Jan 16, 202412 min read

WNY Wrestling Roundup: Week Seven

Cover photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky

Dual meet and tournament results & notes for the week of Monday, Jan. 8th – Saturday, Jan. 13th, 2024.

Monday, Jan. 8th

Springville 50 – Franklinville 24

The Panthers visited the Griffins for a non-league match on Monday where the teams combined for ten contested varsity matches and five exhibitions. Springville has featured excellent participation in the last few seasons and Franklinville has done likewise as of late to have the program trending in the right direction. The Griffins claimed seven head to head wins, five by pin, in the dual to improve to 5-3 overall this season.

Tuesday, Jan. 9th

#3 Southwestern 39 – #2 Falconer/Cassadaga Valley 33

After a tough loss on Saturday, 1/6 in the sectional dual final the Trojans had to quickly get back on weight and mentally prepared for a dangerous and well coached Golden Cougars squad on Tuesday at home for their second WNY top-3 showdown in as many days. Starting at 145-pounds, Falconer quickly jumped out to a 15-0 lead. Peter Conley got the Trojans on the board at 170 with a 12-4 major decision for the extra team point with less than ten seconds left in the match. Pins by Neves Hoose, Brayden Potter, and Adrian Torres and a forfeit for Tavio gave Southwestern a 28-15 lead after eight weights. Critical pins by Evan (101) and Dylan (108) Newman brought Falconer to within one point, now 28-27 Trojans, with three weights remaining. However, Kenji Walters got the major at 124 to set up Carmine Calimeri’s match sealing pin at 131. The Trojans’ win was the first for the program over Falconer since January 21st, 2010. Southwestern visits Section VI Duals champion Chautauqua Lake on the 17th for a Duals final rematch and a chance to really muck up the CCAA I standings. If you can believe it, it’s already the final league match of the season for the Trojans.

Wednesday, Jan. 10th

#3 Williamsville North/East 36 – #5 Clarence 27

The Spartans and Devils ran it back on Wednesday after their Section VI Duals semifinal classic back only days before where 6-seed Clarence took the 2-seed down to the last match. In their ECIC I showdown in Clarence on Wednesday, Williamsville’s Brayden Kellison-Neglia got the night started with a pin at 116, but Red Devils won the next five weights including three pins in a row from AJ Didas (138), Joey Keller (145), and Matt Cox (152) to jump out to a 25-6 lead after six weights. However, Spartans won six of the last seven weights including critical decision wins by Amari Libertone-Robinson (190) and Chris Harris (190). The dual started at nearly the same weight as their meeting on Jan. 6th so Tanner Catrabone was again called upon to help win the match late in the dual for Williamsville. The Spartans won seven matches and four pins to Clarence’s six wins and three pins in the contest. Williamsville (4-0) has a chance to win the ECIC I title outright for the first time in a number of years but they will have to get by a quality Jamestown (3-1) team at home and a dangerous Lancaster (4-0) squad on the road in each of the next two weeks to do so. Clarence (2-2) visits Lancaster for the annual Border War rivalry on the 17th.

HM Lancaster 35 – #9 Jamestown 31

NO FORFEITS! The Legends pass a big road test at the resurgent Raiders on Wednesday for a showdown of 3-0 ECIC I teams. Lancaster jumped out to a 17-6 lead after five weights including a critical pin from senior standout Michael Schaefer at 190 in the second bout of the dual. After a stretch run of four Lancaster wins, Jamestown picked up a pin at 108-pounds, but back to back pins from Wyatt Griffith (116) and Ricky Andres (124) extended the Legends’ lead 29-12 with five bouts remaining. Three straight wins by Jamestown from 131-145 gave the Raiders hope now down 29-25 with only two weights left. However, senior Joey Freiburg made sure to not let the match slip away from Lancaster as he earned a pin at 152 to seal the win with a match to go. Coaches Schaefer and Becker have made a habit in recent years of scheming up a path to the league title in WNY’s deepest interscholastic wrestling league, and they showed on Wednesday that the Legends are up to the challenge again. Lancaster gets home duals in each of the last two weeks of the league schedule with major league race implications on the line. The #5 Red Devils visit for the Border War on the 17th before the Legends meet #3 Williamsville North/East on the 24th.

