CENTRAL NEW YORK – It was exactly the kind of response the Cicero-North Syracuse boys wrestling team needed.
Beaten by Baldwinsville in its Dec. 4 season opener, the Northstars would rebound to earn a second-place finish at its own Bill Andersen Memorial Tournament three days later at North Syracuse Junior High School.
With 12 teams in the field, C-NS picked up 167 points, topping everyone except Section V’s Fairport, who won with 198.5 points. Little Falls (141.5) finished third.
At 215 pounds Kaydin Welch prevailed with a 67-second semifinal pin over Caleb Haase (Fayetteville-Manlius) and, in the title bout, a pin of his own C-NS teammate, Michael Pease, who rolled past West Genesee’s Santino Sanford in the semifinals.
Kennedy Thomas won at 152 pounds, earning a second-period pin over Watertown’s Paul Ortega in the finals after a semifinal medical forfeit by Little Falls’ Colton Wheet.
Sean Aldrich got to the 145-pound final before a defeat to Fairport’s Philly Provenzano, while James Conklin secured third place at 101 pounds beating Fairport’s Jackson Zeller 7-2 in the consolation bracket final. Grady Ellsworth grabbed fourth place at 108 pounds, with Kasey Kalfass sixth at 124 pounds.
That same day, Liverpool wrestled at Central Square’s Brett Dixon Memorial Duals, where the Legends went 2-3, beating South Lewis 39-30 and Whitney Point 42-27 but taking defeats to the host Redhawks 54-12 along with Fulton and Jordan-Elbridge.
Against South Lewis it took David Blue Moore’s pin of Nick Marks at 285 pounds to clinch team honors, while Landon Bunyea (108 pounds), Andrew Lodge (138 pounds) and Samir Amiri (152 pounds) earned pins against Whitney Point.
Of the three defeats, only the J-E match was close, a 37-30 battle where the Eagles won four straight bouts from 116 to 138, getting 21 straight points, to move in front for good, overcoming pins by Moore, Amiri, Bunyea, Lantz Herrera (145 pounds) and Jon Underwood at 170 pounds.
And now Liverpool had to deal with a trip Wednesday night to B’ville, where it could not keep up with Bees and took a 56-17 defeat.
They started at 160 pounds and B’ville won the first four bouts, capped by Lucas Vance (215) beating Mateo Gonzales 8-3, before David Blue Moore got Liverpool on the board at 285 pounds pinning Corbin Williamson.
Two other times Liverpool would pick up wins and both were pins, too, whether it was Amiri getting a fall over Jacob Bennett or Sajad Amirzada earning a pin over 131-pound opponent Jack Webb.
The C-NS girls wrestling team prevailed last Wednesday against West Genesee by a score of 40-18, sparked by a bout at 185 pounds where Ki’Yasia Barner pinned Ayana Dishaw in 37 seconds.
Shea Ellsworth’s pin of 107-pound opponent Darysya Hevko took just 55 seconds as Liliana Chiarizia, at 126 pounds, pinned Marlee Sherman in 85 seconds. Two more pins closed out the match as Elise English (145) did so against Lila Severson and Bela Maris Price (152 pounds) did the same against Annalise Johnson.
C-NS also wrestled Homer and lost, 34-20, to the Trojans, who claimed six of the seven contested bouts and benefited from a trio of forfeits. Only Ellsworth won on the mat for the Northstars pinning Brookelyn Henry late in the first period.
At the Phoenix Girls Scramble on Friday night C-NS had 53.5 points for 12th place. English took third at 145 pinning Waverly’s Abi Reedy, with Aniyah Burton fourth at 165.
