Many other important meets and matches lie ahead for the Baldwinsville wrestling team, but for its 2016-17 season opener, it renewed one of its oldest and fiercest rivalries.
Fulton arrived at the Baker High School Gymnasium Wednesday night, and despite some strong efforts, including pins by David Rush and Thor Sutphen, the Bees took a 46-24 defeat to the Red Raiders.
As much as possible, B’ville and Fulton have tried to maintain their long association with head-to-head meets, even after the two sides went into separate leagues in the early 2000s – the Bees to the CNY Counties League, the Red Raiders to the OHSL Freedom division.
A large crowd at B’ville greeted the two sides, and the hosts would get in front during the 120-pound opener as Zach Hahn, tied 6-6 with Andru Walts, made a key takedown and held on to win a 9-8 decision.
That was the Bees’ lone lead, though. Fulton claimed the next three bouts, including 140 pounds, where Tyler Patrick fell to Roy French 7-5 right before Jeremy Pond (145 pounds) topped Nick Noel 6-3.
Two bouts later, at 160 pounds, Rush gave the Bees its first fall, pinning Camrin Galvin in the waning seconds of the second period, cutting Fulton’s lead to 16-12.
An exchange followed, with Dom Sposato (171 pounds) lasting just 35 seconds on the mat against Dylan DeMauro before Dan Fawwaz (182 pounds) used a single third-period escape to get a 1-0 decision over Andrew Yablonski.
With five bouts to go, B’ville was down 28-15, but made a late push starting with Sutphen’s 34-second pin over 220-pound opponent Earnest Morrison and continuing when Mike Spicer (285 pounds) beat Jared Crucitti 3-2.
However, Fulton claimed the lone forfeit at 99 pounds (to Sam Waldron), and got closing pins from Tom Hughes (106 pounds) and Cole French (113 pounds) to close out the meet.
