Having missed the chance to square off with Liverpool on Jan. 7 due to a weather postponement, the Baldwinsville wrestling team would do so when the Warriors hosted its own dual meet last on Saturday afternoon.
And in the very first round, B’ville and Liverpool squared off. Unable to put its best lineup together, the Bees kept up on the mat, but still lost, 43-33, to the Warriors.
They started at 120 pounds, and Liverpool seized control by winning four of the first five bouts. Jeremy Pond (132 pounds) did pin Devin Delia, but David Rush (138 pounds) took a 6-5 defeat to Peter Nash and Brian Rush, at 145 pounds, lost 5-2 to Mike Mills.
Down 18-6, B’ville caught up with Sam Candee (152 pounds) pinning Anthony Richardson and Connor Ross (160 pounds) earning a fall over Nick Thomas.
Another exchange followed, Liverpool getting nine points from a pin and Zack Khatib edging Thor Sutphen 4-2 at 170 pounds, the Bees countering with Alex Bowen (182 pounds) shutting out Nathaniel Knox 3-0 and Mike Spicer (220 pounds) pinning Alan Cary.
This left the two sides tied, 27-27, with four bouts left. But B’ville had to forfeit at 99 pounds and, when David Carnie got a pin at 285 pounds and Sean Nadeau (112 pounds) beat Kevin Lewis 12-2, the Warriors clinched the win. Jake Naples, at 106 pounds, did earn a pin over Christian Bradshaw.
It got better from there, B’ville taking out Johnson City 47-25 before running into Phoenix and falling to the Firebirds 46-18. Then The Bees beat West Genesee 63-16, the same side it had defeated 57-19 three days earlier in a CNY Counties League at the Baker High School gym, and closed out the day by routing Rome Free Academy 69-8.
Just before going to Liverpool, the Bees, fresh off its Jan. 10 victory at the Cazenovia Invitational, hosted West Genesee and proceeded to win nine of the first 11 bouts to put away the Wildcats.
Spicer opened at 220 by pinning Keith Gardner in 72 seconds. Then, after Adam Reinhardt (285) fell to Adam Coates 4-1, B’ville really took charge.
Zach Hahn, at 99 pounds, pinned Nyeem Hameed in 1:42. Naples waited until the end of the second period to finish off Cole Wade, and after a forfeit to Lewis, Tyler Patrick, at 120 pounds, pinned Jake Jones 24 seconds into the second period.
Another streak started with a forfeit to Pond at 132. David Rush pinned Joe Malinowski in less than 90 seconds, while Brian Rush fought past Victor Elias 11-6 and Ross pinned Yvan Kouakou in 2:42.
Even the defeats were close, such as Sutphen falling to Liam Kotas 7-6 and Dan Wicks (182 pounds) taking a 6-4 loss to Dalton Elias. The meet ended with a forfeit to Bowen at 195.
A big week awaits the Bees, who will host Cicero-North Syracuse on Wednesday, and then turn around and go to C-NS for Saturday’s Section III Dual Meet, which starts at 10 a.m. B’ville takes on Camden in the opening round, with the winter to get top seed Adirondack or Indian River in the quarterfinals.
