Nothing less than CNY Counties League supremacy is on the line Wednesday night when the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team takes on Baldwinsville.
What preceded that meet was consequential in many different ways, especially the Northstars’ appearance in last weekend’s Akley Memorial Duals at Oswego High School.
That included a rematch between C-NS and rival Liverpool, which proved even closer than their first meeting on Nov. 28, but again the Northstars would prevail, 36-33.
It didn’t help C-NS that it had to forfeit three matches, while the Warriors only surrendered one, and it was Liverpool breaking out in front after Nate Langstaff blanked Brockton Barton 5-0 in the 152-pound opener.
Dakota Inman, at 160 pounds, beat Sam Ruiz 5-1, after which Bryan Merril (170 pounds) edged Jake Claflin 1-0. Louis Ragonese (182 pounds) took 1:59 to pin Robert Craner and, at 195 pounds, Connor O’Conner held off David Griglock 3-2.
Now it was the Northstars’ turn to win four straight. Matt Mastro got it started at 220 pounds, topping Ron Wilson 7-2, and Andres Anoceto (285 pounds) pinned David Carney in 2:23 before Joe Barber (99 pounds) finished off Matt Nadeau in 1:26. In what proved to be a crucial 106-pound match, C-NS’s Joe Mayers got a 6-5 decision over Audey Ashkar.
Amid the forfeits, Joe Copani (132 pounds) took just 1:18 to pin Mike Mills, setting up a decisive 138-pound match where the Northstars’ Jeremy Rivera met the Warriors’ Brian Carr. For six thrilling minutes, the two wrestlers traded points and moves, but it was Rivera doing a bit more, prevailing 14-13 to give C-NS the clinching points.
This meet also included head coach Dereck Bigford’s 300th career victory, as C-NS routed Fulton 54-18 and also toppled Institute of Technology Central 40-35 before routing Onondaga 66-9.
That set up a championship match between the Northstars and Mexico, another close battle that saw C-NS again fight hard, but lose to the Tigers 36-32.
Claflin beat Matt Hirsch 10-2, with Griglock edging Alex Bailey 2-0 and Mastro pinning Jason Bond in 1:48. A forfeit to Anoceto and Barber’s 4-0 shutout of Austin O’Reilly made it five matches in a row.
Mexico rallied with wins in five of the next seven matches, including two forfeits and two pins, to put the final out of reach. Drew Dyer (113 pounds) still beat Mitch Shambo 12-4 and Copani edged Ben Blasier 3-2, but it was over by the time Nate Langstaff, at 152 pounds, closed the match with an 11-4 victory over Tim Raner.
In last Wednesday’s meet at Rome Free Academy, C-NS took over in the middle stages and roared past the Black Knights 57-27.
Not until the fifth match, at 132, did C-NS (who had not wrestled since a narrow Dec. 19 defeat to Central Square) get a mat victory, doing so when Copani pinned James Redpath midway through the second period.
But that started a trend of five Northstars victories in six matches. Rivera took eight fewer seconds than Copani to pin Tim Strouse, while Langstaff pinned Chase Eichorn in 2:31.
At 160 pounds, Sam Ruiz earned a 37-second pin over Aaron Intericola, and C-NS’s fifth pin came when Claflin finished off Nathan Brown in 2:16.
To clinch it, C-NS claimed the last four matches. Prior to forfeits to Anoceto and Barber, Griglock beat Zach Thomason 8-3 as Jared West (220) pinned Ian Pisaneschi in 1:06.
