The Marcellus wrestling team began its 2014-15 season by visiting rival Skaneateles on Thursday night, and in a meet that would go back and forth all night, the Mustangs relied on three different spurts to put together a 39-31 victory over the Lakers.
They started at 182 pounds, where the Mustangs’ Kevin Morrissey pinned Francis Lombardi late in the first period, but then Skaneateles won the next two bouts with falls to take a brief 12-6 lead.
Not flinching, Marcellus went back in front with three straight wins. With six seconds to spare, Aleksandr Popov pinned 285-pound opponent T.J. Greenfield before Cahal Donovan (99 pounds) earned a 7-0 shutout over J.W. Simmons and Alex Czerniak, at 106 pounds, won a 4-1 decision over Christian Daley.
Again, the Lakers responded with back-to-back wins to get in front 22-18. Again the Mustangs reclaimed the lead, this time with consecutive pins from Ben Hood (126 pounds), who finished off Nevan Rourke in 1:09, and Zach Ruggles (132 pounds), who got his fall over Matt Goetzmann in 2:27.
A key point came when Nick Distefano, despite a defeat at 145 pounds, hung in to only drop three points in a 9-3 loss to Maverick Janes, right after Tristan Duger dropped a 1-0 match to 138-pound opponent Josh Brillo.
So despite two more losses, Marcellus only trailed 24-22, and knew that it had a forfeit coming at 160 pounds to Nate Long. Thus, when Dan Tierney worked his way to a 2-0 decision over Mike Goetzmann, the Mustangs clinched victory, even though Nate Lukins lost, 6-0, to Andrew Newton in the 170-pound finale.
One night earlier, West Genesee opened its season at Fayetteville-Manlius and, with close to a full lineup, claimed 11 of 15 bouts and easily defeated the Hornets by a score of 58-24.
The key to the meet was WG dominating in the higher weight classes, winning all six matches from 160 pounds upward, four of them by pins as Liam Kotas (160) beat Bryce Doane 13-3 and Keisean Canery (220) claimed a forfeit.
Shayne Middleton, at 170, gained a fall over Ryan Ondocin. Dalton Elias did the same at 182 against Sam French, while Pete Zhobolov (195) pinned Muhammad-Mukhtar Quibasy and Tyler Burl (285) pinned Andrew Testani
While Nyeem Hameed (99) and Cole Wade (113) won with forfeits, the Wildcats earned some other tough points on the mat before and after Odae Badwan’s pin over Liam Welling at 138.
Jon Stefano went all six minutes at 132 with F-M’s Jack Kinsella, but emerged with a 7-3 decision. Victor Elias gained more points in his 10-4 victory over 145-pound opponent Randy Groesbeck.
From there, WG proceeded to Saturday’s Andersen Tournament at Cicero-North Syracuse, where it tied for 18th place in a 26-team field with 48 points. Fulton, with 158 points, edged Lockport (153.5 points) and Dolgeville (150.5 points) for the top spot.
Kotas, wrestling again at 160, had his team’s top finish, going to fourth place, winning twice in the consolation bracket after a quarterfinals defeat before falling to Doug Simmons (Canandaigua) 19-7 in the third-place match. Middleton pinned Qubaiasy for fifth place at 170, while Badwan finished seventh at 138 and Canery got to seventh place at 220.
Marcellus, meanwhile, competed in the Chittenango Dual Meet and nearly won it, going 4-1. The Mustang and nearly won it, going 4-1. The Mustangs only lost to champion Central Valley Academy in a tight 40-34 decision, otherwise handling the host Bears and Homer by the same 52-24 margins, routing Whitney Point 70-17 and beating CVA’s B team 69-9.