#5 Pioneer 37 – #8 Hamburg 15

The Panthers march on carrying the area’s longest league win streak after taking down a quality Bulldogs team on the road. Pioneer has quietly put together another unbeaten league record (so far) after taking a few lumps at their dual tournament on Dec. 9th. The Panthers jumped out to a 15-0 lead on Hamburg after three weights on Wednesday highlighted by a quality decision win by Evan Wright at 131 and a crucial pin by Wyatt Opferbeck at 138. Pioneer won nine of the thirteen bouts in the dual but Hamburg wrestlers did a good job to concede minimal pins, holding Panthers to six, six minute bouts. Hamburg was held without a pin in their three head to head wins. Pioneer (5-0) hosts #6 Amherst (5-0) on the 17th for, essentially, the ECIC II league title and major program milestones for the Panthers should they emerge victorious.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky

Pataky

Pataky

Pataky

Pataky

Pataky

Orchard Park 36 – #4 St. Joe’s 34

NO FORFEITS! The unranked Quakers earn a down to the last match non league dual over the Marauders on the road in an exciting contest that featured six lead changes throughout. OP jumped out to an 18-6 lead after the first four weights picking up three pins to one before ‘Joe’s tied things up with two pins of their own, now 18-18. A Sean Gordon major decision at 138 gave St. Joe’s their first lead of the dual, but Landon Shelvin took it right back with a pin at the next weight. Marauders would win the next two weights to take a 31-24 lead with only three matches left. Lucas Acuna earned a critical pin for OP at 170 but Jack Duggan extended the lead for ‘Joe’s to four points with a decision at 190. In the final bout, Coach Teal had available his top-8 NYS place winner and senior leader Jack MacDonald, finally back after a few weeks with an injury. MacDonald was a first period winner by pin at 215 to secure the Quakers’ walk off victory in taking down the #4 Marauders. OP has a chance to finish off the season strong with upcoming ECIC I league matches against local rivals West Seneca/Depew and Frontier in the next two weeks.

#2 Falconer/Cassadaga Valley 43 – Fredonia 20

A night after taking league loss to Southwestern the Golden Cougars get back on track taking down the Hillbillies at home. Falconer won six of the ten contested matches in the dual to improve to 3-1 in CCAA I with only two matches left on the league slate this season.

#7 Niagara Falls 42 – HM North Tonawanda 27

NO FORFEITS! Falls improved to 5-0 in the NFL beating a quality ‘Jacks team on the road Wednesday. The young Wolverines squad has battled its way to another impressive season when some may have thought this would be a ‘step back’ year after losing a strong senior class. NT took a 12-10 lead after the first four matches against the ‘Falls with two pins. However, Wolverines pinned in three straight matches thereafter to jump ahead 28-12. NT responded with a pair of pins and a decision in the next three to bring the team score back to within three points, now 27-24 NF. However, Kayden Feagin earned a crucial pin at 131 for ‘Falls before Matt Syposs sealed the road win for the Wolverines with a pin at 138-pounds. NF hosts Kenmore for what should be another NO FORFEITS! ™ NFL matchup next week while NT (3-2) visits #1 NW on the 17th. In honor of Eastern States week – here’s a fun fact. Niagara Falls head coach Josh Eagan was a finalist in the first Eastern States tournament in 2003 and an ES champion in 2004 at 140-punds alongside teammate Nick Strange who won the ES 215-pound title that year.

#10 Grand Island 36 – Kenmore 34

The Vikings fought their way out of late sixteen point deficit in the final four bouts of the night to hold off the DevilDogs, improving to 3-2 in the Niagara Frontier League standings. GI found itself down 34-18 after the first nine bouts of the match. Kenmore picked up five pins in their six wins in that stretch, including three in a row from 170-190-pounds. However, the talented light weight crew of Grand Island was last up as the dual started at 131. Deni Daghestani got the comeback started with a pin at 101 followed by a decision from Cole Randle. Zak Massaro accepted a forfeit at 116 to bring the Vikings within one point of Kenmore, now 34-33. In the match deciding final bout at 124, freshman Xander Heckman earned a 7-0 decision to push the Vikings past the DevilDogs for good.

#4 Newfane 51 – Akron 19

The Panthers are a win away from a tenth straight Niagara-Orleans title after taking down the Tigers on the road. First year Akron head coach Adrian Ross did field a wrestler at all but one weight in this match, maybe something to remember going into next season. In this one, the Panthers overpowered Akron winning nine weights and pinning in seven of them to improve to 4-0 in the league.

#3 Southwestern 48 – Olean/Allegany-Limestone 28

The Trojans go 2-0 in the league this week getting a win over the Huskies a night after taking down Falconer. SW won eight weights and seven head to head bouts against Olean to improve to 4-1 in CCAA I. Southwestern visits Section VI Duals champion Chautauqua Lake on Wednesday for a sectional duals final rematch in their final 2023-2024 league dual.

