Cover photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky
Photos contained within this article may not be used for republication unless authorized by WNY Athletics with prior written consent.
By the time we get to mid-late January, the title phrase could not be more applicable to wrestling. The winter has been dark and cold, and yet we persist. Wrestling takes a great deal of physical and mental energy. Bumps and bruises compound, and even common cold symptoms may set you back for few days this time of year. “The quest is greater than what is sought,” said Supreme Court Associate Justin Ben Cardozo a hundred years ago, and commonly recycled in the wrestling ranks, at times like right now.
‘Iron sharpens iron’ could not be more evident than in a trio of girls’ results this week.
First, a #NOFORFEITS GIRLS special (is this a first?) saw #3 Chautauqua Lake travel far behind enemy lines to take down #2 Niagara Wheatfield, 42-21, in Sanborn on Tuesday. That’s right – thirteen weights, thirteen matches between the Eagles and Falcons.
Chautauqua earned nine wins against NW including seven pins, one major, and one decision. Gabriella Testa earned one of those crucial pins at 145-pounds for CL who improved to 3-0 in dual meets this season. To both CL and NW – WELL DONE.
Then, on Wednesday, higher ranked teams survived by a hair when #6 Sweet Home held off #7 Clarence on the road while #4 Fredonia took down #5 Dunkirk in a border brawl of their own.
After tying 30-30, Sweet Home was awarded victory over the Red Devils on criteria but only after Georgia Zorich earned a critical come from behind pin at 126.
Meanwhile farther south, tied 29-29 with one match left, Fredonia’s Avary LeGrano met the Marauders’ Anahi DeJesus at 165-pounds in a matchup of two talented wrestlers with the dual on the line. Ultimately, LeGrano was able to secure the match and dual winning pin to send Fredonia to a 35-29 victory to cap off an exciting and extremely important two nights of WNY high school varsity girls wrestling.
If you read my work, you know by now how important dual meets and dual team structure are to me as a baseline for a team and program health and longevity. These results suggest that our leading schools and programs are actively setting that baseline to take fledgling teams into full blown girls programs.
Our first 2024-2025 league champion was crowned last week as Newfane secured its 11th straight unbeaten season in the Niagara-Orleans League to push WNY’s longest league win streak to 57 consecutive duals. For more on the Panthers please visit the link below:
Elsewhere, a handful of teams in the same leagues secured division wins as now both #2 Niagara Wheatfield and #4 North Tonawanda sit at 5-0 in the NFL, #8 (D1) Amherst and #9 (D2) Iroquois each improved to 4-0 in ECIC II, and #5 Pioneer and #6 Eden each advanced to 4-0 in ECIC III. Meanwhile, #3 Clarence (ECIC I) and #4 Gowanda (CCAA II) each picked up league wins to remain unbeaten in their conferences and in control of their own league championship destinies.
Although not victorious, #10 Lackawanna pushed #6 Eden to the edge in an ECIC III thriller in the Steel City on Wednesday, though the Raiders were victorious 36-32. Eden claimed seven head to head wins while Lackawanna picked up five head to heads and the duals’ only forfeit. Steelers won four of five bouts between 101 and 131-pounds in impressive fashion, but Eden responded with six wins in the final eight weights. Against the two current league leaders, Lackawanna fell by only a combined seven points (32-35 to Pioneer on Dec. 11) in what has been a pleasantly competitive ECIC III race this season.
Also, check out the Niagara Wheatfield/Lewiston-Porter NFL box score from Wednesday. All credit is due to the Falcons for getting the 48-17 win, but this Lancers team, that already has a huge win over Niagara Falls this season, appears to have battled tough against the talented Section VI champs despite perhaps being a little over matched. Consider that L-P had four freshmen, four sophomores, one junior, and three seniors in the lineup while conceding only one forfeit at heavyweight. If this team can stay together (*hint hint*) going into next year, does it climb the ranks of the NFL and possibly the small school poll? To be determined…
On Friday, the girls division of the 28th Annual Lockport Boosters/Sunrise Optimists Varsity Tournament was contested with the Lady Eagles of Chautauqua Lake cruising to the team title behind two individual champions and eight top-4 place winners. Freshmen Noli Paddock (132-pounds) and Lilly Hyde (152) teched or pinned all of their opponents on the way to the title in their respective brackets while accounting for a combined 52 team points. Kassidy Benedetto (2nd, 94), Kortlyn Fairbank (3rd, 100), Zoey Kling (4th, 138), Gabriella Testa (3rd, 145), Chloe Hosier (3rd, 165), and Meghan Pauley (3rd, 185) all reached the podium as well for the Eagles in their second win in Niagara County in four days.
