CENTRAL NEW YORK – Big as it was for the Marcellus wrestling team to earn Onondaga High School League honors on Jan. 27, what it did one week later in the Section III Class B championships at Homer was even more satisfying.
By picking up 194.5 points, the Mustangs ended the reign of Central Valley Academy (183.5) atop the sectional ranks and went to the top, also withstanding a strong challenge from Jordan-Elbridge, who finished third with 182.5 points.
Leading Marcellus to glory was Colin Scherer, who battled his way to the 138-pound final and then won it when J-E’s Dylan Nolan could not suit up, leading to a forfeit.
Jayden Abbott finished second at 190 pounds, while a quintet of third-place finishes helped Marcellus overtake CVA and J-E sides that each won in three different weight classes.
Chris Doshna was third at 170 pounds, pinning Homer’s Colin Murphy in the consolation bracket final, which Caleb Posecznick also did at 215 pounds against Chittenango’s Peter Schulz and Gable LaFleur did at 285 pounds when he pinned Schulz’s Bears teammate, Elijah McDonald.
This continued at 101 pounds, Blaine Haney winning 9-3 over Homer’s Patrick Maslin for third place, matched by Trevor Rankin at 152 pounds when he edged Mexico’s Tanner Belomo 5-3. Knoll MCcoy was fourth at 108 pounds and Elliott Barbosa fourth at 190 pounds, with Jake Burton (108), Hollis Child (131) and Anthony DeCapio (160 pounds) each finishing firth.
Leading J-E, Mason Tanner, at 101, pinned Mason Butler (Camden) in the third period, while Ben Lamson, winning at 108, pulled out a 4-2 decision over Butler’s teammate, Brayden Hatzinger, and Henry Smith shut out Jack Mangan (South Jefferson) 4-0 in the 160-pound final.
Elsewhere, Jack Lamson, at 170, was upended in the final 3-1 by Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Charlie Foster, Lamson’s first defeat of the season after starting 35-0, and Lucas Witter reached the 124-pound final, only to get pinned by CVA’s Gene Edwards.
Contrasting Marcellus, the Eagles had no third-place finishers and just one, Liam Mantell (116) in fourth place ahead of teammate Tyler Chilson in sixth place. To win fifth place at 124 pounds, Connor Fraher had to beat Marcellus’ Jack Burton 7-4 as Logan Merriam, at 145 pounds, pinned another CVA wrestler, Xavier Price, to get fifth place.
Meanwhile, in the sectional Class AA championships at Jamesville-DeWitt, West Genesee roared to a third-place finish with 152 points, trailing only the 200.5 from Cicero-North Syracuse and 179.5 from host J-D/CBA.
It included three Wildcats victories, with Logan Willis, at 131 pounds, pinning New Hartford’s Michael Caruso in just 77 seconds after a semifinal technical fall over Eric Kozlowski (Fayetteville-Manlius), with the brother tandem of Austin and Maxx Fesinger also prevailing.
At 124, Austin Fesinger had to pull out a 2-1 final over C-NS’s Javone Dawkins after an 11-2 romp over Syracuse City’s Dontae Smith in the semifinals, while at 160 it was Maxx Fesinger on top, doing just enough to beat Baldwinsville’s Aaron Fredenburg 6-4 after he also got a semifinal technical fall against J-D/CBA’s Logan Oppedisano.
Dylan Radcliffe was WG’s other finalist, at 152 pounds, falling 8-2 to Syracuse City’s Jesus Moreno. Elijah Apps, in a 5-2 decision over C-NS’s Austin Hartman, gained third place at 190. Jacob Severson (170) and Omar Almlaiti (215) each finished fourth, while Cole Willis (101) pinned Liverpool’s Jude Atchie for fifth place and Ali Abumustafa did the same at 145 when he pinned F-M’s Charlie Caput.
