West Genesee’s wrestling team had a memorable weekend, regardless of what took place on the mat.
Instead of the typical CNY Counties League meet against Liverpool, the two sides took their Saturday contest to Ithaca – or more specifically, to Cornell University’s Friedman Wrestling Center, the country’s only college-level facility devoted solely to wrestling and home of a program currently no. 7 in the national rankings.
WG lost the meet, 45-30, to the Warriors, but still managed a string of victories, including the 195-pound opener, where Caleb Blasczienski pinned Louis Ragonese in 1:56.
Liverpool took the next three matches before Mike Linton, at 106 pounds, pinned Dominick Battaglia in 3:12. Odae Badwan (126 pounds) claimed a forfeit after Tyler Heggelke, at 120 pounds, got into a tough battle with Anthony Ianno and lost a 2-1 decision.
When Connor Grome pinned his 132-pound opponent, Mark Saba, in 2:44, WG still was in the meet, only trailing 27-25. But the Warriors put it away with wins in the next four matches – two pins and two majority decisions – before Dalton Elias (182 pounds) ended things with a 6-3 victory over Conner O’Connor.
As this went on, Marcellus took part in the OHSL Liberty/Patriot tournament at Cazenovia High School’s Buckley Gym, finishing fourth in a 12-team field with 135 points. Phoenix (230 points) held off Port Byron (204 points) for the top spot.
Four Mustangs made it to the final round, but just one prevailed – Ben Hood, at 106 pounds. Hood pinned Anthony Negrette (Tully) and stopped Sean Gilbert (Phoenix) 11-2 to reach the title match, where he held off Joe Brillo (Skaneateles) in a 6-3 decision.
In a close 113-pound final, Zach Ruggles dropped a 4-1 verdict to Andrew Taber (Port Byron), who was named one of the meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestlers. Jon Cavaretta lost the 220-pound title match to Maurice Russell (Institute of Technology Central) 13-6, with Kevin Morrissey (160 pounds) suffering a second-period fall against Phoenix’s Justin Rhodes in his championship match.
Dan Tierney (138) pinned Chittenango’s Jake Wilmer in 1:36 for a third-place finish as John Dunn (195) claimed fourth place. Nick Destefano beat Kyle Cooper (Hannibal) 17-4 for fifth place at 120, with Nate Long (132) doing the same, topping Phoenix’s Kyle Demo 7-2 to finish fifth as Isaiah Mann (285) edged Robert Gage (Hannibal) 4-2 to also get fifth place.
Before going to the league meet, Marcellus faced Fabius-Pompey last Wednesday night and, aided by a trio of timely pins, picked up a 50-27 victory over the Falcons.
The Mustangs earned its first 18 points without a fight as Dunn, Cavaretta and Mann all claimed forfeits. Hood did wrestle, but not for long as he pinned Nicholas DeJosia in 36 seconds before Ruggles got a 16-0 technical fall over Andrew Hawley.
As F-P tried to climb back into the meet, the Mustangs stopped them. Long claimed another forfeit, while Tierney took 3:14 to pin Cameron Stewart. Zach Caza claimed the toughest match, a 4-0 decision over Alex Curr at 145, and Morrissey pinned Brian Cuipylo with 15 seconds remaining.
On Saturday, Marcellus will go to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill for the Section III Class B championship meet, while West Genesee enters the Class AA meet at Cicero-North Syracuse, each side looking to advance competitors to the overall sectional meet Feb. 9 at SRC Arena.