet, held at Cicero-North Syracuse.
But it didn’t give the Bees any break, as far as the draw was concerned. B’ville had to go up against powerful Phoenix in the first round, and quickly fell out in a 55-12 loss to the Firebirds.
Two close matches set the early tone. James Eustice, in the 152-pound opener, battled hard, but lost 5-2 to Tyler Button, while Ryan McArdell (170 pounds) also wrestled well, yet still took a 10-7 defeat to Justin Rhodes.
In between, Anthony Rafkis (160 pounds) fell to Rowdy Prior 10-3, and Phoenix won the first five matches overall before Jake Florack (220 pounds) got his team on the board, pinning Trevor Ferenz in 1:40.
That only proved a temporary break, though. The Firebirds won eight of the remaining nine matches, only getting stopped when Tim Sposato, at 113 pounds, pinned Adam Pinzer in 37 seconds.
Kevin Paul (106 pounds) could not get on the board in a 5-0 defeat to Nate Bray, while Jabr Bengabr (120 pounds) had an 8-6 loss to Alex Fatcheric and Jake Norton (138 pounds) lost to Nate Dietz 8-4.
The defeat didn’t look too bad when Phoenix went on to win the Dual Meet, edging Indian River 40-34 in the quarterfinals, topping General Brown 40-31 in the semifinals and fighting past Fulton 33-32 in the title match, avenging a loss to the Red Raiders earlier this month.
Before going to the Dual Meet, the Bees went to Camillus last Wednesday night and found success against West Genesee, staying unbeaten in the CNY Counties League National division with a 57-21 romp of the Wildcats.
Of the 13 contested matches (B’ville had to forfeit twice), the Bees won 11 of them, as Pat Nasoni (220 pounds) earned the fastest pin over Matt Kemp in 1:11 and Joe Nasoni (195 pounds) took six more seconds to finish off Dalton Elias.
At 126 pounds, Chad McArdell pinned Odae Badwan in 2:39. Rafkis, at 170, earned his pin over Evan Stefano in exactly three minutes, while Eustice, down at 152, pinned Cody Ward at the end of the second period.
Ryan McArdell (160) needed 3:12 for his pin over Matt Calascibetta. Florack, with 30 seconds left in his 285-pound match, gained the pin over Vasyl Podarunok.
Even the closer matches went in B’ville’s favor. Sposato, moved up to 120, held off Tyler Heggelke 4-2, with Steve Petrelli (145 pounds) working just as hard to beat Paul Potosky 7-5. Also, Norton earned a 6-1 decision over Nick Longo.
B’ville and another Dual Meet participant, Central Square (who lost in the quarterfinals to Fulton), meet at Paul V. Moore High School Gym Wednesday in the Bees’ only varsity action this week.
