CENTRAL NEW YORK – On the first Saturday of December, wrestling teams from Jordan-Elbridge, Marcellus and West Genesee went to three separate tournament, each of them finding varying degrees of success.
Doing best was the Eagles, who went a perfect 5-0 in the Dave Darrow Duals at Cortland, which included lopsided wins over Moravia (58-18), Hannibal (60-17) and the host Cortland Purple Tigers 58-18.
J-E also beat Dryden 38-30, but in the closest bout managed to beat Southern Hills 39-34 despite getting out-pointed in the contested bouts.
Knowing that the three lightest weight classes – 101, 108 and 116 pounds – were forfeits, the Eagles just needed 17 points elsewhere, and got them.
In the 124-pound opener, Liam Mantell pinned Carson Haaf in 60 seconds. Dylan Nolan blanked 145-pound opponent Logan Sheriff 9-0 as Henry Smith (170 pounds) earned a 16-0 technical fall over Aidan Moulton and Jack Lamson, at 190 pounds, pinned David Frazee in 72 seconds.
Marcellus took part in the Captain Bailey Memorial Tournament at Adirondack, where Blaine Haney was victorious and Colin Scherer prevailed at 138 pounds.
Haney, to claim his title, pinned Collin Yorke (Cobleskill-Richmondville) with 12 seconds left in their bout as Scherer needed just 49 seconds to pin championship-round opponent Michael Caruso from New Hartford.
Chris Doshna was second at 190 pounds, taking a defeat to Sean Kelly (Lowville) in the finals. Knoll McCoy (108) and Trevor Rankin (152 pounds) both had third-place efforts as Jake Burton (108), Dallas Wilson (131) and Jayden Abbott (190) each got fourth place. Jack Burton (124 pounds) and Trevor Stack (190) each were sixth.
As for West Genesee, it finished eighth out of 23 teams in Cicero-North Syracuse’s Andersen Tournament, with a victory from Logan Willis at 138 pounds.
Willis beat Homer’s Hunter Lines 9-1 in the semifinals, reaching a championship bout where, against Fairport’s Chase Sackett, he managed to earn a pin late in the second period.
Maxx Feisinger finished third at 170 pounds, routing Edniel Melendez-Aristud (Indian River) 17-6 in the consolation bracket final. No other Wildcats wrestler finished in the top six.
