As it turned out, the Baldwinsville wrestling team earned two wins over Cicero-North Syracuse in a four-day span.
After the Bees beat the Northstars 51-18 last Wednesday night, both teams went to Buckley Gym for Saturday’s Cazenovia Invitational and would go 1-2 in the standings out of 16 teams entered.
But it was B’ville again finishing first, earning 182.5 points. C-NS picked up 154 points and had to settle for the runner-spot, just ahead of the host Cazenovia Lakers, who were third with 152.5 points.
Kevin Paul claimed the championship at 120 pounds, rolling past Matt Bixby (Chittenango) 11-1 in the semifinals before a title match against Cazenovia’s Dylan Evans. Down 5-4 through two periods, Paul rallied with six straight points in the final period and prevailed 10-5.
Joe Nasoni went to the top at 195 pounds, but didn’t need a decision in the championship match, taking just 1:57 to pin Sandy Creek’s A.J. Wills. This followed a semifinal where Nasoni met Adirondack’s Tyler DeLaura and pinned him 29 seconds into the second period.
Two other B’ville wrestlers reached the finals. Gunnar Sutphen did so at 170 pounds, pinning Joe Jackson (Oxford) in 3:32 in the semifinals, but running into Homer’s Mark Dove in the title match and taking an 8-2 defeat.
At 145 pounds, Chad McArdell pinned C-NS’s Nate Langstaff in 1:24 during the semifinal round, setting up a final with Watertown IHC’s Nick Koelmel, who shut out McArdell 6-0.
Brian Honsinger was one of three Bees to finish third, doing so by holding off C-NS’s Jared West 6-3 in a consolation bracket final just after he had beaten West 8-0 in the quarterfinals. It was the third time in four days they had met, and Honsinger won them all.
Steve Petrelli, to get third place at 152 pounds, won a tough consolation bracket final over Cazenovia’s Mike Nourse 4-1. Connor Ross earned third place at 138 pounds, gaining it through an injury default that sidelined Homer’s Matt Norris. David Rush (106 pounds) and Jake Norton (160 pounds) both had fourth-place finishes.
