Less than a point separated the Baldiwinsville wrestling team from getting a clean sweep of consecutive showdowns with Liverpool.
In the head-to-head match last Wednesday night at Liverpool’s home gym, the Bees got the best of it, beating the Warriors 43-30 to take first place in the early stages of the CNY Counties League race.
This followed a Dec. 17 clash that was part of the Phoenix Round Robin standings. B’ville and Liverpool finished 1-2 in the team standings, but it was the Warriors, with 153.5 points, edging the Bees (153.0 points) for first place in an eight-team field.
Jeremy Pond was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the lightweight (99 to 145 pounds) classes at Phoenix. Pond claimed the 132-pound title, capped by a tough championship match where he earned an 8-3 decision over Liverpool’s Dylan Wallace.
In all, five B’ville wrestlers finished on top in Phoenix. Jake Naples did so at 126 pounds, beating Amir Johnson (Petrides) 6-2 in the finals, while David Rush completed his 145-pound appearance by pinning title-bout opponent Devin Earl (West Genesee) in just 78 seconds.
At 195 pounds, Thor Sutphen gave the Bees another title, pinning WG’s Chandler McAvan late in the first period, while Mike Spicer rose to the title at 285 pounds with his pin over Petrides’ Nick Azzuto in 2:04.
It nearly was more, because Jacob Cavallo got to the 113-pound final but lost, 7-5, to Petrides’ Kevin Wallace as Zach Hahn, a finalist at 120 pounds, got overwhelmed by Phoenix’s Cahal Donovan, who claimed a 19-4 technical fall.
Tyler Patrick managed fourth place at 132 pounds, and here was where Liverpool, who only had one champion (Zach Eason, at 220 pounds), caught up with four runner-up finishes, plus a third and two fourth-place showings.
