It was the perfect way for a high school career to end.
Early last Saturday evening at SRC Arena, Skaneateles wrestler T.J. Greenfield squared off against Beaver River’s Josh Greenwood in the consolation bracket final of the 220-pound division at the Section III Division II championships
With one strong move 35 seconds into in the second period, Greenfield pinned Greenwood, and completed a 36-5 season, the last time Greenfield would wrestle for the Lakers, unless he is given an at-large bid to the Feb. 23-24 state meet in Albany.
Already with a state championship in football secured, Greenfield had every intention of adding a sectional wrestling title to his collection. Doing so Doing so would require prevailing from the no. 2 seed at 220.
After a first-round bye, Greenfield pinned Jared Makuch (South Lewis) in 3:02 to set up a tense semifinal against the no. 3 seed, Sherburne-Earlville’s Alex Thompson. It went back and forth, but Thompson pulled it out 3-2.
Though disappointed that he couldn’t advance to face South Jefferson-Sandy Creek star Joe Benedict in the finals (Benedict would pin Thompson in 43 seconds), Greenfield still finished strong, beating Mike Leibl (Canastota) 5-1 before the pin of Greenwood.
This special evening for Syracuse would also feature a high honor for 138-pound senior Joey Brillo. Prior to the finals, Brillo was awarded the prestigious Reed Hawke-Lou Pettinelli Wrestling Scholarship of $500 from the Syracuse Wrestling Officials Association.
Brillo, who went 35-6 season and nearly has 200 career wins overall, was the no. 5 seed at 138 pounds going into the sectional meet, and beat Marion Quigley (Jordan-Elbridge) 12-5 before a tough 9-7 defeat to Phoenix’s Ryan Dolbear in the quarterfinals.
Bouncing back, Brillo routed Lorenzo Scarano (Little Falls) 13-2 in the consolation bracket and, while losing to Kyle Greene (South Lewi), he still claimed fifth place when Dolbear had to forfeit a possible rematch.
Christian Daley, as the no. 8 seed at 132 pounds, beat Keith Lewis (Morrisville-Eaton) 6-2 in the first round, but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Cahal Donovan (Marcellus).
In the consolation bracket, Daley fell 5-3 to Adirondack’s Keagan Case, and finished the season with a 29-11 record.
