On consecutive Saturdays at the end of 2014 and the start of 2015, the Skaneateles wrestling team hit two different tournaments, and stayed in top form.
The Lakers first ventured, north, to the Lewis County Duals at Lowville on Dec. 27, and went 4-1 in that meet, sweeping aside its foes before a late defeat to Central Valley Academy, which is a combination of the former Ilion and Mohawk schools.
To start with, Skaneateles rolled past Adirondack 60-18. Then it picked up another victory against another strong opponent, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, 45-33 before taking out host Lowville 60-24 and routing Copenhagen 67-18. Only Central Valley proved elusive, the Thunder defeating the Lakers 55-21 to take the team crown.
Sharing Most Outstanding Wrestler honors in this meet, Max Collier (113 pounds) and Maverick Janes (138 pounds) each posted perfect 5-0 marks, with Joey Brillo (120 pounds) also winning all five of his bouts.
Joey McIntyre, at 195 pounds, wrestled four times and won them all, with Pat Greenfield (182 pounds), Andrew Newton (152 pounds) and T.J. Greenfield (220 pounds) putting up matching 4-1 records.
Now with an 11-3 team mark, the Lakers waited until the first Saturday of the new year before hitting the mats again, this time at the Port Byron Invitational.
Here, Skaneateles finished with 229 points and, again, had to settle for second place in a large field of challengers. Only Cazenovia, with 267 points, fared better.
All but one of the Lakers’ 12 entrants recorded a finish of sixth or better, led by Josh Brillo, whose third-place effort at 132 included his 100th career victory in the early rounds.
Newton was victorious at 152, the lone Laker to get to the top of the podium, but runner-up finishes were claimed by Joey Brillo (120), Mike Goetzmann (145) and T.J. Greenfield (220), while Janes, who won his 138-pound semifinal, could not continue to the title bout and forfeited.
Aside fro Josh Brillo, Collier (113) and Pat Greenfield (182) earned third-place honors, with J.W. Simmons fourth at 99 pounds, Christina Daley fifth at 106 and McIntyre sixth at 195.
In its lone action this week, Skaneateles visits Syracuse’s Institute of Technology Central on Wednesday night.
