Given newfound momentum by its win over rival Liverpool in the Akley Memorial Duals at Oswego on Jan. 4, the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team didn’t waste it.
The Northstars made the short trip to Central Square last Wednesday night, and by winning six of the first eight matches, it built an insurmountable lead and went on to defeat the Red Hawks 42-30.
After Anthony Carella lost the 170-pound opener to Phoenix Webb 8-6, Tom Peterson, at 182 pounds, got C-NS on the board by pinning Tyler Seaone in just 60 seconds.
Mark Cummings (195 pounds) followed up by pinning Mack West at the end of the second period, while Andres Ancoeto lost a 220-pound decision to Elijah Sampo 4-0, but that proved a temporary disruption.
Jared West, at 285 pounds, began the decisive move by pinning Cody Stone in 1:54. Moving to 99 pounds, Ray Sorenson earned his fall over Cody White in 3:06, with Joe Barber (106 pounds) rolling past Jacob Garrow 16-3 and Joe Mayers (113 pounds) taking 1:36 to finish off Devin Smith.
Central Square would attempt to make a comeback, winning five of the next six bouts, including Jacob Hall (120 pounds) suffering his own 4-0 defeat to Dylan Wallace. But Joe Copani, at 138 pounds, clinched it with an 11-2 romp over Ben Mayers before Sam Ruiz (160 pounds) topped Isaac Havens 10-2. Robert Rein, at 152 pounds, lost 7-2 to Max Emond.
From there, C-NS went to Saturday’s Cazenovia Invitational, and nearly won it. With 172 points, the Northstars topped everyone in the 16-team field except Baldwinsville, who won with 172.5 points.
C-NS won more weight classes (four, to B’ville’s three), and each of them put six wrestlers into the finals. Where B’ville pulled it out was having a bit more success in the lower placements.
West, in rolling to the 285-pound championship, got three straight pins, He finished off Cosimo Tangorra (Herkimer) in 1:08, took 1:23 to pin Zak Akey (Sandy Creek) in the semifinals and managed to pin Oxford’s Kordell Huntley midway through the second period of the title bout.
Though not earning a pin at 160, Ruiz still took the title, getting past Syracuse ITC’s Maujalic Walker 10-2, B’ville’s Devon Buyck 12-4 in the semifinals and, in the title match, outlasted Homer’s Dakota O’Gorman in a 12-6 decision.
Mayers, winning at 113, survived a classic semifinal with Homer’s Cameron Cronk, pulling out a 12-10 decision, and then had an easier time in the final as he pinned Watertown IHC’s Peter Winkler in 1:47. Sorenson prevailed at 99, beating Port Byron’s Katherine Sumner 9-1.
Barber, at 106. He got through a tough semifinal with Cazenovia’s Will Shephard, prevailing 2-0, and the final with Herkimer’s T.J. Philpotts proved just as close, but Philpotts pulled out a 4-2 decision. Peterson earned a berth in the 182-pound final by topping ITC’s Bernard McMillan 12-3, but Cazenovia’s Mike Nourse won the title bout 9-3.
Copani, beaten in the 138-pound semifinal, rebounded for third place, topping Watertown’s Desean Williams 10-1 in the consolation bracket final. Anoceto had the same result at 220, losing in the semifinals to Jake Rodriguez (Oswego) 3-0 before pinning Herkimer’s Steve Napolitano in 56 seconds in the third-place match.
Remarkably, C-NS and B’ville, having finished so close to each other at Cazenovia, meet head-to-head Wednesday night before the Northstars go to Saturday’s Hannibal Duals. Liverpool, off since the Jan. 4 Akey Duals (where it lost to C-NS in the finals), resumes at West Genesee on Wednesday before competing in B’ville’s dual meet Saturday.
