Before everyone got sidelined by the bad winter weather in the first weekend of January, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool wrestling teams engaged in a close-fought renewal of their neighborhood rivalry last Thursday night.
And things were in doubt until the final three bouts, when the Northstars, with a pair of timely pins in the lightest weight classes, put away the Warriors, eventually hanging on to win 36-34.
In the 120-pound opener, C-NS’s Nathan Osborne pulled away from Charlie Tran 12-2. Then Liverpool got the lead when Jacob Ianno (126 pounds) edged Jacob Montminy 7-5 and Steve Pascarella (132 pounds) got a 10-1 win over Shane MacDonald.
The Northstars got back in the lead with back-to-back pins. Josh Brighton, at 138 pounds, took just 32 seconds to finish off Jeremiah Paulson, with Anthony Desimone (145 pounds) pinning Kenny Haugabook in 2:55.
It continued to go back and forth, the Warriors tying it 16-16 when Anthony Piscatelli (152 pounds) pinned Isiah Wahdan midway through the second period and Zach Allen (160 pounds) holding off Michael Livesay in a 10-7 battle.
Three straight decisions gave C-NS the lead back, starting with Robert Salvett pulling out a 16-13 classic over 170-pound opponent Ben Michalowski as Julian Zavaglia (182 pounds) edged Ron Cyr 6-5 and Jack McDonald (195 pounds) blanked John Sturtz 6-0.
Down 25-16, Liverpool saw Carmen Sheldon, at 220 pounds, pin Troyan Jones in 2:43 before Lochlan Fegley (285 pounds) pinned Drew Alvarez in 70 seconds, and the Warriors had a 27-25 edge.
But then Harrison Portorsnok emerged at 99 pounds to pin Hayley Delia late in the third period. And when Dario Cicarelli, at 106 pounds, pinned Corey Okun in 1:46, C-NS got the clinching points before Jeremy Ianno (113 pounds) closed with a third-period fall over Dan Sweeney.
Before this, C-NS would join the field of more than 40 teams gathered at Fulton for the Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30, finishing in a tie for 22nd with Cazenovia as the Northstars earned 67 points.
Cicarelli got closest to the finals for C-NS, beating Logan Hasely (Niagara-Wheatfield) in the quarterfinals 7-2 before a 12-2 loss to Central Square’s Kole Mulhauser in the semifinals.
Still, Cicarelli recovered and reached the consolation bracket final, where he pinned Cortland’s Kaiden Haynes just before time ran out to snare third place. Desimone lost the 152-pound quarterfinal to Dan Tauroney (New Hartford).
