All concerns about how the Skaneateles wrestling team would fare during Saturday’s Section III Division II championship meet at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena became trivial during the quarterfinal round.
Maverick Janes, who had gained a first-round bye in the 138-pound division, was taking on Camden’s Garrett Mitchell when he broke his ankle on the mat, causing an injury default.
The injury brought the bout to a halt as Janes, who had accumulated a 27-6 record this season, was attended to and taken out on a stretcher to a sustained ovation.
Other Skaneateles wrestlers were charged with continuing their quest for sectional honors, but only Connor Gray, at 182 pounds, was able to earn a spot on the podium.
Like Janes, Gray had a first-round bye, but ended up drawing no. 2 seed Chris Pinckney (Port Byron) in the quarterfinals, where Gray lost an 8-0 decision. Recovering, Gray did pin Josh Knamm (Holland Patent) in 4:21 in the consolation bracket, but lost decisions to Kasey Foster (Dolgeville) 6-0 and Nick Kraeger (South Lewis) 6-5 to finish in sixth place.
Joey Brillo got a bad draw at 113 pounds against top seed Derek Spann (Adirondack), who pinned Brillo en route to a sectional title. Josh Brillo, at 132 pounds, did go all six minutes with Onondaga’s Tyler Field, but lost a 4-0 decision as Field went on to a third-place finish.
Drew Newton (145 pounds) wrestled well in his opening-round bout, but Homer’s Matt Norris, the no. 2 seed, still claimed a 12-6 decision as he would reach the finals before falling to Holland Patent’s Alex Herringshaw.
