CENTRAL NEW YORK – Now the important work is at hand for the Cazenovia and Chittenango wrestling teams, who both traveled to last Saturday’s Onondaga High School League tournament.
With 221.5 points, the Lakers finished fourth, three spots ahead of the Bears (197 points) in seventh place as Marcellus, with 355 points, held off Phoenix (339 points) to earn the league title.
Evan Rutecki won at 110 pounds for Cazenovia, with Dan Mahle second for Chittenango. When they went head-to-head, Rutecki pinned Mahle late in the first period.
Up at 152 pounds, Broden Enders got to the front for Cazenovia, getting a first-period pin over Marcellus’ Chris Doshna in the finals as Quetin Mohamed got fourth place for the Bears.
Bryce Enders, at 138 pounds, got to third place, pinning Shane Byrne (Phoenix) for that spot in the consolation bracket final. John Fowler also was third, at 172 pounds, where the Bears’ Peter Schultz finished fourth.
Chittenango got a victory from Edward Geer at 145 pounds, Geer meeting up with the Lakers’ Gabriel Sanchez in the finals and able to prevail with a pin in the closing seconds.
At 215 pounds, Luke Martin was second for the Bears, reaching the title bout before falling to Hannibal’s Ethan Thibault. Jacob Ezzo got a third-place finish at 285 pounds.
Cazenovia hosted Liverpool last Tuesday and had a fair amount of success on the mats, only to get hurt by four forfeits and a string of Warriors pins in the higher weight classes of a 54-21 defeat.
Bryce Enders claimed an 11-7 decision over Lucas Smith, followed by Sanchez pinning Tyler Sharkey in the second period and Broden Enders getting a 93-second fall over Sam Benzinger.
Rutecki had Cazenovi’a’s other points, pinning Aiden Adams-Bovenzi in the second period, but Liverpool used five pins and four forfeits to get away.
This Saturday will feature Section III championship meets as Cazenovia goes to the Class C meet at Little Falls and Chittenango is part of the Class B meet at Central Valley Academy.
