Baldwinsville’s wrestling team will serve as the hosts when the nine Section III Class AA teams gather next Saturday for their annual championship meet, the Bees looking to defend its title from the likes of Liverpool, who enter as the favorites after its run to the sectional Dual Meet semifinals.
Before that, though, the Bees hosted another headlining event Wednesday night, taking on traditional rival Fulton and by winning seven of the first eight bouts and then hanging tough the rest of the way, earning a 40-29 victory over the Red Raiders.
Brian Rush, wrestling in the 145-pound opener, began the early charge, beating Joe Cocozza 11-3, and Connor Ross (145 pounds) followed by pinning Jacob Bailey in exactly three minutes before Sam Candee (160 pounds) pinned Tabor Freeman in 3:18.
Up 16-0, B’ville took its first blemish when Thor Sutphen (170 pounds) got pinned by Travis Race, but at 182 pounds Nick Stanton beat Dakota Diezel 6-2. Alex Bowen won a tough 195-pound decision over Aaron Yablonski 3-2 before Mike Spicer, at 220 pounds, pinned Matt Marshal in the waning seconds of the second period.
That made it 28-6 in B’ville’s favor, but Fulton countered with four straight wins, though by keeping it close, Jake Naples (106 pounds), who lost 4-2 to Joe Abelgore, and Kevin Lewis (113 pounds), who fell 2-0 to Roy French, kept the Bees in front.
Now nursing a 28-22 lead, B’ville turned to Josh Peck, who at 120 pounds pinned Adam DeMauro in 3:05 to double the margin. Two bouts later, when Jeremy Pond (132 pounds) beat Dylan DeMauro 12-6, the Bees clinched the victory.
Right after Camden beat B’ville in the opening round of the Section III Dual Meet at C-NS on Jan. 24, the Bees had a consolation bout against Indian River where it fell to the Warriors 41-36.
IR jumped out to a 17-0 lead before the Bees got on the board at 113 with Naples pinning Logan Infantine late in the second period, but the Warriors won the next four bouts to make it 37-6.
Only at 145 did the Bees start to stir on a regular basis, thanks to Candee, who pinned Kaden Brown in 1:20. Ross had a 43-second fall over Brendan Spaeth at 152, while at 160 Sutphen fought past Sean Pilger 2-0 to cut the deficit to 37-21.
IR clinched the bout, though, when John Petrelli (170) lost to Sonny McPherson 14-1. But the Bees did finish strong as Dan Wicks (182) shut out Chris Davis 7-0, Bowen (195) got a forfeit and Stanton (220) needed 3:21 to pin Andrew Davis.
