CENTRAL NEW YORK – Two tournaments of vastly different scales involved all of the area’s high school wrestling teams on the first day of February.
West Genesee found itself competing for the first time in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Dual Meet at SRC Arena, unable to get past the quarterfinal round.
The Wildcats were paired up against Long Beach, from Long Island, and the Marines won bouts in every weight class from 101 to 138 pounds on the way to prevailing 38-15.
Not able to earn a pin, WG did get points starting at 145 pounds when Logan Willis dominated Matt Diamond in a 15-0 technical fall, Jack Wade nearly matching that effort at 170 pounds beating Jahmel Isaac 16-2.
Maxx Fesinger (190 pounds) and Omar Almlaiti (285 pounds) both earned shutouts, Fesinger beating Gavyn Vincente 5-0 and Almlaiti topping Rafael Almonte 3-0 as Austin Fesinger dropped a tight 138-pound battle to Josiah Gibson 11-8 and Ali Abumustafa (152 pounds) did the same 4-1 to Jordan Andreula.
Long Beach went on to a 36-27 defeat to Webster Schroeder, with the final ultimately seeing Minisink Valley roll past Farmingdale 51-13 as it swept all eight bouts from 138 to 285, six of them pins.
Meanwhile, at Cazenovia High School it was Marcellus emerging triumphant during the Onondaga High School League Tournament, its total of 204 points well clear of the 171.5 from runner-up Homer. Jordan-Elbridge had 107.5 points and claimed fifth place.
Over at Cazenovia High School’s Buckley Gym it was Marcellus emerging triumphant during the Onondaga High School League Tournament, its total of 204 points well clear of the 171.5 from runner-up Homer. Jordan-Elbridge had 107.5 points and claimed fifth place.
The key to victory for the Mustangs was having six different wrestlers get to finals, even though Chris Doshna won the only title at 215 pounds when he pinned Southern Hills’ David Frazee in the second period.
J-E’s Mason Tanner turned back one of those Marcellus finalists at 108 pounds when he pinned Knoll McCoy in 72 seconds, while the Eagles also got both finalists at 124 pounds, Ben Lamson pulling out a 5-4 decision over Liam Mantell.
Dallas Wilson (145), Trevor Rankin (160 pounds) and Elliott Barbosa (190) all got to their respective finals before lopsided defeats, while Jake Burton dropped a close 116-pound title bout 12-9 to APW/Pulaski/Sandy Creek’s Aidan Logowski.
By contrast, the Mustangs went 4-1 in consolation finals for third-place finishes as, at 124, Blaine Haney pinned Logan Zimmer (APW/Pulaski/Sandy Creek) and Jack Burton won at 138 when Zimmer’s teammate, Trenton Koch, took a medical forfeit.
Two third-place bouts between Marcellus and J-E both went in the Mustangs’ favor. At 152, Anthony DeCapio edged Adam DelCostello 7-5, with Jayden Abbott working just as hard at 170 pounds to get past Glen Sanchez 4-1.
Brayden Borst added a fourth-place finish for Marcellus at 101 pounds, while Caleb Poseczick was sixth at 215. J-E had Ethan Sanchez get fifth place at 190 with a 7-5 win over Chittenango’s Ryan Oppenheimer as Ryan Gibbs (131 pounds) was sixth.
While all this was going on West Genesee’s girls team was at the Homer Lady Legacy Tournament rising to seventh place in a 31-team field with 88.5 points, the host Homer Trojans winning with 172 points.
Riley Butler led the Wildcats’ efforts, winning her quarterfinal 10-0 over Mira Gaylord (Oxford-Greene) and then beating Maxi Doxstader (Holland Patent) by that same score in the semifinals before a title bout where she lost to Groton’s Carmen Bishop.
Darysya Hevko finished fourth at 107 pounds, with Julianna Martini matching that effort at 100 pounds. Layla Meany got sixth place at 152 pounds as Marlee Sherman (120 pounds) and Julia Litkovina (132 pounds) took quarterfinal defeats.