Circumstances – namely, a lot of snow – pushed back matches for the Skaneateles wrestling team to the point where it would have to compete four times in a five-day span.
It started on Jan. 7 with the Port Byron Mid-Winter Tournament, where T.J. Greenfield and Christian Daley both had runner-up finishes as the Lakers, with 83.5 points, claimed 10th place in a 13-team field.
Greenfield took 52 seconds to pin Red Creek’s Caleb Iozzio in the semifinals. But in the title bout against Auburn’s Michael Hamilton, the battle spilled into overtime, where Hamilton pulled out a 2-1 decision.
This was the third time Greenfield had faced Hamilton in eight days. Back at the Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament at Fulton Dec. 29 and 30, that pair split two matches, Greenfield winning the first time, but Hamilton prevailing in the third-place bout.
As for Daley, his first-round victory gave him 100 career wins, and he claimed a tough 132-pound semifinal bout against Morrisville-Eaton’s Keith Lewis, prevailing 6-4 with an overtime takedown. Against another M-E wrestler, Beau Burke (who won a sectional title in 2017), in the finals, Daley lost an 8-2 decision.
Robert Danforth nearly got fourth place at 145 pounds, losing the consolation bracket final 6-5 to Geneva’s Jayson Wassouf. No other Skaneateles wrestler had a top-five finish.
With no rest, the Lakers took on Onondaga-Tully a night later, and though it was helped by plenty of forfeits, Skaneateles was still able to record a 45-24 victory.
Danforth (152 pounds), James Leubner (160 pounds), Preston Blake (120 pounds) and Mason Michel (99 pounds) prevailed without taking the mat, but three other Lakers still had to compete for their points.
That included Greenfield, who in 52 seconds pinned Nathan Pitre. Boaz Arold, wrestling at 113 pounds, got his pin over Noah Hartman near the end of the second period as Daley, moved up to 138 pounds, shut out Shane Moore 9-0.
Then it was Phoenix visiting Skaneateles on Wednesday night, and a small roster, combined with the crowded schedule, meant that the Lakers mostly ceded the territory, forfeiting 10 bouts during a 78-10 defeat.
Despite all that, Skaneateles did get a pair of mat wins. Daley shut out Colton Winks 8-0 at 132, while Greenfield needed just 57 seconds to pin his Firebirds opponent, Cole LaPine.
This busy stretch ended with a Laker duel at Buckley Gym between Skaneateles and Cazenovia, and Skaneateles won a majority of the contested bouts, yet still paid for a small roster in a 66-24 defeat.
Each of the first five bouts went in Cazenovia’s favor, four of them forfeits, before Daley got Skaneateles on the board at 138 with his 93-second pin of Doug Buckley.
It was Dylan O’Hara, at 220, getting the quickest Skaneateles pin as he finished off Max Fisher in 44 seconds before Greenfield, moved up to 285, pinned Cater Polhamus in 1:46. Yorvin Solis got another win at 160 when he pinned Alex Rodriguez in 42 seconds.
Another important week for Skaneateles awaits, with a visit to rival Marcellus next Wednesday and the hosting of its own Dual Meet Jan. 20 as Auburn, East Syracuse Minoa, Cato-Meridian and Oneida visit.
