Each of the area’s four wrestling teams would go for top honors at three different Section III championship meets on Saturday, gaining success on several fronts. Vernon Verona Sherrill was a prime contender in the Class A meet at Fulton — and finished in third place, earning 171 points. Only the host Red Raiders, with 249 points, and Indian River (199 points) did better as Chittenango (103 points) took fifth place. Dylan Kavanaugh, at 119 pounds, earned the Red Devils’ only title. Kavanaugh shut out Alex Monteith (Camden) 5-0, then blanked Gunnar Brooks (Chittenango) 4-0 before finally giving up a point to Fulton’s Derek Harris in the finals — but still winning 5-1. Kasey Proper came close to the 96-pound title, only to lose in the finals to IR’s Mike Mullins 3-2 in overtime. At 215 pounds, Kyle Reader fell to Fulton’s D.J. Ingham in a 25-second pin ast Jon Hudson topped IR’s Jesse Jackle 7-2 for third place at 112 pounds, and Lane Frost (152 pounds) earned third by beating Fulton’s Nick Muckey 11-6. At 189 pounds, Nick Mieczkowski won the third-place match over Jordan Soluri (Watertown) with a third-period pin. Marty Howroyd was fourth at 171 pounds and Brian Ervin (285 pounds) found that same spot, while Eric Faherty was sixth at 103 pounds. Chittenango’s biggest moment came from Wes Blanding’s victory at 130 pounds. Blanding pinned Christian Rivera (Whitesboro) in the second period and held off Shayne Brady (Carthage) 3-2 to set up a tense final against VVS star Dan Walts, who survived his own 2-1 thriller over Fulton’s Jack Howard in the semifinals. For six minutes, Blanding and Walts went at it, neither side allowing much and going to overtime 2-2. By riding it out, Blanding prevailed 3-2, though both could meet again this Saturday in the overall Section III Division I finals at Utica Memorial Auditorium. Nate Walts, at 140 pounds, was fourth for the Red Devils. Also on Chittenango’s side, Brooks was third at 119 with an 8-6 win over Carthage’s Dylan Lincoln, while Cody Carberry took third at 96 with a wild 12-11 win over New Hartford’s Dan Fancett. John Regan (135 pounds) was fourth, as was Nic Bacon at 145 pounds. At 125 pounds, Rudy Farsaci beat VVS foe Joe Tiller by default for fifth place, and Zak Jackson (145) beat Mexico’s Ray Eastman 12-8 to take fifth, too. In Class C, Canastota had a terrific showing, as it earned 162.5 points for fourth place, not that far from host Sherburne-Earlville’s winning total of 180.5 points. Of the five finals the Raiders reached, it won four of them. Zach Zupan dominated his 160-pound title match, taking 5:08 to register a technical fall over Adirondack’s Cody Buhler, while Fred Sherman took the 171-pound crown by pinning Mount Markham’s Kyle Crawford in 1:28. In a 285-pound title showdown, Sam Stagnitti and Derrick Nelson (S-E) went into overtime, but Stagnitti disappointed the home fans by taking down Nelson for a 4-2 victory. Up at 145 pounts, Tyler Sirota rolled past General Brown’s Josh Lear 18-8 to take the title. Only Jeremy Brodfuehrer, who advanced to the finals at 152 pounds, lost his championship match — and that was because an injury kept him from continuing against Mohawk’s Zach Hunt, forcing a default. Travis Conklin was fourth at 215, while Brandon Durfee (135) pinned Lowville’s Tyler Bray in 47 seconds for fifth place. Zach Hannan (103), Jake Popple (125), Jesse Puchales (145) and Josh Babcock (189) each had sixth-place efforts. In the Class B meet at South Jefferson, Oneida earned 98 points and took eighth place in the 12-team field, while Morrisville-Eaton was fifth with 50 points. Phoenix won with 274.5 points, taking seven of the 15 weight classes. Oneida put two wrestlers in finals — but neither would win. Matt Fisher was tough in the title match at 135 before losing to Holland Patent’s Dalton Devine 7-3, while Steve Ellsworth (160) stayed close to HP’s Collyn Laskowski in a 1-0 defeat. Lon Palmer earned third place at 145, topping Homer’s Frank Davis 4-2, while Nick Hopkins was fourth at 119. Jon Holbrooks took fifth at 285 when Jordan-Elbridge’s Will Tyrell took an injury default. M-E’s Shane Strong won at 285. He pinned Holbrooks, then held off Ilion’s Travis Streeter 5-3 before using a single escape to get past Phoenix’s Aaron Webster 1-0 in the title match. Dalton Villnave, at 189, gave the Warriors a third-place finish, pinning Ryan Murray (Homer) in 58 seconds for that spot, while Barney Prince earned fifth place at 112 with a 9-0 shutout of Hannibal’s Joe Griffin. Orin Brouillette was sixth at 96 pounds. Both the Division I (large school) and Division II (small school) sectional meets start Saturday at 10 a.m. at Utica Auditorium. The best finishers advance to the Feb. 26-27 state meet at Times Union Center in Albany.