Here was another key moment in the sudden ascent of the West Genesee wrestling team to the top of the standings in the new Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division.
The Wildcats, 3-0 in league matches, hosted Cicero-North Syracuse last Wednesday night, and again WG came through, claiming six of the last bouts to defeat the Northstars 45-31.
It had started at 182 pounds with Cole Wade pinning Julian Zavaglia in two minutes, 48 seconds before Chandler McAvan (195 pounds) claimed a forfeit.
But then C-NS won five of the next six bouts, starting with Randell Ouimet (220 pounds) dropping a 6-2 decision to Jack McDonald. Only Nate Wade, at 99 pounds, broke that string, pinning Harrison Portorsnok late in the second period.
However, when Ejarian Burgin, at 126 pounds, took 39 seconds to pin Jacob Montminy, WG erased most of its 25-18 deficit, and Patrick Ivery’s second-period fall over 132-pound opponent Shane MacDonald put the Wildcats ahead for good.
Brady Ryan (138 pounds) handled Josh Brighton 9-1. Then, with WG up 35-31, Devin Earl, at 152 pounds, pulled out a tough 2-0 win over Anthony Desimone, and when Victor Elias (160 pounds) recorded a 17-1 technical fall over Michael Livesay, the Wildats had clinched it, though Griffin Sasso (170 pounds) still held off Robert Salvett in a 9-7 classic.
Marcellus was off to its own fine start, sitting at 8-3 going into last Monday’s match at Homer, a rematch of the Dec. 2 clash at the Chittenango Duals that the Trojans claimed by a 40-31 margin.
Here, it wasn’t as close as the Mustangs lost, 54-22, hurt by the fact that it had to forfeit four different bouts, costing it 24 points as Homer forfeited at 132 pounds to Cahal Donovan.
Even when Marcellus did win bouts, they were hard-earned. Riley LaFrance, at 145 pounds, got past Collin Cronk 8-3, with Trevor Widrick (152 pounds) topping Myles Dixon 13-4 and Robbie Seeley (160 pounds) needing an overtime takedown to beat Charles Lines 4-2.
From that point forward, the Trojans claimed seven of the last eight bouts, only getting beat at 99 pounds as Carl Santariello pinned Chancler Kiner in 1:42. Ethan Ciota (106 pounds) had a 3-0 defeat to Sean Powers.
Another defeat followed on Thursday night as Marcellus fell to Cazenovia 40-30, hurt by a trio of forfeits as it otherwise claimed seven of the 12 bouts on the card.
Donovan, at 138, pinned Doug Buckley in 78 seconds to get the Mustangs on the board after a pair of early defeats. Riley LaFrance followed at 145 pounds with a tough 7-3 win over Patrick Nourse.
Two bouts later, Seeley pinned Kevin Valentine in 68 seconds as Tom Kinsella (170) topped Casey Cunningham 8-2. Amid the forfeits, Wilvon McKee, at 220, pinned Maxwell Fisher at the end of the first period.
Still alive late in the match, Santariello beat Shaun Zampetti 10-5 and Ryan Moses (113 pounds) shut out Luca Ferreira 7-0. But needing a majority decision in the 120-pound finale, Quinten Weaver lost to Jacob Wells in a first-period fall.
Jordan-Elbridge had gone 1-4 in the Brett Dixon Memorial Duals held Dec. 16 at Central Square, its lone victory a 42-34 decision over the Chittenango Bears.
That began with Derek Quigley (126) and Jared Alpha (132) getting back-to-back pins over, respectively, Joey Mariani and Gage Gifford. Later, Marion Quigley (145) pinned Devin Myers in the third period and Landry LaFleur (160) got a second-period fall over James Moore.
Those wins, along with forfeits to Steve Tripp (152), Kamerin Langhorn (170) and Kyle Gersbacher (285 pounds), proved enough for J-E to withstand the Bears’ wins everywhere else.
Otherwise, J-E took losses to APW/Pulaski (53-21), East Syracuse Minoa (60-27), Oneida (42-27) and host Central Square (64-18), with a rematch against APW/Pulaski set for just before the holiday break, which will be Alumni Night.
