For the Cazenovia wrestling team, getting to the top of the standings in last Saturday’s Section III Class B championships at Central Valley Academy was not a serious consideration.
Host CVA, who nearly won the NYSPHSAA Dual Meet a week earlier, took team honors with 234 points, while the Lakers had 88 points for eighth place and Chittenango was ninth with 59 points.
However, three different Cazenovia wrestlers reached the championship round, starting with Sam DeLeon at 152 pounds, who in a tough semifnal beat Phoenix’s Jaden Bruno 8-3, only to get injured and have to forfeit the final to Camden’s Josh Mayden.
Up at 170 pounds, Casey Cunningham claimed a tense 2-1 semifinal over Mexico’s Harley Wakeman and reached the title bout, where he lasted all six minutes with Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Chris Forbes, but took an 8-3 defeat.
John Frega had his own close semifinal at 195 pounds, also prevailing 2-1, this one over Camden’s John Mitchell, putting him in a final where he did not get out of the first period and was pinned by Mexico’s Dylan Mannise.
Seven Cazenovia wrestlers had podium finishes, with Shaun Zampetti taking fourth place at 99 pounds as Jerry Vielhauer, at 126 pounds, pinned Chittenango’s Mark Young in 1:55 for fifth place.
Kevin Valentine notched his own fifth-place finish at 160 pounds in yet another 2-1 bout where he edged Homer’s Zander Johnson. Jake Tobin gained sixth place at 170 pounds.
As for Chittenango, three different Bears finished fourth, with John Spencer, at 220 pounds, getting the closest to a higher finish as he lost his consolation bracket final 7-5 to Camden’s Kyle Wines.
Devin Myers, at 160 pounds, fell to VVS’s Travis Decker in that same round, with Peyton Denney fourth at 120 pounds after a defeat to Homer’s Kaiden Haynes.
Just behind Zampetti at 99, Blayde DeBlieux took fifth place for the Bears when he pinned Mexico’s Ryan Gates in 38 seconds. Andrew Bailey matched Young’s sixth-place effort at 113 pounds, falling 4-2 in overtime to Camden’s Sean Seymour in the fifth-place bout.
Most of these wrestlers will make their way to Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena this Saturday for the sectional Division II (small school) championships, where berths in the Feb. 22-23 state meet in Albany are on the line.
