Cover photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky
Nearly thirty WNY high school wrestlers will compete on Friday, Jan. 12th and Saturday, Jan. 13th at the grueling Eastern States Wrestling Classic held annually at Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, NY.
The tournament is put on by Friends of Section IX Wrestling and has become one of the premier regular season individual competitions on the east coast over the last twenty years.
Placement at Eastern States carries so much value that a podium finish has become a variable in seeding at the NYS federation championships. Tournament director Jeff Cuilty, the Section IX wrestling chairman to the NYS Wrestling Committee, and the Friends of IX headed up by regional wrestling advocate Mike Carey are responsible for the huge undertaking of the tournament each season.
The 20th edition of the event will feature wrestlers from NYS large and small school teams as well as wrestlers from seven other states representing a total of 159 schools.
Entry to the tournament requires an application before tournament organizers select and invite around 530 athletes to compete. According to official tournament data, the field features 237 total state tournament qualifiers, 139 state place winners, 25 state champions (thirteen from NY), and two nationally ranked wrestlers (via FloWrestling).
Defending Eastern States and NYS champion Cam Catrabone from Williamsville North is one of those two nationally ranked wrestlers, currently 8th in the Jan. 5th ranking at 157-pounds. In what is shaping up to be the most highly anticipated bout of the tournament, Catrabone could meet the current number one rated wrestler in the country – Minisink Valley’s (IX) PJ Duke – in the 160-pound final, should both wrestlers make it to the title match.
Williamsville North's Cam Catrabone // Photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky
Not only is the WNY group of twenty nine wrestlers the largest to attend Eastern States in a single tournament from the area, this group also returns the most WNY Eastern States place winners in a single year as well with nine returning top-8 finishers led by returning champions Catrabone and St. Francis’s Gage LaPlante.
LaPlante will be one of the favorites at 170-pounds along with Palmyra-Macedon’s (V) Braidon Woodward, also a 2023 Eastern States champion. In the pair’s most recent meeting, LaPlante was a 3-2 winner by decision in the 170-pound final at the Linda Knuutila Memorial Tournament in December. Both wrestlers are also the current favorites for NYS individual titles in the weight class in their respective large and small school divisions.
LaPlante vs. Woodward // 12.16.2023 // Photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky
Among WNY’s twenty nine Eastern States representatives will be eight returning (and ten total) NYS tournament place winners including 2023 state champions Catrabone and Southwestern’s Tavio Hoose who will be competing at Eastern States for the first time.
Southwestern's Tavio Hoose // Photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky
St. Joe’s seniors Austin Zimmerman and Nik Massaro each bring state federation 5th place finishes into this season from 2023, while all three Newfane entries JJ Lucinski (4th), Ayden Buttery (6th), and Aidan Gillings (2nd) return with all-New York State honors as well. Jack MacDonald rounds out the returning local NYS placers coming off a 7th place finish in February 2023. Griffin (5th) and Gage (7th) LaPlante both previously placed in the 2022 NYS championships.
Newfane's Aidan Gillings // Photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky
Returning WNY Eastern States place winners (and 2024 ES weight class):
Jaron Barrientos – Lewiston-Porter – 3rd – 108
Cullen Edwards – St. Francis – 5th – 108
Austin Zimmerman – St. Joe’s – 8th – 116
Aidan Gillings – Newfane – 3rd – 138
Griffin LaPlante – St. Francis – 5th – 152
Cam Catrabone – Williamsville North/East – 1st – 160
Gage LaPlante – St. Francis – 1st – 170
Zach Caldwell – St. Francis – 8th – 190
Jack MacDonald – Orchard Park – 6th – 215
All 2024 WNY Eastern States entries (by weight):
101
Tanner Catrabone – Williamsville North/East
JJ Lucinski – Newfane
108
Jaron Barrientos – Lewiston-Porter
Cullen Edwards – St. Francis
Zak Massaro – Grand Island
116
Brayden Kellison-Neglia – Williamsville North/East
Austin Zimmerman – St. Joe’s
124
Ricky Andres – Lancaster
Caden Barrientos – Lewiston-Porter
Dylan Castiglia – Grand Island
Kole Haseley – St. Francis
131
Nik Massaro – St. Joe’s
138
Ayden Buttery - Newfane
AJ Didas – Clarence
Aidan Gillings – Newfane
Sean Gordon – St. Joe’s
145
Jayson Kline – St. Joe’s
Rory White – St. Francis
152
Griffin LaPlante – St. Joe’s
160
Cam Catrabone – Williamsville North/East
Brandon Drummond – St. Francis
170
Neves Hoose – Southwestern
Gage LaPlante – St. Francis
Michael Schaefer – Lancaster
190
Zach Caldwell – St. Francis
Tavio Hoose – Southwestern
215
Jack MacDonald – Orchard Park
Connor Miller – St. Francis
285
Mike Welsh – Frontier
Wrestling begins on Friday, Jan. 12th at 10:20am. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 13th at 4:15pm.