In many different aspects, it proved to be a special Saturday for the Baldwinsville wrestling program at the Section III Division I championship meet at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The entire team was honored with the John Arcaro Sportsmanship Award from the Central New York Wrestling Officials Association for their season-long contributions.
And the Bees’ top wrestler, sophomore Anthony Finocchiaro, continued his season-long quest for a state title as he roared to the 125-pound championship and improved his record to 39-2.
The fun began when Finocchiaro pinned Central Square’s James Williams in 1:53. The semifinal against Kyle Sikes (Mexico) saw another pin, this one taking just 1:03.
As for the final against Fulton’s Adam Wallace, Finocchiaro almost recorded a third pin in the second period, but he settled for mere domination and a 12-2 win over Wallace.
Finocciharo, who won the 112-pound sectional title a season ago, now will head to Albany’s Times Union Center for the Feb. 26-27 state championships.
As a whole, B’ville had a large presence in Utica, recording 108 points to finish fourth among large schools. Fulton (175 points) edged Indian River (170.5 points) for the top spot, with Vernon Verona Sherrill (118 points) in third place.
Joe Shaheen nearly won the 103-pound title. he beat Zach Alexander (Cortland) 6-1 and used an overtime takedown to beat Mexico’s C.J. Loomis 6-4 in the semifinals.
In the final against Indian River’s Derrick Gray, Shaheen hung in there and only trailed by a point in the final seconds before a late takedown allowed Gray to prevail 10-6.
Joe Senf had a similar experience at 152 pounds. He routed Zach Anderson (Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA) 13-2 and used an overtime takedown to beat Cicero-North Syracuse’s Todd Hagger 4-2 in the semifinals.
And Senf (35-6) stayed right with Mexico’s Jacob Burke in the championship match, tied 4-4 in the third period before Burke pulled off a late takedown to pull out a 6-4 decision.
Chad McArdell, beaten in the 96-pound quarterfinals, rebounded to win three matches and the consolation bracket, capping it off with a second-period pin over Pat Quinlan (Fayetteville-Manlius) to take third place.
Antonio Peck reached the 140-pound semifinals, only to run into IR’s Peyton Amato, who beat Peck 16-2 on his way to the title. Peck would go 2-2 and finish fourth overall.
Nick Jacobs went 2-3 and earned sixth place at 135 pounds. Pat Nasoni went 1-2 at 171 pounds. Kurt McArdell (145 pounds) lost a first-round match, as did Jimmy Lang at 160 pounds.