CICERO – In years past, when the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team played host to the Section III Dual Meet, it was mostly a spectator to the glory others had earned.
Now, though, was a chance for the Northstars to take it all – which it did, achieving yet another program landmark when it defeated Fulton for the title Thursday night in front of an appreciative home crowd.
The Dual Meet originally had a seven-team field and was supposed to have its first two rounds Tuesday at Henninger, but icy weather postponed it – and then kept two of the teams, Indian River and Carthage, from traveling.
Thus, C-NS, the top seed, warmed up with a 57-15 win over Syracuse and then faced the big test in the semifinals against Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA as Liverpool met Fulton in the other semifinal.
To pull out the 33-23 win over the Rams, the Northstars had to trade blows until the final two bouts. At 102 pounds, Kevin Mossow gained a 6-2 decision over Dominic Shiano and Javone Dawkins, in the 110-pound finale, clinched it by pinning Carlos Barosso in the third period.
Prior to that, Anthony Ciciarelli (110 pounds) and John Sherbourne (172 pounds) earned pins, with Sean Aldrich (138 pounds) and Kennedy Thomas (145 pounds) getting decisions and Kamdin Bembry, at 215 pounds, earning three key points in a 3-1 decision over Bryce Dadey.
Meanwhile, Liverpool could not get past Fulton in the other semifinal, falling 55-18 as the lone Warriors’ points came from pins by Christian Coppin (132 pounds), Jayce Bliss (189 pounds) and Sajad Amirzada at 102 pounds.
When it came to the final, C-NS saw Fulton get the jump, only to have the Northstars take over in the higher weight classes and prevail 34-19 for the championship.
Of the first four bouts, only Aldrich won, pinning Kallen Roberts in 99 seconds. Ayden Sprague (160 pounds) won 17-4 over Ethan Doran and Jonah Geller (152 pounds) held off Bailey Grubb 7-3.
After a forfeit to Austin Hartman at 189 pounds, Bembry’s 60-second pin of Mason Wendt and Joe Kobuzowski (285 pounds) edging Micah Collins 4-3 clinched the title and a spot in next Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Dual Meet which will take place at SRC Arena.
