In less than a minute, Cazenovia wrestler Jacob Wells made sure his side emerged from Wednesday night’s tense battle with APW/Pulaski at Buckley Gym triumphant.
Wells’ 58-second pin of 113-pound opponent Chad Ocmand was enough to clinch a Lakers victory, for though it ended up with the same point total as APW/Pulaski, it won eight bouts to the Rebels’ seven, and the ‘criterium point’ pushed Cazenovia to a 40-39 victory.
Since they started at 126 pounds, the Lakers were able to rush to a 24-0 lead. Joe McLaughlin won a tense 11-8 opener over Dylan Guthrie, and after forfeits to Will Shephard (132 pounds) and Matt McLaughlin (138 pounds), Will Khalil, at 145 pounds, pinned Vehjrick Dupree in just 75 seconds as Patrick Nourse (152 pounds) edged Cameron Drake-Gates by a single point, 2-1.
Just as quickly, that 24-0 lead vanished when APW/Pulaski won the next four bouts – three by pin, one by forfeit. A pivotal 220-pound bout saw the Lakers’ Evan Duskee end that Rebels run, beating Jon Curcie by the same 2-1 margin that Nourse used against Drake-Gates.
Two more forfeits followed, one to each side as Shaun Zampetti didn’t have to wrestle at 99 pounds. Again, the lead vanished, but since Stan Angus (106 pounds) limited Alex Currie to an 8-4 decision, APW/Pulaski could only tie it, 33-33, and Cazenovia had seven wins in a books.
Thus, when Wells made quick work of Ocmand, the victory was secure, even though Ryan Frost got pinned in the 120-pound finale by Carlton Alder.
While that was going on, Chittenango visited Phoenix, and never got close in a 64-13 defeat to the Firebirds, only claiming three of the 15 bouts on the card and having to forfeit every bout from 113 to 132 pounds.
Cory Fredericks put the Bears on the board at 195 pounds, just missing a technical fall in an 18-4 rout of Noah Scruton after Rob Shephard (160 pounds) dropped a close 5-2 decision to Austin Carlson and Connor Fredericks (182 pounds) fell 4-2 to Nick Klinoff.
Chittenango did win the night’s most exciting bout at 106, where Peyton Denney traded points with Jacob Cooper and somehow emerged with a 14-13 decision. Antonio Cutrie had the Bears’ other victory, at 220, pinning Brandon Mironti in just 92 seconds.
Both Chittenango and Cazenovia host meets on Friday night – the Lakers against Cicero-North Syracuse, the Bears against Sherburne-Earlville.
