By Keith Harrington
You knew something special was going on as soon as you drove into the parking lot of Whitehall Central School. Parking spots were few and far between as Granville-Whitehall hosted Salem-Cambridge in a battle of Adirondack League unbeaten. The Hammers jumped out to a commanding lead early, but the visitors roared back for a 39-32 victory Wednesday evening.
Granville-Whitehall won the first five matches to grab a 27-0 lead, but this meet was far from over.
Ayden Smith topped Jacob Wardwell 5-2 at 160 pounds to open the contest.
Jaxon Torres pinned Cooper Saddlemire in 1:18 at 170, Brandon Beaver pinned Isaiah Lohret in 2:30 at 190, CJ Monty pinned Tanner Lussier in 4:14 at 215 and AJ Landon dismissed Camden Hill in 4:57 at 285.
Salem-Cambridge turned the tables in the lower and middle-weight classes reeling off six straight wins.
Lucas Nolan (101), Luke LeBlanc (124), and Oliver Hickland (131) won by forfeit.
Gavin Jarvis pinned Mason Heckman in 5:51 at 108, Jonah Stevens defeated Carter Lehoisky, 16-3 by technical fall at 116 and Nathan Havens pinned Derek Saxton at 1:38 in 1:46 to give Salem-Cambridge a 35-27 advantage.
Nathan Barber brought the Hammers closer with a 15-0 technical fall win over Ethan Adams at 145 to make it 35-32.
It all came down to Henry Dill against Matt Ingerson at 152. Dill came in with a record of 10-2 after a 30-8 campaign a year ago. The junior took control right from the start and rolled to a 13-4 win to hand the match to Salem-Cambridge.
Salem-Cambridge is 1-0, 10-1. Granville=Whitehall is 1-1, 8-1.
In the girls match Salem-Cambridge came away with a 35-30 win.
Jaymie Landon, Amara Towne, Eryana Huntington, Gracie Hall, and Sage Ingleston won matches for Granville-Whitehall.
Kennedy Jackson (145), Danyelle Trinkle (235), Magnolia Hoge (120), and Daisy Bassett (132) earned wins on the mat for Salem-Cambridge.
Carter Jackson, Kendra Lebarron, and Maddy Palulis picked up wins by forfeit.