#6 Iroquois 41 – Tonawanda 21

A battle of 3-0 ECIC III teams ended in a convincing win for the Chiefs at home on Wednesday. Although they have showed great improvement this season, a talented Iroquois roster was just too much for the Warriors even after accepting a pair of forfeits. Iroquois won eight of ten contested matches, three by pin, including the first five weights of the dual to jump out to an early 23-0 lead. Iroquois (4-0) hosts Maryvale and travels to Springville in each of the next two weeks in a final push for the outright ECIC III title. A win at home next week against Springville or a road win at Maryvale on the 24th will ensure a league winning record for Tonawanda this season for the first time since the league championship season in 2018-2019 (not counting spring 2021).

#6 Amherst 42 – Starpoint 28

Despite giving up eighteen points via forfeit, Starpoint wrestlers battled the #6 Tigers hard on the road on Wednesday. The teams split in head to head matches with five wins each with four pins for Starpoint and only two for Amherst. Nonetheless, availability is the best ability as Amherst took down the Spartans to improve to 5-0 in ECIC II with two weeks remaining. A difficult road test looms for Amherst as they travel south to Pantherland on Wednesday to take on #5 small school Pioneer with the league title on the line.

#10 Medina 39 – Barker/Royalton-Hartland 32

The Mustangs take down the RaiderRams in a battle of 2-1 Niagara-Orleans teams and now sit firmly in second place in the league. Trailing 32-27 going into the final two bouts, Kole Campbell earned a crucial pin at 170 to take a 33-32 Mustangs lead before Conor Crandall’s match sealing pin at 190-pounds. Medina needs a win at Albion next week and needs to root for B/R-H to take down Newfane on the same night in order to have a share of the N-O title.

Frontier 44 – West Seneca/Depew 21

A double forfeit at 101 was the only uncontested match in the ECIC I rivalry match on Wednesday as the Falcons won eight head to head matches, six by pin, to improve to 2-3 in the league. Despite being winless in the league win column, West Seneca has shown improvement in the nightly match scores against league rivals this season, suggesting that whatever Coach Recor and the staff are up to on Ridge Road is a step in the right direction. For Frontier, although they won’t be able to have a winning ECIC I league record this season, Frontier could get to .500 with a road win at Orchard Park on Jan. 27th in each team’s league season finale. As both programs have become more stable in recent years under strong coaching leadership, the OP/Frontier match has become a highlight on the league schedule; the teams have split wins in each of the last two meetings.

Sweet Home 37 – Cheektowaga 24

The Panthers get into the win column for this season picking up a road ECIC II win over the Warriors. Sweet Home won all seven contested matches and six in a row to end the dual including four straight six minute matches to secure the win. Jayden Fountain got the match sealing win at 160 with a major decision to secure the Panthers victory with a match to go.

Chautauqua Lake 45 – Dunkirk 27 (girls)

The Eagles and Marauders dualled one another in addition to the boys varsity league match in Dunkirk on Wednesday. Head to head match winners for CL were Madison Szymanowksi, Mia Smith, Sophia Gervasio, Gabriella Testa, and Harper Reed. Anahi DeJesus and Addaline Grayson earned victories for Dunkirk.

#1 Niagara Wheatfield 63 – CSAT 12

#1 Chautauqua Lake 75 – Dunkirk 0

#2 St. Francis 53 – St. Mary’ 6

#2 St. Francis 57 – Canisius 6

#9 Randolph 1 – Maple Grove 0

Wilson 54 – Albion 14

Lockport 30 – Lewiston-Porter 27

Franklinville 36 – Salamanca 21

Thursday, Jan. 11th

Williamsville South 38 – Wilson 27

Other than a double forfeit at 101 the Billies entered a wrestler at every weight and split five head to head wins apiece with the Lakemen. With the win, South reached the ten win mark for the first time since the 2017-2018 season and the first time in the TJ Scamurra head coach era.

Lafayette/Buffalo Public Schools 45 – Sweet Home 30

BPS collected a number of forfeits and won three of seven contested bouts to achieve the teams’ second win in its inaugural season. Reverien Nshimirmana, Jangardy Ducheine, and Joe Littlejohn all won contested bouts for Lafayette. While Sweet Home won the majority of head to head matches, a thin lineup has hurt in matches with similar teams at times this season.

Clarence 36 – Kenmore 30 (girls)

The Red Devils get their first dual team win in a close road test. Coco Munther (107), Heather Blatto (132), and Ryann Berner (165) all collected head to head wins for Clarence in the dual. Sophia Bayron (120) claimed the only head to head win for Kenmore.

Friday, Jan. 12th

Springville 48 – East Aurora 24

The Griffins improved to 3-1 in ECIC III with a home win over the Blue Devils. Springville won weights including eight contested wins with six pins to cruise past East Aurora. Each squad claimed only one forfeit in the dual and they combined for a number of exhibition matches as well. Coach Michel and the Blue Devils have especially shown better participation this season, hopefully a sign of more good things to come for East Aurora Wrestling. Springville visits fellow Tonawanda on Wednesday for an interesting showdown of 3-1 league rivals.

