SYRACUSE – Baldwinsville wrestler Aidan Cali will see his season culminate with an appearance at this weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
Cali earned the trip to Albany with his second-place finish at the Feb. 11 Section III Division I tournament at SRC Arena, since both finalists automatically advanced.
Already named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the sectional Class AA meet a week earlier, Cali was the no. 2 seed behind Class A champion Tomah Gummow, from Indian River.
After pinning East Syracuse Minoa’s Karlo Vergne in the second period of their quarterfinal, Cali, in the semifinals, faced Jamesville-DeWitt-CBA’s Jordyn Hill and pulled away to win 9-2.
The final pitted Cali against Gummow, who got a first-period takedown. Cali escaped to cut it to 2-1, but got no closer as Gummow, with an escape and two more points in the final period, claimed a 5-1 decision.
Overall, B’ville finished ninth out of 19 teams in Division I with 65 points, with Fulton (163) edging Indian River (160.5) for the team title to avenge the Warriors’ narrow victory in the sectional Class A meet.
Two other Bees, besides Cali, got to the semifinal round. Max Naples, at 152 pounds, took a defeat to IR’s Gabe Lynch , the eventual champion, after beating teammate Aaron Fredenburg 4-0 in the quarterfinals, while Judson Ferris (160 pounds) lost to Cicero-North Syracuse’s John Sherbourne.
Naples went on to finish fourth, with Ferris finishing sixth as two other wrestlers, Keagan Hayes and Brandon Levin, landed in fifth place.
Hayes, at 126 pounds, earned his place on the podium when Trent Gloo (Fayetteville-Manlius) had to forfeit, while Levin pulled out a 7-4 decision over J-D/CBA’s Garrett Williams in his fifth-place bout. At 285 pounds, Korban Haney lost a tough 4-2 quarterfinal to IR’s Devin Dewane.