Photo shared by Emily Dorman on Facebook
Runner-up Niagara Wheatfield was led by lone champion Emma Ponzi at 138 and seven total place winners in Lockport while the host Lions crowned two champions in Gabriella Gelnett (100) and Khamya’J Maxwell (235) while placing five total wrestlers in the top-4.
Frontier senior Avery White was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in capturing the 145-pound title. Avery went a perfect 4-0 including a semifinal pin over a fellow returning NYSPHSAA Invitational competitor before an impressive 10-0 technical superiority over another returning Invitational athlete in the title match.
MOW Avery White // submitted photo
Lockport Invitational girls’ champions:
94: Anabelle Wessel (Alexander-V)
100: Gabriella Gelnett (Lockport)
107: Leah Waite (Fredonia)
114: Kennedy Lear (Alexander)
120: Olivia Phillips (Orchard Park)
126: Georgia Zorich (Sweet Home)
132: Noli Paddock (Chautauqua Lake)
138: Emma Ponzi (Niagara Wheatfield)
145: Avery White (Frontier)
152: Lilly Hyde (Chautauqua Lake)
165: Michaela Thomas (Iroquois)
185: Kim Bauer (Fredonia)
235: Khamya’J Maxwell (Lockport)
Top-10 teams:
1. Chautauqua Lake 186
2. Niagara Wheatfield 152.5
3. Lockport 125.5
4. Fredonia 124.5
5. Clarence 111
6. Sweet Home 93.5
7. Dunkirk 81
8. Alexander 72
9. Orchard Park 68
10. Iroquois 52.5
Day two of the Lockport Invitational saw twenty-two teams compete in the boys’ division with Section V’s Brockport edging out Niagara Wheatfield by a point and a half, 167.5 to 165 for the team title. Individual champions Garrett Chase (145-pounds) and Chase Richard (152) led the Falcons who placed seven wrestlers in the top-4 of their weights. Chase dominated the bracket on the way to the title going 4-0 with four pins on the day. Meanwhile Richards collected three pins before a finals decision, 11-4, over Brockport’s returning Section V champion William Wood in the title match for his second head to head win over the Blue Devil star this season. North Tonawanda crowned a pair of champions as well in Ilimdar Khasanov at 170 and Mohamed Abdullah at 215-pounds.
Lockport Invitational boys’ champions:
101: Mason DellaPenta (Eden)
108: Sean McDonald (Starpoint)
116: Michael Soto (Spencerport-V)
124: Ryan Cieslinski (Spencerport)
131: Richard Wood (Brockport-V)
138: Quinlan Lyle (Amherst)
145: Garrett Chase (Niagara Wheatfield)
152: Chase Richards (Niagara Wheatfield)
160: Sawyer Dickinson (Kenmore)
170: Ilimdar Khasanov (North Tonawanda)
190: Andrew Frost (Churchville-Chili-V)
215: Mohamed Abdullah (North Tonawanda)
285: Max Smith (Williamsville East)
Top-10 teams:
1. Brockport 167
2. Niagara Wheatfield 165.5
3. Spencerport 113
4. North Tonawanda 82.5
5. Eden 79
6. Williamsville North 77
7. Kenmore 76
8. Niagara Falls 71.5
9. West Seneca/Depew 65
10. St. Joe’s 58
DellaPenta (top) // Pataky
McDonald // Pataky
Lyle (top) // Pataky
Richards // Pataky
Dickinson // Pataky
Khasanov // Pataky
Smith // Pataky
Newfane captured a sixth straight Niagara-Orleans All-League Tournament title to go along with their eleventh straight league dual title on Saturday in Albion. Four individual champions led the way for the Panthers who outscored runner-up Wilson 176.5 to 165.5-points in the final team score. In total, twelve Newfane wrestlers took top-4 in their brackets in the 55th edition of the tournament to cap off the 2024-2025 Niagara-Orleans league calendar.
