It proved quite a memorable 48 hours for the Cazenovia wrestling team, who got bragging rights in a local rivalry and then went up against one of the best high school teams in the area as part of Saturday’s Section III Dual Meet at Cicero-North Syracuse.
At Buckley Gym last Thursday night, the Lakers met Chittenango, and after a fast start from the visitors, Cazenovia took over in the middle stages and held on to beat the Bears 48-32.
It started at 152 pounds, where Chittenango’s Will Young pinned Sam Mabie in 1:42 and Connor Fredericks (160 pounds) won a tough 11-7 match over Alex Nannery before Alex Curr, at 182 pounds, got the Lakers on the board with a 90-second pin over Cory Fredericks.
Moving to 195 pounds after a forfeit to Brian Coe (182 pounds), the Bears extended the lead to 21-6 when Antonio Cutrie got an 18-3 technical fall over John Nannery, but that lead would not last.
Seven straight Cazenovia wins turned things around, starting with a 220-pound classic where Dan Phillips and Justin Cox went to the wire, but Phillips prevailed in a 5-4 decision.
Chittenango had to forfeit three of the next four bouts to Hayden Polhamus (285 pounds), Sam Deleon (106 pounds) and Will Khalil (113 pounds), but in between those forfeits, Jacob Wells wrestled at 99 pounds and pinned the Bears’ Mason Benedict in just 72 seconds.
Two more pins clinched the Lakers’ title as Matt McLaughlin, at 120 pounds, finished off Eddie Houle in 1:28 and Zach Maxwell (126 pounds) needed 1:50 to pin Alex Teeter.
Though the Bears saw Alex Miller (132 pounds) pin Nick Monroe in 3:47 and Matt Bixby (145 pounds) close the meet with a 67-second pin over Dominick King, Billy Heselden, at 138 pounds, added three more points for the Lakers by fighting past Wyatt Blanding 5-2.
This led to the sectional Dual Meet, where in the opening round Cazenovia would take on Central Valley Academy, the no. 6 seed, and get overwhelmed in a 60-27 defeat to the Thunder.
In the opener at 220, Phillips pinned Sonny Cacciatore midway through the second period, but CVA answered with pins over Polhamus, Wells and Deleon before Khalil handled Maxwell Reisel 13-3.
Two more falls, against McLaughlin (126) and Patrick Nourse (120), plus Maxwell’s 4-3 defeat to John Hayes at 132, increased the Thunder’s margin before Heselden offered a respite at 138, pinning James Lape with 30 seconds left in their bout.
Of the last six matches, though, Cazenovia won just one of them, John Nannery pinning Darren Lincourt in 3:09. Otherwise, Mabie, Kevin Frega (195), Alex Nannery (160) and Dominick King (145) were pinned, with Curr going all six minutes, but taking a 4-1 defeat to Landry Cook.
CVA went on to lose the quarterfinal to no. 3 seed Mexico 43-33 – and those same Tigers went on to beat Liverpool 37-34 in the semifinals and edge top seed Adirondack 40-31 for the sectional Dual Meet title.
On Wednesday, Cazenovia faces Oneida and Chittenango faces Hannibal before both the Lakers and Bears head to Skaneateles Saturday for the OHSL Liberty/Patriot division tournament, which starts at 10 a.m.
