Plenty of contests remain this winter, but it’s doubtful that the Marcellus wrestling team will have another one as important – and exciting – as Wednesday night’s 39-26 win over the rival Skaneateles Lakers.
Even with aid from a trio of forfeits, the outcome was in doubt until the final bout at 152 pounds, where Nick Distefano’s victory allowed the Mustangs to gain some payback after falling to the Lakers a year ago. It was the eighth straight year that a Marcellus-Skaneateles match was decided by less than 10 points.
With every point important, the opening 160-pound bout had long-term ramifications. Sean Madden worked all six minutes to get a 3-2 decision over James Leubner, which allowed Marcellus to absorb three consecutive defeats in the ensuing bouts – two pins, one a technical fall.
Having participants at 220 and 285 pounds mattered, though, as Kern Linder and Garrett Furnia gained forfeits. So did Alex Czerniak at 120 pounds, with two forfeits to Skaneateles in between and a contested 106-pound bout where Noah Carbone pinned Chris Choay in just 78 seconds.
All of this left Marcellus clinging to a 27-25 lead, which it expanded when Riley Donovan (132 pounds) claimed a 2-0 decision over Christian Daley and Sam Rice pinned his 138-pound opponent Boaz Arold in 21 seconds.
Skaneateles came back again, Joey Brillo beating Jack Santariello in a technical fall at 138 pounds and Matt Goetzmann (145 pounds) beating Josh Widrick 3-0, leaving it tied, 36-36, with one bout left, at 152. Distefano used a series of takedowns to pull away from Josh O’Hara and claim an 8-3 decision that allowed Marcellus to prevail.
This was preceded by the Mustangs’ fourth-place finish in the Dec. 10 Elmira Christmas Tournament. With 86 points,
Marcellus had four wrestlers reach finals at Elmira, with Czerniak blanking Union-Endicott’s Owen Harvey 13-0 to prevail at 120 and Linder pinning Harvey’s teammate, Nick Lynch, at the end of the second period for a victory at 220. Donovan dropped the 126-pound final to Ithaca’s Darren Rich 2-0 in overtime and Rice got even closer at 132, falling to Canandaigua’s Jesse Hibbard 3-2 in the title bout.
Another tournament followed the Skanetaeles battle, Marcellus making its way to Central Square for Saturday’s Brett Dixon Memorial Duals, where it would go 4-1, trailing only the host Redhawks (5-0) in the final standings.
After beating Oneida 51-27, the Mustangs met Central Square and absorbed a 37-31 defeat, which was tied with one bout to go until Tom Kinsella (182 pounds) lost that finale, pinned by the Redhawks’ Jamie Battaglia.
Prior to that, Marcellus, who had lost five of the first six bouts, rallied with six wins in a row, starting with Czerniak shutting out Peyton Rupracht 6-0. Rice pinned Devin Flower in 38 seconds, with Donovan dominating Andy Nicholson 12-2 and Riley LaFrance (138) pinning Casey Brennan.
Also, Widrick beat Nick Ackley 12-6 and Distefano edged Phoenix Webb 5-4 before Robbie Seeley (170 pounds) beat Matt Lewis 7-3. Despite all this, Madden lost, 5-3, to Caden Rupracht, and that, plus Battaglia’s pin, prevented Marcellus from prevailing.
However, the Mustangs did sweep the rest of the meet at Central Square, pulling away from Rome Free Academy 54-24, handling East Syracuse Minoa 47-25 and routing APW/Pulaski 63-18, with Distefano, who went 4-1 on the day, earning his team’s Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
Marcellus is home this Wednesday night to take on Mexico before its Dec. 27-28 appearance in the Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament at SUNY Oswego’s Laker Hall.
