Cortland Standard .net

PHOENIX — With the final outcome on the line Wednesday night against host Phoenix, the Cortland High wrestling team had Nick Edmond on the mat.
Edmond, tipping the scales at 218 pounds, went up against the Firebirds’ Derek Button, who weighed in at 283, in the final bout of the night at 285 pounds with the Purple Tigers up 39-34.
It took the CHS senior 4:41 to end the suspense, as Edmond pinned Button in what ended up a 45-33 Cortland win over the perennial Section 3 powerhouse. Phoenix was penalized a team point for Button’s unsportsmanlike reaction to being flattened.
The triumph in the matchup of honorable mentions in the latest state poll was the Purple Tigers’ 24th in a row this season after an opening-match loss to Fulton — another perennial power — and upped their OHSL Freedom Division record to 2-1. The Firebirds are now 1-1 in league and 8-3 overall, their only other losses against New Orleans Jesuit and Duncan, Oklahoma, at the Deep South Bayou Duals in Baton Rouge, La. over the Christmas break.
“We stepped up, like we have every time except our first match of the season,” CHS coach Dave Darrow said of the 449th win of his 26-year career. “This was the first time that we lost a couple that we should have won, but we battled through it. It was a very good effort.
“Nick has done it two matches in a row now against huge kids,” he added, as Edmond improved to 25-5 with 13 pins. “He’s so technically smart. We had a couple of kids who lost to strong wrestlers but avoided getting pinned, which saved us some points.”
Edmond led 7-6 after the second period against Button, and chose the neutral position to start the third period. He scored a takedown in short order, then put Button’s shoulders to the mat to seal the verdict and account for the final margin after Button’s outburst was also figured in.
Cortland won seven matches by pin, the quickest a 35-second job by junior Russell Gerhard (21-7-17) over Ethan Harrington at 152 pounds. Sophomore Dane George took out Bryan Burns in 1:05 at 106 pounds to improve to 22-8 (10 pins), and senior Grant Tinker improved to 28-2 (14) in 1:26 over Adam Pinzer at 145 pounds.
Two Purple Tigers needed just 1:37 to record pin wins, sophomore Kiegan Brown (14-4-5) over Alex Brutcher at 126 and sophomore Dakoatah Miller (23-4-9) over Jesse Duncan at 195. Cortland junior Trent Jones is now 27-3 with 16 pins after flattening Toby McKeen in 3:44 at 113.
Senior Drew Towers ran his record to 24-4 (12) with a 5-0 decision over Seth Gilbert at 138.
Cortland will try to finish a perfect 5-for-5 in dual-meet championships this season when it competes in the Hannibal Duals on Saturday. The field also included Cicero-North Syracuse, Copenhagen, East Syracuse-Minoa and Marcellus as well as the hosts.