Before heading into 2018, the Cazenovia and Chittenango wrestling teams went through one more event in 2017, going to Fulton Dec. 29 and 30 for the Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament.
More than 40 teams were in the field, and the Lakers, with 67 points, beat nearly half of them, tying Cicero-North Syracuse for 22nd place. The Bears had 34 points to share 31st place with Chenango Valley as host Fulton prevailed with 257.5 points
Chittenango’s Connor Fredericks made it all the way to the finals at 182 pounds and was the only Bears wrestler to record a top-eight finish.
Fredericks pinned Andy Marshall (Canastota) and then topped Mason Everhart (Victor) 7-2 in the semifinals before a title bout where he nearly upended Horace Greeley’s Jacob Ferreira, but lost a tough 2-1 decision.
No Cazenovia wrestler got to the finals, but Matt McLaughlin did finish third at 126 pounds, edging Onondaga’s Dylan Price 6-5 in the consolation bracket final.
Jacob Wells, at 113 pounds, earned seventh place when he beat Fairport’s Connor Thompson 4-3, while Sam Deleon made it to seventh place at 152 pounds with a 6-2 victory over Fulton’s Brandon Guernsey.
The opening week of the new year featured plenty of weather issues, as Cazenovia’s match with Homer last Thursday was snowed out and its appearance in the Port Byron Invitational was pushed back to Sunday.
But Chittenango did compete last Wednesday night against Mexico, where it took a 46-32 defeat to the Tigers because it had to forfeit five early bouts.
In the contested bouts, the Bears went 6-3, including Fredericks’ 91-second pin of Harley Wakeman at 195 pounds. That followed a 96-second pin by Robert Shepard over Austin Miller at 182 and preceded Isaiah Prado’s 98-second fall over Jacob O’Reilly at 220 pounds.
Earlier in the match, Devin Myers, at 145 pounds, pinned Skylar Richmond at the end of the second period. At 285 pounds, Ethan Ferguson beat Blake Wise 13-4 as Mark Young (106 pounds) claimed a 10-2 decision over George Smith.
Chittenango will take on Marcellus Wednesday before going to Saturday’s Red Devil Invitational at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill – just as Cazenovia hosts its own tournament in the wake of a Thursday-night Laker duel with Skaneateles at Buckley Gym,
