Already in front of the Onondaga High School League Liberty division standings, the Marcellus wrestling team sought to solidify that first-place spot.
Before it went to Phoenix last Wednesday night, though, the Mustangs first made a big splash on Jan. 4 during the Port Byron Mid-Winter Classic, finishing fourth out of 15 teams and earning three individual titles.
Carl Santiarello prevailed at 106 pounds by pinning Red Creek’s Brian Sharkey in 1:45. Ryan Moses, at 132 pounds, edged Jack Smith (Port Byron) 1-0 for his title as Kyle Brown won at 285 pounds with his own 1-0 win over Liverpool’s J.J. Guindy.
Dylan Price was second at 145 pounds, with Ethan Ciota third at 113 pounds and Gavin Ciota third at 106. Wilvon McKee (220 pounds) finished fourth as did Aiden Stasic (160 pounds), with Trevor Widrick fifth at 170 pounds.
Moving on to the league slate, Marcellus took on Phoenix Wednesday, and it turned into a classic that Moses decided with a pin in the final bout to beat the Firebirds 43-38.
They opened at 138 pounds, where Tim Okhman pinned Jeff Horner in 67 seconds before Price got a second-period pin over Ethan Bruno as Widrick, moving down to 160, pinned Dylan Tack in 2:32.
After Dylan Hood (195 pounds) claimed a forfeit, Brown won a 7-4 decision over Keaton Renfrow as Colin Scherer, at 99 pounds, pinned Isaac Chesbro midway through the second period.
Even with that, and despite Ethan Ciota’s 35-second pin over Donnivan Bukowski, Phoenix had claimed seven bouts to sneak into a 38-37 lead heading into the finale.
But that meant Moses would close out the night, and he did so, pinning Devin Cerda just before the second period ended to claim those clinching points.
More tournament action followed on Saturday as Marcellus went to the Dan Wickham Classic at Unatego and finished third in an 18-team field with 182 points, trailing only Clarke and Longwood.
Santiarello edged Adironack’s Justin Wright 4-3 to win at 106, with Brown topping Oneonta’s Jeremiah Morris by that same score to claim the title at 285 as Scherer, at 99, blanked Lucas Demott (Sidney) 7-0 to win there.
Moses got close to the title at 132, taking a 7-6 defeat to Norwich’s Mason Edwards in the title bout. Ethan Ciota was third at 113, a finish McKee matched at 220 as Gavin Ciota (106) got sixth place.
Jordan-Elbridge was also in the Port Byron meet and finished ninth. Cameron Newhook earned fourth place at 182 pounds, with Jared Lawrence (220), Cole Mullen (152 pounds) and Bryan Tanner (113) each finishing fifth. Anthony Baron (195) finished sixth.
J-E visited Cazenovia Thursday night, but one just one of the first 12 bouts on the card in a 56-16 defeat to the Lakers.
Mullen got that win, pinning D.J. Frost, with the Eagles shut out until Christian Mathews, at 120, beat Matt Knutsen 12-4, with a forfeit to Nolan Jackson (126) as Caspian Phillips (145) got close in an 8-5 loss to Matt Gagnon.
West Genesee was off last week, but this Wednesday will host Liverpool and then, on Saturday, the Wildcats will head to Cornell University to take on powerhouse Fulton as part of a twin bill that also includes the Big Red facing Virginia Tech.
