Though the Baldwinsville wrestling team saw bad weather postpone last Wednesday night’s showdown with Liverpool, it did end the week on a high note.
The Bees emerged victorious from Saturday’s Cazenovia Invitational at Buckley Gym, piling up 194 points to beat out Mexico (158.5 points), the host Cazenovia Lakers (156 points) and everyone else in the 17-team field.
Four B’ville wrestlers reached the championship round, and two of them prevailed, with the other two coming within a single point of victory.
Thor Sutphen did so at 160 pounds, pinning Oswego’s Jordan Perchway in 1:39 in the semifinals before a close title bout with West Genesee’s Liam Kotas that ended with Sutphen taking a 6-4 decision.
Alex Bowen earned the Bees’ other title, at 195 pounds. In his semifinal, Bowen pinned Oswego’s Zac Caruso midway through the second period, and then engaged in a classic final with Cazenovia’s Kevin Frega, ignoring Frega’s home-mat advantage to prevail 5-4 for that first-place prize.
Connor Ross got just as close to the 152-pound championship. After a 36-second pin over Daimon Shoemaker (Groton) and a semifinal pin over Steve Demong (Oswego), Ross battled Mexico’s Jay Kisselstein in a final that was in doubt until the end, when Kisselstein won by a 3-2 margin.
At 170 pounds, John Petrelli reached the finals by edging Cicero-North Syracuse’s Anthony Carella 10-9 and blanking West Genesee’s Shayne Middleton 10-0, only to have his own close title bout with Cazenovia’s Alex Curr and, like Ross, lose by a single point, 5-4, to settle for second place.
More points came when David Rush, at 138 pounds, edged Mexico’s Tyler Allard 6-5 in the consolation bracket final to take third place, with Jeremy Pond third at 132 pounds after his opponent, Mexico’s Mitchell Shambo, took a forfeit.
Josh Peck (120 pounds), Sam Candee (160 pounds) and Mike Spicer (220 pounds) each had fourth-place efforts. Kevin Lewis (113 pounds) blanked Mexico’s Austin Reed 5-0 to get fifth place, with Dan Wicks (182 pounds) also fifth after pinning Calo Alteri in 4:12 and Zach Hahn (99 pounds) fifth after a 5-3 victory over Cazenovia’s Jacob Wells.
B’ville will face Liverpool this Saturday as part of the Warriors’ own dual meet, which follows the Bees’ scheduled Wednesday meet against visiting West Genesee.
