SYRACUSE – Even though they did not win their respective divisions in last Saturday’s Section III championships at SRC Arena, wrestlers from Marcellus, Jordan-Elbridge and West Genesee all secured berths in the Feb. 25-26 state meet in Albany.
In Division II, everyone who reached the final automatically qualified for the state meet, meaning that the Mustangs’ Carl Santiarello will return to Albany after competing there in 2020.
Here, Santiarello reached the 118-pound Division II final, only to run into Copenhagen’s Chase Nevills, who pulled away to take a 9-1 decision. Colin Scherer got a pin to finish third at 126 pounds, with Jonas Kaczor making his way to fifth place at 215 pounds.
Scherer lost in the semifinals, but he blazed through the consolation bracket and, when he pinned the no. 2 seed, South Jefferson-Sandy Creek’s Chase Lawton, to finish third, he also earned a berth in the state meet.
Meanwhile, Svitavsky made his way to the championship bout at 160 pounds in Division II, keeping it scoreless with Canastota’s Evan Austerman for a while, but then seeing Austerman pick up points and eventually prevail 5-0, this after Svitavsky won his semifinal with a third-period pin of Mount Markham’s Brad Burke.
The same was true for WG’s Maxx Fesinger, who emerged from a no. 3 seed at 138 pounds to reach the championship round when he defeated Indian River’s Brady Lynch in an exciting semifinal, Fesigner doing just enough to outscore Lynch 9-6.
As it turned out, Fesinger had to face another IR wrestler, top seed Austin Gonzales, in the final, and Gonzales, with a first-period takedown and third-period reversal, won a 4-0 decision. In that same bracket at 138, Fesinger’s teammate, Jack Wade, finished sixth.
Overall, WG finished eighth among 19 Division I sides with 75 points, getting a third-place finish from Colin McAvan at 160 when he edged Liverpool’s Owen Atchie in a tense 2-1 decision. Austin Fesinger got fourth place at 102 pounds, a finish that Logan Willis equaled at 118.
Jordan-Elbridge had a great showing in Division II, its 79.5 points earning sixth place in a field of 27 as Dylan Nolan, wrestling at 110 pounds, earned third place with a tense 6-5 win over Dolgeville’s Grayson Eggleston in the consolation bracket final that helped him join Svitavsky in advancing to the state meet.
Jack Lamson just missed third place at 132, settling for fourth after a 4-2 loss to Phoenix’s Parker Allers as Jack Smith was fourth at 138 pounds. Marcellus saw Jonas Kaczor climb to fifth place at 215 pounds with a 3-2 win over Camden’s Steven Minor as Donovan Fraher, at 110, finished sixth.
