A new season has started for the Cazenovia and Chittenango wrestling teams, with both sides facing their fair share of major challenges.
But it was the Lakers getting a landmark victory for the program Thursday night at Phoenix, where it took charge at the outset and didn’t let up until it had beaten the Firebirds 48-33.
Coached by local legend Gene Mills, the Phoenix program has produced a long list of Section III and state champions, but Cazenovia cared little for that history on this night, winning six of the first seven bouts on the card.
John Frega opened at 195 pounds by pinning Jacob Ward in 45 seconds, with Evan Duskee (220 pounds) following up by pinning Donovan Dygert with just five seconds left.
Then, at 99 pounds, Shaun Zampetti pinned Josh Stafford early in the third period, with Stan Angus (106 pounds) taking just 70 seconds to pin Mike VanAuken. Matt Knutsen (113 pounds) claimed a forfeit as, at 120 pounds, Jacob Wells pinned Braden Jolly in 82 seconds.
To keep Cazenovia in front, Matt McLaughlin, at 132 pounds, pinned Ethan Harley midway through the second period. Patrick Nourse (145 pounds) claimed a 2-0 decision over Austin Carlson as Sam Deleon, at 170 pounds, shut out Noah Scruton 4-0.
The Lakers began on Dec. 2 by taking part in the Morrisville-Eaton Duals, where it took narrow defeats to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (38-30) and Walton-Delhi (46-40) and fell to Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA 69-10.
Against VVS, Cazenovia actually won more bouts (eight to seven), but VVS gained five pins, adding up to 30 points that, with a pair of decisions, proved enough against the Lakers.
Still, Kevin Valentine opened at 152 pounds claiming an 8-7 thriller over Travis Decker as Deleon beat Colin Forbes 6-1. Four VVS pins followed, and Cazenovia trailed 24-6.
Reilly Hanson, at 285 pounds, got the Lakers going again, pinning Brennan Enos in the second period as Zampetti topped Aiden Munz 8-6 in overtime. Angus pinned Aaron Moir in the second period, with Knutsen holding off Alex Zyman 6-4 and Wells edging Gabe Lamach 3-1. But VVS won three of the last four bouts, the lone exception at 132 where McLaughlin beat Damien Muessing 6-1.
Then Cazenovia faced Walton-Delhi, where Frega’s 20-second pin of 182-pound opponent Kayleib Stanton followed pins by Deleon and Nourse (152).
Moving in front for good,Walton-Delhi took five of the next six bouts, except for Maxwell Fisher’s 12-4 win over 220-pound opponent Calton McEntee. Knutsen, moving up to 120 pounds, pinned Kaleb Miller in 2:51 as McLaughlin pinned Ty Robinson in 3:20.
The powerful J-D/CBA side limited Cazenovia to just two wins. Deleon had one of them, shutting out Carlos Martinez 13-0, while Frega pinned Muaweyah El-Hindi early in the third period. Other bouts included McLaughlin’s wild 19-11 loss to Tyler Kellison.
While this was going on, Chittenango was hosting its own dual meet and was unable to get a victory against any of its other five opponents.
Whitney Point was the closest contest, the Bears defeated 48-35 as five forfeits proved costly and Devin Myers (145 pounds) had the lone mat win, getting a 22-6 technical fall over Zach Tyler.
Before that, Chittenango fell to Marcellus (51-6), Galway (60-24) Homer (53-28) and Gouverneur (52-24), with Gouverneur going on to win the meet as it went 5-0 and edged Homer 44-42 in the battle for first place.
In another head-to-head match last Tuesday night, Chittenango took on APW/Pulaski and lost, 51-30, again finding itself having to forfeit in six different weight classes.
But the Bears won five of the eight contested bouts, starting at 182 when Rob Shepard pinned Drake Bosnan in a personal-best nine seconds. Connor Fredericks (195) followed with an 81-second fall over Jon Curcie.
Later in the meet, Mark Young (106) took 2:43 to pin Chad Ocmand before Peyton Denney, at 113, recorded a third-period fall over Alex Currie. Myers would need 4:21 to pin Kyle Dimon.
