Before it headed off to the holiday break, the Cazenovia wrestling team gained a valuable victory within the OHSL Liberty division on Thursday night, knocking off the Marcellus Mustangs 40-30.
Granted, it helped that the Lakers had a full lineup, which meant that it could claim forfeits adding up to 18 points for Jake Tobin (182 pounds), John Frega (195 pounds) and Carter Polhamus (285 pounds), but it still had to win six times on the mat.
Opening at 126 pounds, Joe McLaughlin pulled out a tough 4-3 decision over Tim Okhman, with Matt McLaughlin (132 pounds) following up by earning an 81-second pin over Matt Norris.
Another close bout at 152 pounds saw Sam DeLeon shut out Trevor Widrick 3-0, but Marcellus took the next four contested bouts in between the forfeits as Casey Cunningham (170 pounds) fell to Tom Kinsella 7-0 and Shaun Zampetti (99 pounds) had a 10-5 defeat to Carl Santiarello.
Even when Stan Angus, at 106 pounds, shut out Ethan Ciota 9-0, the match came down to the 120-pound finale. Up 34-30, the Lakers needed Jacob Wells to avoid a majority decision defeat to Quinten Weaver, but Wells took care of the bout by pinning Weaver in 70 seconds.
Before that, though, the Lakers went to Cicero-North Syracuse last Monday and took a 52-20 defeat to the Northstars, only taking five of the 15 bouts on the card.
Deleon shut out Michael Livesay 9-0, but C-NS took the next four bouts by pins until Reilly Hanson, at 285 pounds, earned his own shutout, blanking Brady Ramos 7-0.
Then the Northstars took control again, with five straight wins, including close bouts where Zampetti fell to Harrison Potorsnok 6-2 and Wells (126 pounds) fell to Jacob Montminy 4-2.
It took Joe McLaughlin to put the Lakers back on the board at 132 pounds with a 6-3 win over Eric Salenski. Matt McLaughlin (138 followed with a 14-1 romp over Josh Brighton before Patrick Nourse (145 pounds) pinned Isiah Wahdan in 58 seconds.
Chittenango met a similar fate in last Wednesday’s meet at Phoenix, a team Cazenovia defeated on Dec. 7. But with less than a full roster, the Bears were never close in a 69-15 defeat to the Firebirds.
Only twice did Chittenango win bouts on the mat as Peyton Denney, wrestling at 113 pounds, pinned Jeff Cooper late in the second period and Joey Mariani (126) edged Devin Cerda 6-5.
Blayde DeBlieux, at 99 pounds, claimed a forfeit, but the Bears had to forfeit seven different times, and in those bouts that were contested, only Connor Fredericks, at 195 pounds, went all six minutes during a 7-1 loss to Ross McFarland.
