JOHNSTOWN – A tremendous December for the Baldwinsville wrestling team concluded with big tests against high-level competition in the Dec. 27 Mountain Duals at Johnstown High School northwest of Albany.
The Bees faced eight different foes over the course of the tournament, going 3-5 overall. None of the nine teams that participated had an undefeated mark, Central Valley Academy doing best with a 7-1 mark.
B’ville opened with a 43-24 victory over Hudson Falls, jumping out 22-0 with pins from Will Lamson (108 pounds) and Levi Schanzenbach (124 pounds) and technical falls from Zach Boudreau (101 pounds) and Cael Bruce (116 pounds).
Consecutive pins from Nathan Cali (152 pounds), Cameron Sullivan (160 pounds) and Davian Longo (170 pounds) preserved the lead and, in the 285-pound finale, Lucas Vance edged Dorian Clark 7-6.
A 47-24 defeat to Ballston Spa followed. Only Bruce, pinning Theo Bruno in 82 seconds, and Scottie Warner (138 pounds) pinning Liam Collins got wins on the mat, with forfeits to Lamson and Boudreau. Brennan Kline (124 pounds) was close in a 4-1 defeat to Quinton Warlikowski.
CVA was next, and the Thunder topped B’ville 44-30, taking seven of the eight bouts from 138 to 285 pounds, the lone exception Longo’s 75-second pin of Myles Cole.
Bruce got a 46-second fall over Brody Rinehard in the opener, Jack Webb (131 pounds) pinned Matt Osley in the third period and quick pins went to Lamson (76 seconds over Camryn Tedesco) and Boudreau, whose pin of Will Schrader took just 51 seconds.
In a 51-23 defeat to Long Island’s Shoreham-Wading River all the points came from four pins, earned by Warner, Longo, Bruce and Schanzenbach, with Bruce taking just 42 seconds to get his fall over Jared LaRosa.
Far closer was a 41-36 loss to Unatego-Unadilla Valley where the Bees led 36-29 with two bouts left only to get pinned in both of them. Fredenburg and Longo got early pins, with Boudreau, Bruce and Schanzenbach all getting pins in 28 seconds or less to push B’ville in front before U-UV’s late surge.
Against Saranac, the Bees used an ineligible wrestler and lost despite five pins in a row from Bruce, Kline, Schanzenbach, Warner and Brendan Fredenburg, who at 145 pounds pinned Cameron Sault in 90 seconds.
It ended with a close 39-36 win over Fonda-Johnstown, with the final bout at 160 decisive as the Bees, down one, secured the team victory when Sullivan beat Jackson Green 12-3.
Aside from some forfeits, Boudreau pinned Nikolai Weil in 19 seconds, with Kline and Schanzenbach also getting pins and Warner routing Van Green in a 20-2 technical fall.
After all this, the Bees opened the 2025 portion of its schedule last Thursday night hosting Auburn and easily putting away the Maroons 56-13.
Three early forfeits helped matters, but Webb also pinned Christian Geer in the second period and Fredenburg took just 45 seconds to pin Gavin Hodson.
Sullivan got a pin, as did Connor Daughton (190 pounds) over Isaac Brewer and Lucas Vance (215 pounds) over Judah Nord, both in the second period. Longo beat Gavin Sollinger in a 15-0 technical fall and, to close the meet, Boudreau moved to 23-1 in a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Auburn’s Lucas Maneri, who was 15-2 going into the bout.
