Even with a 30-2 record going into last Saturday’s Section III Division II championships at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, Chittenango senior wrestler Connor Fredericks felt the pressure.
Only a victory in this tournament guaranteed a berth in the Feb. 23-24 state meet at Albany’s Times Union Center, and Fredericks, as the top seed at 182 pounds, was expected to win
Not only did Fredericks prevail, he matched Wes Blanding’s feat of back-to-back sectional titles from 2011 and 2012, as he won at 170 pounds a year ago on the way to a fifth-place finish in the state meet.
After a first-round bye, Fredericks pinned Canastota’s Andy Marshall in 1:47 in the quarterfinals and, in a semifinal masterpiece, took less than two minutes to earn the 15-point margin necessary for a technical fall over Camden’s John Mitchell.
The final Saturday night against Homer’s Paul Morse proved far more challenging, but Fredericks had a takedown in less than 20 seconds and patiently earned other points on the way to a 6-1 decision over Morse.
Cazenovia also had a wrestler in the sectional finals as senior Matt McLaughlin made it to the 126-pound title bout as the no. 2 seed.
McLaughlin, like Fredericks, had a first-round bye, and then pinned Hunter Carr (Adirondack) with 19 seconds left in their quarterfinal before a narrow 3-2 win over Onondaga-Tully’s Dylan Price in the semifinals.
One win away from a sectional title, McLaughlin had to deal with Adirondack top seed Kevin Spann in the finals. Sporting a 38-1 record, Spann never let McLaughlin get on the board in a 4-0 decision, but with a 33-6 overall mark McLaughlin still could earn an at-large bid into the state meet.
Also for Chittenango, Isaiah Prado, the no. 3 seed at 195 pounds, beat Mackenzie Case (Mount Markham) 12-2 and pinned Riley Brewer (Central Valley Academy) late in the second period to reach the semifinals.
Prado lost his semifinal to Harold Sherman (Cato-Meridian) 5-2, and then went 1-1 in the consolation bracket for a fourth-place finish, pinning Brandon Otts (Canastota) but dropping the third-place bout to South Jefferson-Sandy Creek’s Austin Kellogg.
Robert Shepard wrestled with Fredericks at 182, pinning Dylan Randall (Dolgeville) in 28 seconds in the first round before a quarterfinal loss to Mitchell 10-4.
Like Fredericks, Shepard pinned Marshall in the consolation bracket on the way to a sixth-place finish. The Bears’ Peyton Denney (113 pounds) lost in the first round to Adirondack’s Brett Gaylor.
Cazenovia’s Sam Deleon, holding the no. 5 seed at 152 pounds, won narrow decisions over Charles Lines (Homer) 4-3 and Josh Mayden (Camden) 7-6 to reach the semifinals.
Only a10-1 loss to top seed Dempsey Carroll (Copenhagen) stopped Deleon’s run, with two more defeats in the consolation bracket leading to a sixth-place finish.
Alsofor the Lakers, Jacob Wells was the no. 6 seed at 113 pounds, pinning Joe Diana (Holland Patent) but then losing in the quarterfinals to CVA’s Marek Bush, the eventual champion and the sectional Division II meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Stan Angus (99 pounds) lost in the first round to Camden’s Kyle Musachio.
