CENTRAL NEW YORK – More than a week later than planned, the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team went to Carthage as the top seed and favorite to win the Division I Section III Dual Meet.
Ultimately, all of the weather issues limited the tournament to four entries – and C-NS would emerge triumphant when it defeated the host Carthage Comets 35-26 in the championship round.
The Northstars opened with Joe Kozubowski, at 215 pounds, pinning Marcus Hickey in 68 seconds before Kamdin Bembry (285 pounds), defending a 32-0 record, met 24-1 Kamdyn Dorchester at 285 pounds and won a tough 8-3 decision before Kasey Kalfass (101 pounds) pinned Andre Newman in 84 seconds.
Carthage fought back, winning five of the next six bouts to tie it 20-20, the lone exception Anthony Ciciarelli (116 pounds) getting a 19-3 technical fall over Ayden Downing. Grady Ellsworth (108 pounds) was close in an 8-6 defeat to Roger Joyce.
A pivotal bout at 152 pounds had Jacob Day edge Nathan Countryman 6-5, but Taiveyon Jones (160 pounds) got pinned by Kodi Kolk, meaning the Comets led 26-23 with two bouts to go.
In just 27 seconds, Kaydin Welch turned that around at 170 pounds, pinning Conor Hickey. Now, needing any kind of win in the 190-pound finale, Austin Hartman earned it with a second-period pin over Zeb Stevens.
All this followed C-NS’s victory in the Jan. 13 Phoenix Mid-Winter Classic, where with 257 points it pulled away from Carthage and Central Square (each with 183.5) as Liverpool was sixth with 132.5 points.
Four Northstars finished on top, including an all-C-NS final at 215 where Bembry beat Kozubowski. Kalfass pinned Newman for the title at 101, with Kennedy Thomas (145 pounds) pinning J-D/CBA’s Mason Porter in the the third period to win that weight class and Welch taking just 87 seconds to pin Stevens in their title bout.
Sean Aldrich was second at 138 pounds, matching the best Liverpool finish by Aiden Adams-Bovenzi (108), Paolo Munetz (116) and Marek Sokolowski (131 pounds), all of whom lost their finals.
Aaron Westcott (116) and Luke Hogue (131 pounds) each got third-place finishes for C-NS as Liverpool’s Ryan Heneka was fourth at 152 ahead of teammates Carson Rice (131) and Will Cowan (145), who each finished fifth.
C-NS then beat Fayetteville-Manlius 53-12 last Wednesday before going to the Dual Meet, with a heavy weight sweep from Bembry, Kozubowski, Welch and Hartman following opening wins from Aldrich and Thomas. Kalfass, Ciciarelli and Javone Dawkins (124 pounds) won, too.
Liverpool hosted West Genesee last Wednesday and lost, 51-18, to the Wildcats, who claimed every bout from 131 to 190 pounds to get away, including a tense one at 138 where Samir Amiri fell to Logan Willis 10-7 after Sokolowski fell to Austin Fesinger 11-6.
Munetz and Khai Anderson (124 pounds) did earn second-period pins, Munetz over Max Alexander and Anderson over Harrison Card. David Blue Moore earned the other points at 215, pinning Santino Sanford in the second period.
C-NS had its girls wrestling team take part in the inaugural Section III Girls Ranking Invitational, where it earned 75 points to finish sixth in a 20-team field as Fulton (213 points) held off Phoenix (190.5) for the top spot.
Meghan McGrath gave the Northstars a victory at 114 pounds, blanking Maci Doxstader (Holland Patent) 4-0 in the semifinals before a title bout with HP”s Claire Favata that McGrath won with a second-period pin on her way to advancing to this weekend’s NYSPHSAA meet at SRC Arena.
Two other C-NS wrestlers, Gabriella Behrer (145 pounds) and Rayna AbuAlia (235 pounds), earned fourth-place finishes, with Shea Ellsworth (100 pounds) pinning Fulton’s Hailie Thompson in 34 seconds for fifth place and Ariana Welsh (165 pounds) in sixth place.
