CENTRAL NEW YORK – Each of the area’s three high school wrestling teams are now deep into their 2024 slates, having closed the previous year with various levels of activity.
Jamesville-DeWitt/Christian Brothers Academy went to the massive Windsor Christmas Tournament on Dec. 28 and took 12th place in a field of 36 teams with 60 points as Tioga (205 points) topped the field.
Bryce Dadey emerged victorious in a competitive field at 215 pounds, moving to 16-0 on the season as he pulled out a 2-1 decision over Patrick McKinley (Saratoga Springs) in the semifinal before claiming a 12-11 classic over Sawyer Robinson (Towanda, Pennsylvania) in the championship round.
No other J-D/CBA wrestler was in the top four, though Mykola Fabian, at 285 pounds, did take fifth place when he beat BGAH’s Elliott Briggs in a 9-2 decision. Mason Porter (145 pounds) fell in the quarterfinal round.
In its first match of 2024 Wednesday night, J-D/CBA met Fulton, usually a powerhouse program but experiencing a down year this winter, and the Rams took full advantage, beating the Red Dragons 54-18.
They opened at 152 pounds, where Chris Grosso pinned Cameron Hall in the third period, right before Logan Oppedisano (160 pounds) pinned Ethan Doran in 97 seconds.
The getaway began at 190 pounds with Andrew Cooney’s first-period pin of Nathaniel Osborne. Dadey then pinned Jeremy Haskins in 41 seconds and Hayden Fleet (285 pounds) took 90 seconds to pin Micah Collins.
Four more wins followed, two of them forfeits to Biruk Royal (101 pounds) and John Lemondes (138 pounds). Carlos Barosso did wrestle at 116 pounds, pinning Kayden Brand in the second period. Max Griffin (124 pounds) pinned Joe Wardhaugh in 73 seconds.
Fayetteville-Manlius had a strong showing in the Dec. 29 Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament at SUNY-Oswego, earning ninth place out of 32 sides with a total of 95 points.
Jackson Schwab led the Hornets, claiming the title at 285 to improve his record to 16-1. Schwab pinned Landon Crandall (Phoenix) in the second period of the semifinal and, moving on to the title bout, took just 99 seconds to earn a fall over Adirondack’s Mason Sturtevant.
F-M also had its brand-new girls wrestling team take part in the Haines Memorial, where it finished 19th in a 24-team field with 17 points.
From there, F-M returned to SCAC Metro division action Wednesday with a tough, competitive match against West Genesee that resulted in a 36-24 defeat to the Wildcats.
The Hornets won three of the first five bouts. At 131 pounds, Taden Minichillo pinned Harrison Card in 61 seconds, with Trent Gloo (145) getting a 74-second pin over Ali Abumustafa and Harrison Schwab (152) topping Dylan Radcliffe 7-3.
But WG answered with four wins in a row, including a tight battle at 190 where Austin Barr lost 3-1 to Elijah Apps. And the Wildcats held on, though at 285 Andrew Dabulewicz used a single escape to beat Omar Almlaiti 1-0 and Joe Rafuse, at 109 pounds, pinned Jackson Austin in 76 seconds. Athan Dauksza (116) lost a 5-3 battle to Max Alexander.
East Syracuse Minoa made some headway Wednesday against Oswego but lost, 39-19, to the Buccaneers.
Three of the Spartans’ four wins were on the mat. Peyton Spencer, at 124, worked past Nate Freebern 6-3, while Brendan Zweisler (160) handled Garret Pickens 15-6 and Charles English followed at 170 pounds with a 60-second pin of Landon Gibson. Ari Oviedo (152) was close in a 10-8 loss to Antonio Rivera-Gonzalez.
