CENTRAL NEW YORK – Though it had to step out of league competition for it, the Baldwinsville wrestling team enjoyed one of its brightest moments of the 2022-23 season.
The Bees went to Jordan-Elbridge last Wednesday and, against the Onondaga High School League Liberty division regular-season champions, made two sustained runs to beat the Eagles 36-27.
After a forfeit to Cael Bruce at 102 pounds, Lev Schanzenbach wrestled at 118 pounds and pinned Tyler Chilson in 90 seconds, with Collin Zeman (126 pounds) pinning Logan Merriam late in the first period.
J-E won the next four bouts to go out in front, including a tough battle at 152 pounds where Olu Gbengbe took a 2-0 defeat to Henry Smith.
Then, at 160 pounds, Davian McLeod fought past Drake Allen 5-3, beginning a decisive run where B’ville amassed 18 points to lead for good.
Brady Lescenski (172 pounds) took just 97 seconds to pin Alex Coomber. Aaron Fredenburg, at 189 pounds, beat Angelo Turo 11-5 and, at 215 pounds, Judson Ferris got his fall over Raiden Yale in 53 seconds.
All of this followed the Bees’ appearance Jan. 14 in the Cazenovia Invitational, where it finished seventh in a 15-team field with 91 points as South Jefferson/Sandy Creek, with 158 points, claimed the top spot.
Only Keagan Hayes, at 138 pounds, was able to get to the championship round, pinning Canastota’s Luken Gaiser in the third period of their semifinal before a title bout where he lost, 6-0, to South Jefferson/Sandy Creek’s Chase Lawton.
Fredenburg had B’ville’s other-top four finish, at 172, earning it when he pinned Homer’s Colin Murphy in under three minutes.
More tournament action is at hand for the Bees as it hosts its own dual meet this Saturday after appearing last weekend in the Fallen Heroes Tournament at Canastota, where it went 3-2.
B’ville started with a 37-28 win over host Canastota before taking a 57-9 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse, who had just won its first-ever Section III Division I Dual Meet two nights earlier.
In the third round, the Bees routed Cazenovia 51-11 following it up with a 44-30 defeat to West Genesee before it closed with a 54-21 win over East Syracuse Minoa. Hayes won all three of his bouts, including a 3-1 decision over C-NS’s Sean Aldrich, Fredenburg and Judson Ferris, who moved up to 189, won both of their contested bouts.
