Three Skaneateles wrestlers – Joey Brillo, Max Collier and Andrew Newton – made their way to Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena to participate in Saturday’s Section III Division II championship meet.
Against the top small-school wrestlers in the area, each of these Lakers would struggle, but get valuable experience in the process.
Just a seventh-grader, Brillo was the youngest of 14 wrestlers in the 106-pound field. And he gave General Brown’s Connor Schissler a tough fight for all six minutes of their opening-round match before losing a 6-3 decision, Brillo finishing 2012-13 with an impressive 26-7 record.
As for Collier, the sophomore made his way to the 113-pound bracket, but found Phoenix’s Remi Lynch too difficult to deal with, dropping an 18-4 decision a he finished this winter at 28-11 overall.
Newton, like Collier a sophomore, was an at-large entry into the 138-pound field with a 22-13 record and was unable to catch up to Hannibal’s Greg Hadcock in a 6-3 decision.
Dolgeville’s Danny Fox (at 106), Holland Patent’s Hunter Richard (at 113) and Phoenix’s Nick Tighe (138) won those sectional titles and advance to the Feb. 22-23 state meet in Albany.
Tighe, in fact, is going after his third straight state title and reached two landmarks in the sectional meet, getting his 250th career win and his 150th career pin, both rare achievements in the high school ranks.