55th Niagara-Orleans All-League champions:
101: Stryker Sanders (Albion)
108: Drake Schomske (Albion)
116: Reece Senske (Medina)
124: Rian Czaja (Newfane)
131: Luke Duffina (Medina)
138: Luke Fay (Barker/Royalton-Hartland)
145: Aidan Gillings (Newfane)
152: Ayden Buttery (Newfane)
160: Jacob Stephenson (Wilson)
170: Ronan Klug (Barker/Royalton-Hartland)
190: Brody Fry (Medina)
215: Richard Doxey (Newfane)
285: Hamza Merrick (Wilson)
Final team standings:
1. Newfane 176.5
2. Wilson 165.5
3. Akron 132
4. Barker/Royalton-Hartland 125.5
5. Albion 102
6. Medina 81.5
Pioneer traveled behind Section V lines on Saturday for the 50th Robert Bradshaw Invitational at Canandaigua. Two place winners led the Panthers while eight wrestlers scored points helping Pioneer to just barely edge out Section IV’s Lansing to crack the top-10 in the final team standings, 58 to 56.5-points. Senior Chris Howatt reached the final with another ultimate tie breaker thriller in the semifinal to take down team champion Webster-Schroeder’s (V) Thomas Reed but ultimately fell in the title bout to the host’s returning NYS tournament qualifier Mason Depew. Senior Wyatt Opferbeck rebounded after a semifinal loss by decision to a returning Section III large school champion by earning an OT takedown in the consolation semifinal before gutting out a 3-1 decision over Alexander’s (V) Brody Heckman for 3rd at 152-pounds.
Howatt // Pataky
Chautauqua Lake traveled south of the border to Corry, PA on Saturday for the Corry Beaver Brawl Duals at Corry Area High School. The Eagles went 2-4 overall against the primarily northwestern Pennsylvania region field of teams for a final tune-up before hosting league archrival Falconer on Wednesday. Mason Maring led the Eagles going 6-0 on the day at heavyweight.
A pair of St. Francis wrestlers traveled to the greater Philadelphia area for another nationally accredited event at the rugged Escape the Rock Tournament at Council Rock South HS in Holland, PA.
Juniors Cullen Edwards (114-pounds) and Griffin LaPlante (152) logged their third nationally recognized individual event of the season each picking up wins with LaPlante finishing with an impressive podium finish in 8th place.
Edwards was a winner by a late match medical forfeit over Malvern Prep, PA’s Lucas McFarland, though already holding a 2-0 lead late in the third period to advance to the Round of 16. A narrow 5-4 loss to the eventual 5th place winner sent Cullen to the consolation thereafter. A dominant technical fall over Conwell-Egan Catholic’s (PA) Hunter Webster in which Edwards racked up a 16-0 score…in the second period…advanced Cullen farther into consolation rounds where he ultimately fell, but with a tournament record of 2-2 in his first appearance at Escape.
As the 5-seed in the bracket, LaPlante opened with a first round win but fell in the Round of 16 to drop to the consolations. A technical fall followed by a major decision over Quakertown’s (PA) Gavin Carroll landed Griffin a spot in the critical blood round. In the Saturday morning showdown with a podium finish on the line, LaPlante met Billy Tyler from Brentsville District HS, VA. After a scoreless first period, Griffin earned a 2nd period escape and tacked on a late second period takedown for a 4-0 lead heading into the final two minutes. An escape by Tyler cut into the lead, but another takedown with only twenty-six seconds left all but secured the win for LaPlante who would go on to win 7-2. Ultimately, the North Carolina State commit landed an 8th place finish at Escape to add to his already impressive resume.
If you are wondering how deep and tough this tournament is, look no further than the top-10 placing teams at Escape in the 57-team field: eight top-40 nationally ranked teams (via Flowrestling) occupied top-10 spots in the final team standings at the tournament, including current national #1 Faith Christian (PA), #3 Lake Highland Prep (FL), #7 Malvern Prep (PA), and #10 St. Edwards (OH).
Comments