Turning to its 2013 slate, the Skaneateles wrestling team got off to just the right start.
Three early pins by Russ Burkhardt, Connor Gray and Jacob Kipp set the tone for Thursday’s match at Hannibal, and the Lakers went on to defeat the Warriors 51-32.
After forfeiting the 160-pound opener, the Lakers turned to Burkhardt, at 170 pounds, and he promptly went out and pinned Corey Hyde in 53 seconds to make it 6-6.
It was Gray (182 pounds) giving the Lakers the lead for good, finishing off Logan Scott with 32 seconds left, and at 195 pounds Kipp earned his pin over Zach Hartranft midway through the third period.
Two matches later, Cooper Pitman (285 pounds) stepped up, pinning Robert Gage in 2:40, but it was Nevan Rourke’s forfeit at 106 pounds that began Skaneateles’ decisive push.
At 113 pounds, Joey Brillo scraped past Jesus Flores 5-4, with Max Collier (120 pounds) following up with a third-period fall over Kyle Cooper. To cap it off, Josh Brillo, at 126 pounds, earned a pin over Kyle Denise in 1:26.
Late in the meet, Andrew Newton (132 pounds) would lose a 4-2 overtime decision to Tyler Wyman, but Francis Lombardi (152 pounds) got a second-period pin over Billy Loomis to close things out.
A week before facing Hannibal, the Lakers ventured north, to Copenhagen, to compete in the Lewis County Duals, where it would earn a 2-2 mark against a quartet of opponents.
In the opener, Skaneateles lost, 48-31, to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, unable to recover from the Red Devils winning seven of the first eight matches despite consecutive pins late in the match from Kipp, Pitman and Rourke.
The Lakers then crushed Beaver River, 63-12, only to take a 53-33 defeat to host Copenhagen as the Gold Knights won three straight late matches to break it open.
Brillo, wrestling at 120, had his team’s lone pin against Copenhagen, finishing off Breven Jacobs with just 10 seconds left, and he also won in the Lakers’ closing 69-18 rout of South Lewis on his way to Most Outstanding Wrestler honors. Brillo went 4-0, twice earning pins.
At 2-3 in the OHSL Liberty division and 7-7 overall, Skaneateles will host the combined Cato-Meridian/Jordan-Elbridge squad next Friday night.
