One of the highlights of the Skaneateles wrestling season is its annual dual meet, which took place Saturday as Auburn, Herkimer, Tully and Oneida served as the opponents.

The main highlight, of course, was the clash between the neighboring Lakers and Maroons, one in which Auburn would prevail by a score of 50-32.

They started at 120 pounds, where Max Collier pinned Auburn’s John Exner midway through the second period. Two matches later, Andrew Newton (132 pounds) prevailed when he amassed plenty of points against Dustin Swan in a 21-4 technical fall.

But the Maroons won five of the first seven matches, two of them forfeits, and tacked on two more wins after Russ Burkhardt, at 170 pounds, recorded a 54-second pin over Nick Pysnack.

Cooper Pitman worked even faster at 220 pounds, finishing off John Leone in just 25 seconds. Late in the meet, Nevan Rourke (99 pounds) claimed a forfeit, just as Joey Brillo (106 pounds) claimed a 7-2 decision over Austin Duger, but Skaneateles had to surrender two more forfeits, which helped Auburn stay in front.

That concluded a busy week for the Lakers, which kicked off last Tuesday with a trip to Onondaga and an impressive 54-28 victory over the Tigers.

Trailing 12-0 early, Skaneateles started to take over when Burkhardt, at 160 pounds, pinned Tim Pierce in 1:17. Connor Gray (170) followed with a second-period fall over Zach McDonough.

Mostly, though, the Lakers benefited from six forfeits, as Pitman, Rourke, Brillo, Collier, Liam Alexander (195 pounds) and Dan O’Connell (120 pounds) all won without having to take the mat. At 220 pounds, Jacob Kipp did wrestle, and pinned Mike Pelletier in 1:49.

Just 24 hours later, the Lakers hosted Institute of Technology Central, and the results reversed themselves as Skaneateles lost, 54-31, to the Eagles.

Skaneateles claimed a quick 16-0 lead through forfeits to Brillo and O’Connell, plus Collier, at 120, beating Naseem Fielder 13-3. Later, Newton edged Royston Melville 8-6, with Adam Notarpole (145 pounds) pinning Jeff Nguyen in just 1:01.

The Eagles dominated from that point forward, though, helped in no small way by Gray and Francis Lombardi (152 pounds) both having to default their matches due to injuries. ITC also claimed three forfeits to pull away.

Now Skaneateles will get ready for next Saturday’s OHSL Liberty/Patriot championship meet, where Phoenix and Cazenovia are the favorites.