Cover photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky
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WNY’s #1 ranked St. Francis Red Raiders cruised to an impressive 65-6 win over the visiting #10 St. Joe’s Marauders on Thursday in Athol Springs to secure a second straight Monsignor Martin High School Athletic Association (MMHSAA) dual meet title. The league championship is the third in the last four years for St. Francis.
The Red Raiders won twelve of the thirteen head to head bouts including seven pins and four technical falls in a forfeit-less contest in front of a packed crowd well attended by supporters of both programs.
Joseph Colantino put St. Francis on the board first with a 13-12 decision win at 145-pounds. However, Dylan Forant put the Marauders on top with a pin in the following bout at 152. From 160-on, starting with returning NYS finalist Griffin LaPlante, the high powered Red Raiders lineup took over winning the final eleven matches in the dual.
Colantino // Pataky
Forant // Pataky
160-pounds to 138-pounds St. Francis winners:
160: Griffin LaPlante (pin)
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170: Rory White (tech fall)
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190: Tavio Hoose (pin)
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215: Zach Caldwell (pin)
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285: Willy Wortkoetter (pin)
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101: Rocco Batt (pin)
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108: Tanner Catrabone (pin)
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116: Cullen Edwards (pin)
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124: Zak Massaro (tech fall)
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131: Kole Haseley (tech fall)
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138: Max McCarthy (tech fall)
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The 2024-2025 Raiders feature four returning NYS finalists, five total NYS place winners, and six total returning NYS tournament qualifiers and two more wrestlers with top-6 placements at the 2024 CHSAA championships. Three wrestlers (Edwards, LaPlante, Wortkoetter) are already committed to wrestle NCAA Division I after high school.
“We ramped up in December, we’re starting to come down a little bit, but our philosophy is ‘battle tested,’” said St. Francis head coach Ron Lorenz. “We are always happy with a league title, but we’ll get past this and start looking toward this weekend and the CHSAA Duals. Our philosophy is that we are ‘battle tested’ so we are trying to wrestle the best teams when we can.”
Before Thursday's dual, St. Francis honored former head coach and current school principal Mike Messore for his 32-years of service coaching the Red Raiders before stepping down at the conclusion of the 2023-2024 season. Messore is the second winningest head coach in WNY high school history and over his tenure coached numerous Raiders teams and individuals to Msgr. Martin and CHSAA honors including nine federation place winners and three CHSAA Dual Meet Championships team titles.
Lorenz (l) and Messore (r) // Pataky
St. Francis concludes the 2024-2025 league slate at 3-0 while currently sitting at 15-1 overall on the year. The team’s only loss thus far came to #9 nationally ranked Blair Academy (NJ) on January 5th. The Raiders will travel to Allentown, PA on Saturday to take on the #4 national powerhouse Wyoming Seminary (PA).
St. Joe’s finishes 2-1 in the final MMHSAA standings while currently sitting at 7-9 overall on the season. Next up for ‘Joe’s is home test against #8 Amherst on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
St. Francis, St. Joe’s, and St. Mary’s will travel to Iona Prep High School in New Rochelle for the 2025 Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) Dual Meet Championships on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 1-2. Then, St. Joe’s will host the 59th Annual Monsignor Martin All-Catholic Wrestling Championships on Saturday, February 8th. All-Catholic champions as well as a number of at-large wrestlers will travel to the CHSAA Championships at Msgr. Farrell High School in Staten Island on Feb. 15. Only CHSAA champions will advance to the NYSPHSAA federation championships on Feb. 28-March 1 in Albany.
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