CAZENOVIA – When the snow finally stopped the Cazenovia wrestling teams could turn its attention to the big annual tournament its hosts each January.
And it took place last Saturday at Buckley Gym with an 18-team field where the Lakers would 64 points to finish right in the middle in ninth place. Sherburne-Earlville won with 159.5 points and Whitesboro (138.5 points) was second.
Gryphon Foster led the way as the eighth-grader won the 108-pound championship. Foster got a 15-0 technical fall over Morrisville-Eaton’s Sam Orth in the quarterfinals, then pulled out a 7-5 semifinal decision against APW/Pulaski/Sandy Creek’s Luke Ackerman.
The final pitted Foster against Sherburne-Earlville’s Jackson Moore. Again it proved close, but Foster again showed poise and confidence on his way to a 3-1 victory that moved his season record to 13-3 as he was named Wrestler of the Week by Friends of Section III Wrestling.
Cullen Arnold nearly gave the Lakers another victory at 130 pounds. Arnold pinned William Griffith (New Hartford) in 45 seconds in the quarterfinals and got another pin over Oxford-Greene’s Kade Mustin in the final seconds of the second period during the semifinal round.
Pitted against Whitesboro’s Ethan Roser in the finals, Arnold picked up points, but not quite enough as Roser ended up claiming a 9-6 decision.
Gabriel Sanchez got fourth place at 152 pounds, beaten in a close consolation bracket final 12-10 by Sherburne-Earlville’s Justin Race, while Carter Sgouris finished sixth at 124 pounds. Three other Lakers – Nate Chapman (145 pounds), Paolo Markey (160 pounds) and Finn Tobin (170 pounds) – fell in the quarterfinals.
Chittenango was also in the field, getting its best finish from Dan Mahle, who was fourth at 131 having lost a tight 5-4 semifinal to Roser before a 3-0 defeat to Mustin in the third-place bout.
Other Bears wrestlers with quarterfinal defeats included Trevor McDonald (131), Kole Smith (145) and Edward Geer, who at 160 dropped a tight 6-5 decision to Hannibal’s Jayden Hutchinson.