CSAT 39 – Lafayette/BPS 33

Lafayette’s second home match of the season resulted in a close loss to the visiting Eagles, albeit an exciting dual with eleven contested bouts. Two of WNY’s newest programs (CSAT, 2016) fielded nearly full lineups on Friday and combined for a number of exhibition matches which is always a welcome sign for the state of high school wrestling in the area. In the dual, CSAT picked up six head to wins, five by pin, including one forfeit compared to five contested wins and four pins for BPS. Johnathan Rodriguez earned the match sealing pin for CSAT at 145-pounds in the third to last bout of the night.

30th Annual Lockport Invitational

What would normally be a two day event was condensed into one evening as impending bad weather on Saturday had tournament organizers and participating teams cautious of Saturday travel. The tournament began in the afternoon and the finals and 3rd place matches concluded just before 10:30pm on Friday. State ranked big schools Brockport (V) and Niagara Wheatfield each tied with four champions each, however the Blue Devils captured the team title outscoring the Falcons 244.5 to 203 team points. Wheatfield senior Te’Shaun Mathews claimed his 150th victory and the tournament’s Aggregate Pin Award at Lockport on Friday.

30th Annual Lockport Invitational individual champions:

101: Tyer Williams (Brockport)

108: Reece Senske (Medina)

116: Eian Peterson (Niagara Wheatfield)

124: Richard Wood (Brockport)

131: Kayden Feagin (Niagara Falls)

138: William Wood (Brockport)

145: Dino Battisti (Brockport)

152: Te'Shaun Mathews (Niagara Wheatfield)

160: Joe Cicco (Niagara Wheatfield)

170: Sebastian Temich (Lyndonville-V)

190: Conor Crandall (Medina)

215: John Fike (Niagara Wheatfield)

285: William Wortkoetter (Wilson)

Top-10 teams (out of 21 total):

1. Brockport 244.5

2. Niagara Wheatfield 203

3. Niagara Falls 123

4. Amherst 117

5. Medina 92

6. Clarence 81

7. Williamsville North/East 75

8. Kenmore 67

9. Barker/Royalton-Hartland 61

10. Lockport 57

23rd Annual Patrick J. Morales Memorial Wrestling Tournament @ Falconer

Out state teams occupied three of the top-5 spots in the final team score while crowing six champions. Chautauqua Lake finished in 2nd place to Corry, PA, 271 to 246.5 points while Southwestern was the next highest placing team at 5th with 125.5. Jamestown (115.5) and Falconer (94) finished 6th and 7th, respectively, among WNY area teams.

CL senior Jordan Joslyn earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors as well as his 100th career pin on the way to claiming his third consecutive Morales Tournament title. Randolph junior Caden Inkley achieved the 100 win milestone on Saturday as well.

23rd Patrick J. Morales Tournament WNY individual champions:

101: Adrian Torres (Southwestern)

108: Gavin Burchanowski (Chautauqua Lake)

131: Carmine Calimeri (Southwestern)

138: Jordan Joslyn (Southwestern)

152: Caden Inkley (Randolph)

190: Jayden Malecki (Chautauqua Lake)

215: Matt Trim (Maple Grove)

Top-5 team scores and top-10 WNY area teams:

1. Corry (PA) 271

2. Chautauqua Lake 246.5

3. St. Vincent-St. Mary (OH) 209

4. Clarion (PA) 137

5. Southwestern 125.5

6. Jamestown 115.5

7. Falconer 94

9. Pioneer 90.5

10. Hamburg 88

11. Randolph 80

12. Eden 79.5

13. Maple Grove 75.5

16. Iroquois 48

20th Annual Eastern States Wrestling Classic @ SUNY Sullivan, Loch Sheldrake, NY

St. Francis sophomore Griffin LaPlante captured the Eastern States 152-pound title on Saturday to help lead the Red Raiders to a 2nd place finish in the final team scoring in the 159-team field. Ten total WNY wrestlers placed in the tournament with an area-high four from St. Francis.

For more information on WNY wrestlers at the 20th Eastern States please visit the below links:

https://www.wnyathletics.com/post/laplante-claims-eastern-states-title-leads-ten-area-place-winners-st-francis-second-in-team-score

https://www.wnyathletics.com/post/largest-group-of-wny-athletes-ready-for-eastern-states-wrestling-classic

7th WNY wrestling dual team power ranking

(following results from Mon. 1/8 – Sat. 1/13)

Large schools

1. Niagara Wheatfield Falcons

2. St. Francis Red Raiders

3. Williamsville North/East Spartans

4. Clarence Red Devils

5. Amherst Tigers

6. Niagara Falls Wolverines