Neither the Cicero-North Syracuse nor Liverpool wrestling teams could make it out of the first round of Saturday’s Section III Dual Meet – but they both left quite an impression.
In the Northstars’ case, it pushed no. 3 seed Fulton all the way to the wire in a 35-32 first-round classic, while the Warriors, lined up against no. 4 seed and defending champion South Jeffesron, also made great inroads, even though it fell to the Spartans 39-27.
C-NS got started right against Fulton when Sam Ruiz, at 152 pounds, pinned Aaron Yablonski midway through the second period. Two bouts later, Jerrett Norton (170 pounds) pinned James Bailey early in the third period. In between, Tom Peterson (160 pounds) lost, 7-3, to Travis Race.
Forced to forfeit a pair of bouts, the Nothstars trailed, 15-12, when Jared West (220 pounds) took Matt Marshall to the wire in a 5-4 defeat, and Andres Anoceto (285 pounds) trailed Malachi Manford before pulling out a third-period fall with 33 seconds left.
Every time Fulton won, C-NS answered, as Joe Barber (106 pounds) just missed a technical fall, but routed Tabor Freeman 18-5 as Joe Mayers (113 pounds) stopped Kevin Tucker 8-4.
Drew Dyer, at 126 pounds, handled Mitch Labeef 12-1, and when Joe Copani stopped 138-pound opponent Tim Holden 8-5, they were tied, 32-32, with one bout left. And Robert Rein was resilient in the 145-pound finale, only to suffer a 6-3 defeat to Collin Flynn.
But C-NS expended Fulton’s energy, and the Red Raiders went on to lose to Camden 44-24 in the quarterfinals, while the Northstars dropped a 60-22 consolation match to Adirondack despite mat wins from Barber, Copani and Ray Sorenson (99 pounds).
Liverpool, meanwhile, went up against South Jefferson, the 2013 Dual Meet champions, and led with four bouts to go before the Spartans’ late charge made the difference.
Darren Breen opened at 152, defeating Griffin Charlebois 7-1, but South Jefferson won the next four contests to grab an 18-3 lead, including Zack Khatib (170) falling to Logan Nichols 3-0 and Mark Williamson (195) taking a 7-2 defeat to Logan LaFlamme.
But when Ron Wilson (220) edged Devin Perry 2-1, it began a string of five Warrior wins in the next six bouts that included David Carnie (285 pounds) pinning Jessie Bedore in 3:43.
At 106, Sean Nadeau stopped David Carroll 6-4, with Audey Ashkar (113) pinning Miguel Harvey in 1:26 and Peter Nash (120) taking five fewer seconds to finish off Kyle Snyder and push Liverpool to a 27-20 lead.
After a defeat at 126 and a forfeit at 132, the Warriors trailed 30-27, and needed a win from Zach Curcie at 138. Curcie nearly got it, but fell 7-6 to Cody Modlin, and Will Ronan got pinned by Ethan Geursten in the last bout at 145.
South Jefferson would go on to beat Mexico 43-39 in the quarterfinals, but lose in the semifinals to top seed General Brown 40-33 as the Lions went on to stop Central Valley Academy 39-31 to win its first-ever Dual Meet title.
Liverpool, meanwhile, fell in a consolation match to Phoenix 41-32, despite pins from Breen, Khatib (at 160), Wilson and Jerry Nash (99), who finished off Brandon Morrison in 46 seconds, plus decisions to Ashkar and Peter Nash. Two close bouts proved pivotal as Williamson lost, 2-0, to William Hilliard and Anthony Ianno (126) fell to Brad Dietz 6-1.
As a warm-up for the Dual Meet, C-NS took on Oswego last Thursday night and had little trouble delivering a 59-21 victory over the Buccaneers.
West, Barber and David Ciciarelli (99) all claimed forfeits before Mayers pinned Mark Delong in 1:13 and Jacob Hall (120 pounds) needed just 35 seconds for his fall over Matt Bates.
Later in the meet, Copani followed a forfeit to Dyer by getting a pin over Jordan Perchway midway through the third period. Rein reigned at 145 pounds with a 42-second fall over Tom Allen. A forfeit to Peterson preceded the bout at 170, where Norton got a technical fall over Collin Dryden.
Liverpool, meanwhile, tuned up Thursday night by stopping Herkimer 53-21, earning six pins by the time the meet was done.
Carnie had the quickest pin, finshing off the Magicians’ Cosimo Tangorra in 1:48, right after Wilson pinned Steve Napolitano midway through the third period.
Breen had his own third-period fall over 160-pound opponent Alex Shepardson, with Curcie (132 pounds) needing 3:30 for a fall over Kyler Ford. Ashkar pinned Steve Philpotts in 3:23, needing 15 fewer seconds than Peter Nash did to pin Marshall Borek.
Other bouts proved closer, as Ronan edged James Petrucci 4-3, with Mike Mills taking a 5-3 overtime defeat to Collin Treen. Nathaniel Knox (170) blanked Andrew Grube 10-0 after Jalen Barron (160) rolled to a 17-5 victory over Ethan Evans. Nadeau claimed a forfeit.
