Chittenango wrestlers Connor Fredericks and Anotnio Cutrie took aim at Section III Division II titles Saturday night at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, knowing one more would get both of them automatic berths in the Feb. 24-25 state tournament in Albany.
Fredericks proved successful in that quest, prevailing at 170 pounds in a tough final against General Brown’s Trevor Snow, while Cutrie reached the 220-pound title bout, only to take his first defeat of the season to another GB wrestler, Luke Rogers.
As the no. 2 seed in a 14-team field at 170, Fredericks gained a valuable first-round bye, meaning he only had to win three bouts. Then, in the quarterfinals, Fredericks pinned Pat Greenfield (Skaneateles) in less than 90 seconds and handled South Jefferson/Sandy Creek’s Austin Kellogg 9-1.
Now, against the top-seeded Snow, Fredericks earned an early takedown that made the difference. Twice, Snow escaped Fredericks, but the Chittenango junior squeezed in an escape of his own and held on to take a 3-2 decision, improving his record to 36-3 by earning a sectional title.
Prior to this meet, Cutrie had not suffered a defeat in 34 bouts. Also a no. 2 seed, and also with a first-round bye, Cutrie pinned Cody Zubrzycki (Copenhagen/Beaver River) in 98 seconds in his quarterfinal and topped Kern Linder (Marcellus) 9-2 in the semifinals.
Rogers was the top seed despite three losses this winter against tough competition. Proving his worth, Rogers bolted out to a quick lead and never let Cutrie catch up, claiming a 5-2 decision and make Cutrie wait to see if he would get a wild card entry into the state meet.
Those were Chittenango’s two lone place-finishers, as it got 45 points to finish 13th in the Division II team standings as Cazenovia tied Little Falls for 19th place with 27 points and put three wrestlers on the awards podium.
Will Khalil led the Lakers with a fourth-place finish at 126 pounds. After a quarterfinal defeat to Riley Donovan (Marcellus), Khalil beat Nello Altieri (Watertown IHC) 4-3 and topped Colby Stevens (Canastota) 10-5 to reach the consolation bracket final, where he dropped a 5-3 decision to Mexico’s Austin Reed. Khali improved his record to 24-6.
Matt McLaughlin, at 138 pounds, fell in his quarterfinal to eventual champion T.J. Philpotts (Herkimer) 10-1, and then went 2-1 in the consolation bracket, beating Tyler Parker (Port Byron) 4-0 and then losing a bout before beating Tybarius Harter (Camden) by injury default to finish fifth.
The Lakers’ Jacob Wells reached the quarterfinals at 106 pounds with a 7-0 shutout of Treay Jaquay (Dolgeville) 7-0, but lost to Matt Garland (South Jefferson-Sandy Creek) before a 1-0 victory over Wyatt Mullin (Copenhagen-Beaver River) ultimately landed Wells in sixth place.
Chittenango’s Isaiah Prado wrestled at 182 pounds and lost, 9-5, to Poland’s Jesse Pritchard in the opening round. Connor Fredericks’ brother, Cory, had a tough draw at 195 pounds and fell 3-1 to the no. 5 seed, Little Falls’ Dalton Cleary.
