Marcellus boys wrestling’s road to its first Section III Division 2 Dual Meet Championship was paved by years of steady progress. For the Mustangs’ wrestlers, it took just a few seasons to build. For head coach Todd Donovan, it was 40 years in the making.

On Monday, everything came together as top-ranked Marcellus clinched the program’s first-ever dual meet crown with a stellar three-meet performance.

“It’s been some years in the works,” Donovan said. “We’ve been slowly building. Little by little, the bird builds his nest. Things just came together this year. There’s been years where we fall short a little bit, and it was nice just to have everything come together.”

Marcellus powered past No. 8 Adirondack in the first round with a dominating 71-6 victory, followed by a strong 56-17 win over No. 5 South Jefferson in the second round. The Mustangs then took on defending Division 2 dual meet champions Sherburne-Earlville in the final and cruised to a commanding 55-24 victory.

“It feels like we’ve killed some demons,” Donovan said. “I’ve been involved for 40 years in wrestling, and a good portion of that with Marcellus. We’d always have somebody not make weight or we’d be missing a weight. There was always something that kept us from winning. This year, we were just able to fill the weights.”

This Marcellus squad was composed of a mixture of senior leadership and young talent. Donovan highlighted Jayden Abbott, Jack Burton, Anthony Decapio, Chris Doshna, and Travis Stack as key seniors for the Mustangs.

Two Marcellus underclassmen who stood out on Monday were freshman Connor Fraher and sophomore Brayden Borst. Fraher went 3-0 against a tough gauntlet of opponents, while Borst pulled off an upset against top-ranked Adirondack standout Seth Strain.

“They’ve set a standard,” Donovan said. “Some of the seniors I’ve had, they’ve been involved with the youth program since second grade. They know how important it was for me to win a sectional dual meet championship, and it was important to them too. They showed it today.”

No. 2 Sherburne-Earlville defeated No. 7 Little Falls and No. 3 Holland Patent en route to the final. The Timberwolves have clashed with the Mustangs multiple times prior to Monday’s matchup.

“We’ve gone back and forth with those guys in a couple tournaments last year and this year,” Donovan said. “It was nice to have things roll our way.”

Marcellus’ journey is not yet over. The Mustangs have two more dual meets prior to the New York State Dual Meet Championships on January 31 at the SRC Arena.

“It’s extra bouts,” Donovan said. “It’s extra wrestling. The lads that I coach, they want to wrestle. They don’t want to just practice all the time—that gets boring. They like to compete.”
https://www.syracuse.com/highschoolsports/2026/01/marcellus-wrestling-wins-first-section-iii-dual-meet-title-it-feels-like-weve-killed-some-demons.html