CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even if it wasn’t a smooth path to get there, the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team was quite glad to represent Section III for Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Dual Meet at SRC Arena.

On the way to the title, the Northstars endured a long-delayed, then curtailed sectional Division I meet, ultimately rallying in the finals to defeat host Carthage to earn the spot in the state meet.

Now C-NS sought state honors, doing so as the no. 8 seed in the field and meeting Long Island’s North Babylon in the second round, where it lost a narrow 29-27 decision.

Three different C-NS wrestlers had pins – Kennedy Thomas over John Rowland at 145 pounds, Kaydin Welch over Dante Oleaga at 170 pounds and Kamdin Bembry over Alex Seger at 285 pounds.

At 215 pounds, Joe Kozubowski topped Elijah Myers 6-2, with Sean Aldrich (138 pounds) pulling out a 3-1 decision over Adriano Ochoa and Kasey Kalfass, at 101 pounds, edging Xavier Seabury 6-4.

Two close decisions that went in North Babylon’s favor proved decisive. At 108 pounds, Grady Ellsworth lost 7-6 to Giovanni Hatzakorzian, with Aaron Westcott close at 124 pounds, but falling to James Figueroa 7-5.

When C-NS faced Niagara-Wheatfield, from Section VI, again it was a close match and, again, the Northstars were on the wrong end of it, falling 31-29 to the Falcons.

Two close bouts got it underway, Anthony Ciciarelli (116 pounds) edging Aian Peterson 4-3 but Westcott taking a 5-3 defeat to Muntathar Abbas, which started a 4-1 stretch for the Falcons only interrupted by Thomas battling past Chase Richards 3-2.

Two more Niagara-Wheatfield pins clinched a victory despite Welch beating Dante Difiglia 11-3, a forfeit to Bembry, Kalfass pulling away from Gabriella Barone 10-2 and Ellsworth getting a last-second pin over Jacob Sweeney.

Meanwhile, Liverpool got set for its own post-season push, venturing to Oswego High School on Jan. 20 for the Akley Duals, where it finished behind Phoenix and Southern Hills in the standings.

A 44-18 defeat to Southern Hills began the day, followed by a battle with Mexico and a win over East Syracuse Minoa. Then Liverpool lost 45-25 to Phoenix before defeating host Oswego 39-24. Paolo Munetz was named the Warriors’ Most Outstanding Wrestler at this meet.

As a follow-up, Liverpool faced APW/Pulaski Wednesday night in a non-league match that the Warriors claimed by a 39-36 margin with a big come-from-behind effort.

Taking six of the first nine pouts (two of them forfeits), APW/Pulaski established a 36-15 advantage. What kept Liverpool alive was a 145-pound opener where Christian Coppin needed an overtime takedown to beat Parker Kohlbach 6-4 along with Dante Mallozzi (170 pounds) pinning Micah Hawn in the second period.

Four bouts remained, and the Warriors needed three straight pins to make the finale decisive – which it got, starting at 116 pounds when Munetz pinned Hunter Willson at the end of the first period.

It took until the second period for Khai Anderson to pin 124-pound opponent Trenton Koch, but Marek Sokolowski (131 pounds) didn’t waste any time, pinning Ariana Poel in 34 seconds.

With the deficit cut to 36-33, all Liverpool needed was a decision in the 138-pound finale to earn the critierum point in case of a tie, but Samir Amiri made it moot when he pinned APW/Pulaski’s Brodi Martin near the end of the second period.

The Warriors wrestled again a night later, facing Syracuse City, and prevailed 47-24, the closest bout at 285 pounds where David Blue Moore, with an overtime takedown, beat Daron Torrence 4-2.

Dante Malozzi battled at 170 pounds to an 11-6 win over Jeff Petties right after Matt McKeon, at 160 pounds, pinned Anthony Riley in 97 seconds. Munetz handled Jullian Brown in a 17-2
technical fall.

Pins were earned by Sokolowski over Austin St. Louis in 82 seconds and Coppin over Noah Huntington in the third period, while forfeits went to Jude Atchie at 101 pounds and Aiden Adams-Bovenzi at 108 pounds.