Work began again for wrestling teams at Cazenovia and Chittenango through a busy first week of December. For the Lakers, the task turned a lot taller in the OHSL Liberty division when long-time power Phoenix moved in. Cazenovia takes on the Gene Mills-led Firebirds Jan. 15 at Buckley Gym. Long before that, though, the Lakers opened against Fabius-Pompey last Tuesday night, and mostly benefited from a series of forfeits in a 44-31 victory over the Falcons. Mike Marshall, wrestling at 152 pounds, notched the only Cazenovia victory on the mat, shutting out Alexander Curr 7-0. Zack Maxwell (113 pounds) lost, 8-5, to Mike Ortiz, while Alex Nannery (145 pounds) took a 14-4 defeat to Tom Skinner. However, Cazenovia had what F-P lacked – namely, a full lineup of wrestlers. As such, Jacob Wells (99 pounds), Will Shephard (106 pounds), John Nannery (182 pounds), Hayden Polhamus (195 pounds), Logan Staiger (220 pounds) and Brad Lucas (285 pounds) earned forfeits, accounting for most of the Lakers’ points. As this went on, Chittenango hosted another long-time power, Fulton, and only managed a handful of wins on the mat in a 57-19 loss to the Red Raiders. Fulton, who had beaten Canandaigua on Nov. 30, won each of the first five matches, from 106 to 132 pounds, before Matt Bixby, at 138 pounds, got the Bears on the board with a tough 4-3 decision over Tim Holden. Will Young (145) followed by romping past Kyle Ware 13-3, with Tyler Lewis winning his 160-pound match over Victor Reunare 8-3. Antonio Cutrie, at 182, claimed a forfeit, followed by Justin Cox (195) holding off Noah Gates 5-2. Chittenango had to forfeit three matches and see the Red Raiders record six pins, including Joe Albegore’s 21-second fall over Cooper Young at 106. On Saturday, Cazenovia went a few miles down the road to Morrisville-Eaton for its first tournament of the season. At the Warriors’ dual meet, the Lakers went 3-2, defeating host M-E 42-41 in dramatic fashion when Biviano earned a pin in the 120-pound finale. Otherwise, Cazenovia would gain a split, beating Walton and East Syracuse-Minoa, but losing to CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, whose 5-0 mark put them on top. Meanwhile, Chittenango hosted its own dual meet, where it went 2-3. The Bears beat Homer 47-39 and romped past Onondaga 54-23, but lost to eventual champion Central Square 46-37, also falling to Marcellus (51-27) and seeing a criterium point go against them against Whitney Point despite a 41-41 tie as the final score. Chittenango is back in league action Wednesday, against Homer, before Saturday’s appearance in the Herkimer Invitational. Cazenovia went to Skaneateles on Tuesday and has a non-league meet at home Thursday against Whitesboro.