The Cicero-North Syracuse boys wrestling squad has two regular-season team titles under its belt — one from its own Bill Andersen Memorial Tournament and the other from the Matt Fedish Memorial Duals.
On Thursday, the Northstars grabbed team title No. 3 of the 2022-23 campaign following completion of the Spc. Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament at SUNY Oswego.
"I'm speechless. It was a great overall team effort," C-NS coach Dave Wise said, noting his squad was down two wrestlers during the tournament."
After day one of the tournament, C-NS sat in second place behind Section VI's Niagara-Wheatfield, who dropped out of the top three on day two.
>> Cicero-North Syracuse sits in second at Spc. Ken Haines Memorial Wrestling Tournament (82 photos)
C-NS racked up 183 points as a team, beating out second-place finisher Camden by 2.5 points (180.5). Tournament host Fulton came in third (177), while Central Square took sixth (116.5) and Holland Patent grabbed seventh (115). Canastota placed ninth (84) and West Genesee finished 10th (79).
"Every one (of our wrestlers) won at least one match. It wasn't easy edging out Camden," Wise said.
In the championship bout at 215 pounds, C-NS's Kamdin Bembry pulled out a 9-0 win by major decision. Out of the six Northstars grapplers at Thursday's finals, Bembry was the team's only champion.
With C-NS's impressive run as a team so far this season, Wise believes the Northstars have an "X on our backs."
"We're proud of our accomplishments. It says a lot about our character," he added. "We're a young team, but the hard work is paying off for these guys."
Fulton's Frederick Pagan grabbed the 102-pound title following a 7-0 victory by decision in his finals match. Brady Niver, competing at 118 pounds, took home the 118-pound crown after a 5-4 win by decision in the title bout. Also for the Raiders, Johnathan Clohecy (160 pounds) hoisted the first-place trophy due to his 8-2 victory by decision in the title match.
Camden's Sean Seymore entered the 152-pound championship bout and pinned his opponent at the 1:50-mark. For Marcellus-Onondaga, Colin Scherer (126 pounds) snatched the crown following a 3-2 win by decision.
At 132, Canastota's Culley Bellino won by fall (2:35) in the finals. Then at 172, Holland Patent's Jordan Koenig was victorious by a 7-4 decision. Chittenango's Andrew Bailey at 189 won a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker in the title bout. New Hartford/Sauquoit Valley's Chris BelMonte, competing at 285, won on an injury default (4:35).
Full results of the Spc. Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament can be seen here.
