CAZENOVIA – Madison County neighbors would duel with each other on the wrestling mat when Cazenovia and Chittenango squared off Wednesday at Buckley Gym.
And it was the Lakers getting the best of it, prevailing 32-25 by pulling out victories in each of the last two bouts to erase a late Bears lead.
In the penultimate bout at 102 pounds, Cazenovia’s Evan Rutecki worked his way to a 16-0 technical fall over Dan Mahle, which gave the Lakers a 26-25 advantage.
Still, that left it to the 110-pound finale to decide the whole match. But it didn’t last long as the Lakers’ Tallon Widrick pinned the Bears’ Mason Ferstler in 79 seconds.
It was close in the 118-pound opener, with Chittenango’s Anthony Cayea holding off Luke Rodriguez 7-5. The Lakers got even with its own close win at 138 pounds, Bryce Enders edging Matthew Byrne 6-4.
Though Edward Geer (132 pounds) got a forfeit for the Bears, Bryce Odessa (126 pounds) and Gabriel Sanchez (145 pounds) both gained pins for the Lakers – Odessa over Kamryn Coonrod, Sanchez over Martez Webb.
Three of the next four bouts went in Chittenango’s favor. Quentin Mohamed, at 160 pounds, pinned John Fowler at the end of the first period, with Andrew Bailey (189 pounds) routing Blaze Dannon 14-1 and Luke Martin (285 pounds) getting a second-period fall over Kaleb Vazquez.
Only Gabriel Lowenstein, at 215 pounds, interrupted this trend by pinning Macsen Cameron in 61 seconds, a prelude to the decisive closing stretch for the Lakers.
