Just one victory on the mat ended up keeping the Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA wrestling team from snaring the Division I champoinship during Saturday’s Section III Dual Meet at Cicero-North Syracuse.
Unlike years past, the sectional Dual Meet would have two winners. The Division I (large school) and Division II (small school) champions would earn a trip to SRC Arena to compete in the inaugural New York State Dual Meet Championships.
With the no. 2 seed, J-D/CBA went in without its top wrestler, Matt Griffin competing, but still would get all the way to the finals before taking a narrow 45-35 defeat to top seed Fulton.
The battle with Fulton opened at 220 pounds with Adam Honis pinning Dylan DeMauro early in the second period. After a Red Raiders pin, J-D/CBA won the next two bouts as William BeSeth (99 pounds) got his own second-period fall over Frederick Pagan and David BeSeth (106 pounds) pinned Ethan Holliday in 82 seconds.
Forced to forfeit at 113 pounds without Matt Griffin, J-D/CBA still had Myles Griffin on hand and he pinned 120-pound opponent Andru Walts in 3:15 as Tyler Kellison (126 pounds) got a 20-5 technical fall over Kaleb Carreon.
With a 29-12 lead, J-D/CBA had to brace against Fulton’s comeback as it won five of the next six bouts – three pins, a decision and a disqualification. Only Garrett Bauer (145 pounds) broke that string, fighting past Ian Bogardus 7-2.
Now trailing 39-32 and needing a win at 182 pounds to stay alive, J-D/CBA got it from Jake Wright, who won a back-and-forth battle with Matej Zavacky 7-6. But needing a technical fall in the 195-pound finale, James Richer got pinned by Fulton’s Jon Parrish.
Back in the quarterfinals, J-D/CBA handled no. 7 seed Rome Free Academy 46-22, helped by a quartet of forfeits, but still getting pins from Wright over Tejas Desai in 34 seconds and Bauer, who had a second-period fall over Cole Donnelly.
Ethan Wells, at 120, held off Garrett Craft 5-2 as David BeSeth shut out Justin Wright 13-0. at 145 pounds, Alikhan Abdullayev pushed past Wally Wright 4-2.
The semifinal round pitted J-D/CBA against no. 3 seed West Genesee, whom it beat 38-27 back in December. The rematch came down to the final bout, but J-D/CBA prevailed again 40-30 when Wright, in the final bout at 182, pinned Cole Wade in the waning seconds of the second period.
Early on, J-D/CBA built a 34-15 lead, sparked by Honis pinning Randell Ouimet in the second period. William Laun (285 pounds) handled Shawn Sakran 10-4 as William BeSeth got a 9-2 decision over Jackson Taetsch.
When David BeSeth pulled out a 5-3 win over Gavin O’Neill in overtime at 113, it began a string where Myles Griffin pinned Vince Calabria in 47 seconds, Wells edged Colin McAvan 5-4 and Kellison pinned Patrick Ivery in 2:36.
But WG would fight back with four wins in the next five bouts, interrupted only by Bauer’s 16-2 romp of Cole Saxon, forcing Wright to at least avoid a technical fall against Wade – which he did, leading to a classic battle with Fulton.
With its win, Fulton would join Central Valley Academy, who edged Camden 41-37 in the Division II final, in representing Section III at the State Dual Meet.
