Four Cicero-North Syracuse wrestlers made it to the final round during Saturday’s Section III Division I championships at Utica Memorial Auditorium – but only Dan Cicicarelli, at 103 pounds, made it to the top spot on the awards podium. Ciciarelli, the top seed, improved to 34-5 on the season and, by doing so, the senior earned a trip to Albany’s Times Union Center on Feb. 25-26 to compete for a state championship, all while his Northstars rose to a second-place tie in the Division I (large school) standings for the tournament. First, Ciciarelli pinned Dan Fancett (New Hartford) with 20 seconds left in their quarterfinal. Then he got a second-period fall over Mexico’s Theo Powers, earning a spot in the final, where Camden eighth-grader Garrett Mitchell awaited. Mitchell proved quite tough, forging a 4-4 tie going into the third period. But Ciciarelli achieved a near-fall in that final period, accounting for three points, and held on for the 7-5 decision that produced a sectional championship. CNS had three other wrestlers make it to the final round as part of an effort that produced 199 team points, the same as Indian River to share runner-up honors behind Fulton, who won with 233.5 points. Tony Battista rose from a no. 3 seed at 119 pounds, pinning Austin Small (Mexico) in 1:27 and knocking off West Genesee’s Ian Coolican 4-3 in a tense semifinal. But Battista could not keep up with Rome Free Academy’s Antonio DeLuco in the finals, taking a 7-0 defeat. Matt Mastro took a similar path to second place at 215 pounds. From a no. 3 slot, he held off Liverpool’s Sean Munson 5-4 in the quarterfinals and needed an overtime takedown in the semifinals to beat Fulton’s Derek Owen 4-2. Up against Indian River’s Derrick Dalton in the finals, Mastro put up lots of points, but still lost a 19-10 decision. As for Clayton D’Onofrio, the 285-pound heavyweight moved to 30-9 on the season from the familiar no. 3 slot, pinning Tyler Winn (Central Square) in 1:26 and outlasting Brennan Roberge (Fulton) 11-8 in the semifinals. Yet he got overwhelmed in the title match as Indian River’s Kevin Tibbles, improving to 43-0, pinned D’Onofrio in 55 seconds to emerge as a state title favorite. At 189 pounds, Ariel Anoceto, beaten in the semifinals by Fulton’s Zach Race, earned third place with a 5-2 decision over Baldwinsville’s Pat Nasoni. James Segars took a painful 4-2 overtime defeat to Carthage’s Shayne Brady in his 152-pound semifinal, but got fifth place by pinning RFA’s Josh Knapp in 2:16, while Kiel Dyer won twice in the 145-pound consolation bracket to work his way to fourth place. Matt Dunham won in the 135-pound opening round over B’ville’s Ryan McArdell 4-2, but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Adam Wallace (Fulton) as Fidel Torres did the same at 125 pounds, pinning Brandon Engbretsen (Central Square) before a quarterfinal defeat. Andrew Osborne (160 pounds) lost in the first round, as did Bryan Hall (140 pounds), Drew Dyer (96 pounds) and Connor Osborne (112 pounds). Liverpool tied Camden for seventh place in Division I with 63.5 points. Pat Carroll Marsh, wrestling at 285 despite illness, was third, right behind D’Onofrio, as he lost a semifinal to Tibbles with a first-period pin, but pinned Taylor Scranton (APW) and beat Roberge 10-0 in the consolation bracket final. The Warriors’ Joe Pizzuto went 2-1 in the consolation bracket at 189, making it to the podium by beating APW’s Dana Palmer 8-2 for fifth. Brendan Capria matched that fifth-place effort at 171, earning that mark with a pin over Cortland’s Luke Bush in 1:28 as Mende Cukalevski, beaten in the 160-pound semifinal by Indian RIver’s Matt Simpson, took sixth place. Derek Eason (130) and Nate Hathaway (119) also finished sixth. Back at 215, Munson beat first-round opponent John Dimbleby (Whitesboro) with a 45-second pin before a quarterfinal loss to Mastro. Travis Chewning-Kulick (96) and Matt Call (152) took first-round defeats.