CENTRAL NEW YORK – A peak moment for the Cazenovia wrestling team arrived last weekend when it went to the Mustang Duals at Mount Markham and, with an 8-1 record, emerged victorious.
In the opening round, the Lakers topped Cooperstown 48-27, then suffered its lone defeat in the second match when it fell to Saranac 38-33. Six straight wins would follow, though.
Topping Goshen 45-21 to begin this streak, Cazenovia then prevailed 45-30 over Whitesboro and routed Dolgeville 57-16. Herkimer was next, and the Lakers beat the Magicians 48-21 before holding off Beekmantown 40-30.
Two more close matches remained. Against New Hartford, Cazenovia pulled it out 36-33 when, in the final bout at 145 pounds, Gabriel Sanchez pinned Connor Sonson in the second period. Riley Fowler (215 pounds), Gryphon Foster (101 pounds) and Cullen Arnold (124 pounds) all earned pins, too.
And in the final match, the Lakers got past host Mount Markham 38-33. Fittingly, it ended with Broden Enders, at 152 pounds, pinning Alekx Abanatha to claim the team title to complete an 8-1 performance for the meet that was equaled by Arnold.
Sanchez had a 7-1 record at the meet, with Foster at 7-2 thanks to six pins and Bryce Enders at 7-2 alternating between 160 and 170 pounds. Finn Tobin, mostly wrestling at 170 (with one bout at 160), went 6-2,
Isaac Genter finished 6-3, with all but one of his bouts at 108 pounds, and Evan Rice equaled that mark at 190 pounds. Luther Dannon, mostly wrestling at 285 pounds, went 5-4, with Fowler recording a 4-3 record.
Exactly one week later, Cazenovia would head to Jordan-Elbridge for the Onondaga High School League Liberty division championships along with Chittenango, who in Wednesday night’s match with Hannibal prevailed 60-15 over the Warriors.
Peter Schulz, at 215 pounds, got it going for the Bears, pinning Joe Przepiora in 27 seconds before a second-period fall by Elijah McDonald (285 pounds) over Cody Miner.
At 116 pounds, Trevor McDonald pinned Jose Cruz in the second period before Dan Mahle, at 131 sounds, earned Chittenango’s fastest pin of the season, taking just 11 seconds to finish off David Sweeney.
Two more pins followed, Kole Smith (145) over Ben Hess in 43 seconds and Edward Geer (160) over Jayden Hutchinson right at the end of the first period. Noah Haarman (108 pounds), Dylan Brownson (152) and Chris Blair (170) all claimed forfeits.
