For the most part, the Baldwinsville wrestling team is good enough for an annual appearance at the Section III Dual Meet.
And so the Bees were there again, at Cicero-North Syracuse’s gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, making a spirited run to the quarterfinals before Central Valley Academy ended the hopes for a championship.
In all, 16 teams make it to the Dual meet. B’ville, unseeded, drew Canastota in the opening round, and made quick work of it, easily defeating the Raiders 53-23.
Glad to see that the match opened at 152 pounds, the Bees turned to Chad McArdell, who pinned Jacob Sherman at the end of the first period, and Steve Petrelli (160 pounds) followed with a tough 9-7 decision over Doug Simmons.
They skipped over the next two weight classes, resuming at 195 pounds, where Josh Stanton pinned Richard Sharpe 30 seconds into the third period, and Joe Nasoni (220 pounds) would make it 21-0 when he pinned Owen Albanese in just 1:06.
Canastota won the next two bouts to get on the board, but the Bees quickly answered at 106 pounds with yet another fall, Tyler Patrick taking 3:48 to finish off Matt Hood. Josh Peck earned the Bees’ first decision at 113 pounds, defeating Marshall Bruggeman.
Clinching the meet, Jeremy Pond, at 113 pounds, took just 1:13 to pin Jon Cox, and the Bees’ final points were earned at 138 pounds, where Kevin Paul took just one period to get a technical fall over Ben Marshall.
This put the Bees into the quarterfinals against Central Valley, the no. 2 seed, who had handled Adirondack 46-25 in the opening round. The Thunder had also won B’ville’s own dual meet a week earlier, on Jan. 18, though the two sides didn’t meet head-to-head on that occasion.
Now starting at 160, McArdell moved up and pinned CVA’s Noah Callaghan midway through the second period, but Devon Buyck (170 pounds) lost a 6-0 decision to Nate Case.
Gunnar Sutphen, in his only appearance of the day at 182 pounds, pinned Zakk Zuranski in just 46 seconds, and two bouts later Nasoni worked even faster, getting a 36-second fall over Jesse Hendrick.
That would be the peak moment for the Bees, who saw its 18-9 lead vanish when the Thunder picked up a forfeit and two pins. Then Pond edged David Bardo 4-3 and David Rush, at 126 pounds, pinned Andrew Coffin in 1:56, cutting CVA’s lead to 33-27.
The Thunder clinched it, though, by winning the next three bouts, including a 138-pound classic where Paul took the measure of CVA standout Laken Cook, a four-time sectional champion, and held up quite well, only losing in a 3-0 decision. Connor Ross (145 pounds) lost, 1-0, to John Mazza as Petrelli finished the meet with a technical fall over Fred Schell.
Central Valley didn’t stop there, defeating Camden 39-33 in a tense semifinal before dropping the final to top seed General Brown, 39-31. It is the Lions’ first-ever Dual Meet championship.
Two nights before going to the Dual Meet, the Bees hosted Central Square. It was Senior Night, and B’ville was not about to lose here, going out and defeating the Red Hawks 43-35.
They started at 152 pounds, and the Bees won five of the first six bouts. McArdell blanked Max Emond 8-0, with Petrelli getting a tough 8-5 win over Phoenix Webb.
Sutphen began the next charge, at 182, pinning Tyler Seoane, after which Nick Stanton (195 pounds) handled Mack West 12-3 and Nasoni won a tough 4-3 decision over Elijah Sampo.
When Central Square tried to climb back in, the Bees won four of five bouts from 113 to 138 pounds to put the match away. Peck pinned Jacob Davis and Pond earned a fall over Paul Taylor before Rush, at 126 pounds, pinned John Fentress. Paul moved down to 132 pounds and earned a clinching technical fall over Ben Mayers.
B’ville would visit Auburn on Wednesday night before a non-league meet Saturday at Fulton, the renewal of a long-time rivalry that provides for a great regular-season finale before the Bees host the Section III Class AA meet on Feb. 8.
