SYRACUSE – Already with the Section III Class AA championship secured, the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team went for more at Saturday’s sectional Division I tournament at SRC Arena.
Automatic berths in the Feb. 23-24 state championships in Albany were on the line and the Northstars had several good chances to win, coming through a couple of times thanks to Kennedy Thomas and Kamdin Bembry.
Thomas was the 145-pound champion. As the no. 2 seed, Thomas pinned Chris Grosso (Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA) in 34 seconds and then got a second-period fall over Paul Ortega (Watertown) before a final with Carthage’s Logan Munn, the top seed, that was close and exciting – but Thomas, with a couple of more moves, pulled it out 9-7.
Bembry’s semifinal win over C-NS teammate Joe Kozubowski in a 55-second pin got Bembry into the 215-pound final against Central Square star Rocky Files, who had a 38-1 record.
This bout was just as good as the one that Thomas won, and went longer. Even a couple of overtime periods didn’t decide it as Bembry, with a long ride, edged Files 8-7 to win it, while Kozubowski pinned Syracuse City’s Daron Torrence in 73 seconds for third place.
These wins helped C-NS, with 181.5 points, hold off Carthage (177) to take the sectional Division I team title as Indian River finished third with 142 points.
Kasey Kalfass made his way to the 101-pound final when he won a tight semifinal 4-3 over Brennan Kline (Baldwinsville), only to run into Auburn’s Brady Maneri and get pinned late in the first period.
Sean Aldrich lost his 138-pound semifinal to Collen Austin (Fulton) 5-3, but swept his consolation bracket bouts and topped Jordan Ransom (Central Square) in a tense 2-1 decision for third place.
Kaydin Welch did the same at 170 pounds, pinning Connor Hickey (Carthage) in the consolation bracket final after a semifinal loss to the eventual winner, Fulton’s Johnathan Clohecy.
Anthony Ciciarelli, as the top seed at 116 pounds, lost a wild semifinal 13-10 to Carthage’s Ayden Downing after he beat teammate Aaron Westcott in the quarterfinals.
But it was Westcott who would get three straight pins, the last of them over Indian River’s Eli Faus in the consolation bracket final, to finish third as an injury kept Ciciarelli from competing the rest of the meet.
Austin Hartman finished fourth at 190 pounds, keyed by a 4-3 win over West Genesee’s Eljah Apps after falling to Baldwinsville’s Judson Ferris in the semifinals. Michael Pease got a sixth-place finish at 285 pounds.
Liverpool had a group of wrestlers at the sectional meet, too, though none were able to reach the championship round.
Aiden Adams-Bovenzi, at 108 pounds, had a great showing. After a semifinal loss to top seed Tomah Gummow (Indian River), Adams-Bovenzi beat Lucas Hammond (Fulton) 8-2 and topped Ethan Roser (Whitesboro) 5-0 for third place.
Marek Soklowski, beaten in the 131-pound quarterfinals, was able to win twice in the consolation bracket and, by pinning Brendan Fredenburg (Baldwinsville) in three minutes, got fifth place.
Gavin Connolly, at 124 pounds, lost in the quarterfinals after beating teammate Khai Anderson in the opening round with a second-period pin. Paolo Munetz (116), Samir Amiri (138) and Dante Mallozzi (170) also had quarterfinal defeats.
