Kevin Paul leads the Baldwinsville wrestling team into the 2013-14 season, determined to become the program’s first state champion in a decade.
Not since 2004, when Shawn Farnham claimed state honors at 103 pounds, has anyone from the Bees gone to the top of the podium in the final meet of the winter.
But Paul, a two-time Section III champion (106 pounds in 2012, 120 pounds in 2013) hopes to get a third trip to Albany’s Times Union Center for the Feb. 28-March 1 state meet, and he’s joined by a deep, talented roster that, with the likes of Joe Nasoni, Connor Ross and Chad McArdell, again is favored in the CNY Counties League National division.
For its season opener last Wednesday night at the revamped Baker High School gym, B’ville hosted Oswego, and had no trouble putting away the Buccaneers in a 63-12 romp.
Six different matches went to the Bees by forfeit, including one to Paul at 138 pounds, but also McArdell (152 pounds), Alex Bowen (170 pounds), Gunnar Sutphen (195 pounds), Jeremy Pond (126 pounds) and Spencer Woods (132 pounds).
Nasoni did wrestle, at 220 pounds, fighting past Jacob Rodriguez 7-1, this after Devon Buyck (182 pounds) issued the Bees’ first pin of the season, taking just 42 seconds to finish off Zack Caruso.
B’ville had three other pins before the night was done. Kevin Lewis, at 106 pounds, needed just 18 seconds to get his fall over Tyler Blackmar, and Tyler Patrick (113 pounds) worked quickly, too, pinning Dylan McIsaac in 35 seconds. Ross, at 145 pounds, had to wait a bit longer, but pinned Jordan Perchway with 26 seconds left.
And this led the Bees to Saturday’s Andersen Tournament at Cicero-North Syracuse, where it would emerge as one of the top sides in a field full of powerful programs.
All told, the Bees got 127 points, putting them in fourth place among a field of 22. Fulton, with 175 points, held off South Jefferson (159.5 points) for the top spot, with Spencerport sliding into third place with 145 points.
Despite all of those points, though, B’ville had just one winner – Ross, at 145. He routed Brian Swank (Amsterdam) 20-4 in the quarterfinals and topped Brian Knodler (Guilderland) 10-5 in the semifinals, and then in the championship match had a spectacular effort against Greene’s Tyler Dickman, pinning him in 58 seconds.
Two other Bees got to the final round. Paul, again wrestling up in class at 138, edged C-NS’s Joe Copani 7-5 in the semifinals, but lost the title match to Fayetteville-Manlius’ Paddy Quinlan 5-1. As for McArdell, he beat another F-M wrestler, Tristan Broddus, 6-1, to get to the final at 152, only to lose 7-0 to Amsterdam’s Brandon Lapi.
Nasoni, earning third place at 195, pinned Auburn’s Brendan Malone in just 16 seconds in the consolation bracket final. Sutphen took fourth place at 182, while Kevin Lewis was sixth at 99 pounds.
B’ville returns home Wednesday night to face West Genesee, and will head up to Dexter Saturday for the General Brown Duals, joining the host Lions, along with Carthage, Beaver River, Watertown IHC and Ogdensburg Free Academy.
