LIVERPOOL – When wrestling rivals Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool clashed with one another Wednesday night, it did not disappoint.

Both sides claimed bouts in lopsided and close manners, and the issue was in doubt right until the end, when the Northstars did what was needed to earn a 34-26 victory over the Warriors.

First place in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division was at stake and it was Liverpool getting the jump.

In the 126-pound opener, Samir Amiri pinned Ben Alton, and the Warriors made it 9-0 at 132 pounds when Matthews Bonato-Borges worked past Drew Baker 11-4.

Then C-NS won the next three bouts. Kennedy Thomas, at 138 pounds, pinned Lucas Smith, with Sean Aldrich doing the same to Tyler Sharkey at 145 pounds as Jonah Geller, at 152 pounds, claimed a 5-1 decision over Connor Kral.

Answering back, the Warriors won three in a row, from Dante Malozzi (160 pounds) pinning Jacob Day to two close bouts where Owen Atchie (172 pounds) edged John Sherbourne 6-5 and Jayce Bliss (189 pounds) got past Austin Hartman by an 8-4 margin.

Taking the lead again, the Northstars saw Kamdin Bembry, at 215 pounds, pin Joe Piscitelli, with Joe Kozubowski pinning 285-pound opponent Omar Atleh.

Paolo Munetz, at 102 pounds, pinned Kasey Kalfass to put Liverpool 26-25, but at 110 pounds Kevin Mossow’s pin of Sajad Amirzada put C-NS to the brink of a team victory.

Still, Anthony Ciciarelli, in the 118-pound finale, had to avoid getting pinned by Pierce Goodave. All that Ciciarelli allowed was a single escape as his 8-1 decision clinched the Northstars’ place on top.

Each side had won large-scale tournaments in December – C-NS doing so at its own Andersen Tournament and then again at Chenango Valley’s Matt Fedish Memorial Duals.

In Liverpool’s case, it meant going to the Paul Davie Memorial Duals at South Seneca and sweeping all four opponents there for the first-place trophay, including a 51-21 decision over Fayetteville-Manlius.

Also beating Letchworth, Warsaw and South Seneca in this event, the Warriors saw Goodave win all three of his contested bouts with pins in 75 seconds or less, while Atchie and Bliss both had 2-0 marks.

Liverpool does not wrestle again until the new year while C-NS goes to SUNY-Oswego this week for the Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament.