Chautauqua Lake, Eden Capture Section VI Wrestling Dual Meet Titles

2025 Section VI Division I Dual Meet Wrestling champion Chautauqua Lake // Cover photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky

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Top seeds held on Saturday for the 9th edition of the Section VI Division I and II boys wrestling dual meet championships as Chautauqua Lake cruised to the programs’ fourth straight Section VI title while Eden captured the ‘Duals’ title for the first time in program history.

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The Division I large school tournament was held at Williamsville North HS featuring the top-8 most qualified Section VI teams who applied for entry. Chautauqua Lake entered as the top seeded team and cruised to a 4th straight Dual Meet title taking down 8-seed Grand Island 65-17 in the quarterfinal, 5-seed Lancaster 66-12 in the semifinal, and an impressive 7-seeded Niagara Falls team 55-21 in the title match. The title is the 4th consecutive Section VI title for the Eagles who won the Division II title in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

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Chautauqua Lake was limited by Section VI to qualification for the Division I dual meet tournament based on past 'dominance' but will still compete in the Division II individual sectional championships in February.

Chautauqua Lake (206 BEDS) also fields wrestlers from Westfield (161), Clymer (101), and Panama (78) high schools, but according to 2025-2026 Section VI BEDS numbers the combined enrollments of all four schools is 546, fifty-four students short of the 600 BEDS enrollment for the Division I/Division II split for individual sports.

In three dual meets, the Eagles accumulated 24 pins (nine versus both Grand Island and Lancaster) and won five more matches by technical fall or major decision for critical team bonus points. Chautauqua Lake won 33 of 42 individual bouts on Saturday. There are fourteen individual weight classes in dual meets.

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“I am proud of the boys and the way they wrestled,” said Chautauqua Lake head coach Ken Rowe. “We wrestled well today. Even with the section deciding for us that we would only be in the large school duals this year, we will still compete in Syracuse and try to bring home a state title.”

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The Eagles will compete in the Division I NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Championships on Saturday, Jan. 31 at SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.

Niagara Falls entered the tournament as the 7-seed and cruised to the Duals final for the first time in impressive fashion first taking down 2-seed Clarence, 55-20, before rolling past 3-seed Williamsville North/East 56-23 in the semifinal round. The 2nd place team finish is the third place finish for the Wolverines at the sectional duals in program history (3rd in 2023, 4th in 2022).

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5-seeded Lancaster earned a place finish for the 6th time in eight appearances at the Duals wrestling to a 3rd place finish in the Division I tournament. The Legends avenged an opening weekend loss to 4-seeded North Tonawanda twice on Saturday taking down the Lumberjacks 40-36 in the opening round and 41-35 in the consolation final. North Tonawanda’s 4th place finish is the team’s first in program history.

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All tournament scores:

Championship:

1-Chautauqua Lake 55

7-Niagara Falls 21

Consolation final:

5-Lancaster 41

4-North Tonawanda 35

Semifinals:

1-Chautauqua Lake 66

5-Lancaster 12

7-Niagara Falls 56

3-Williamsville North/East 23

Quarterfinals:

1-Chautauqua Lake 65

8-Grand Island 17

5-Lancaster 40

4-North Tonawanda 36

3-Williamsville North/East 45

6-Hamburg 36

7-Niagara Falls 55

2-Clarence 20

Consolation semifinals:

4-North Tonawanda 45

3-Williamsville North/East 34

5-Lancaster 41

2-Clarence 31

Consolation 1st round:

4-North Tonawanda 47

8-Grand Island 32

2-Clarence 50

6-Hamburg 27

The Section VI Division II Duals were held at the Seneca Allegany Community Center in Salamanca featuring the top-8 most qualified small school teams who declared intent to compete at the start of the wrestling season.

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Top seeded Eden took down 8-seed Salamanca 56-22 in the opening round before defeating 5-seeded Falconer 43-32 in the semifinal. In the title match, Eden met 2-seed Pioneer for the second time this season and went on to win, 42-35 for the programs’ first Section VI Dual Meet title and place finish.

“Our kids are really looking forward to wrestling some teams from out of our section and getting a chance to prove that our team is one of the top teams in the state,” said first year Eden head coach Rick Weber looking forward to the team’s first trip to the NYSPHSAA state dual meet championships on Jan. 31. “When the moment’s big and there is a lot of pressure, our kids thrive in that type of environment. I think they are excited for this opportunity…it’s going to be a fun experience.”

With only twelve wrestlers available to compete, Coach Weber and staff had to account for spotting each opposing team twelve team points due to forfeits at 190 and 215 pounds. Eden wrestlers made up for them in a big way all Saturday as they earned 21 team bonus point matches including eleven pins, eight technical falls, and two major decisions. Against both Falconer and Pioneer the Raiders claimed eight wins to six (four bonus point head to head wins for each).

“The message I gave the team was ‘we win big, and we lose small,’” said Weber after the championship match. “That was the motto of the tournament and they understood the task. Our kids were looking for those pins and techs…we were looking to score as many team points as possible. Just like every dual meet, not everyone wins, so the goal in those matches was to keep them close. The kids did exactly what we were coaching them to do.”

Against Falconer, Eden built up a 38-14 lead starting at 110-pounds. However, with a tech fall, two forfeits, and a pin the Golden Falcons cut into the deficit 38-32 with only one bout remaining. Freshman Tyler DellaPenta sealed the victory in the last bout with a technical fall at 103-pounds.

In the title match against the Panthers, the Raiders again jumped out to a big lead, 31-11 after eight weights, however Pioneer responded with two forfeits and two pins worth 24 team points and the lead now 35-31.

However, DellaPenta’s again saved the match for Eden as freshman Drew earned a technical fall at 110 to give the Raiders a one point lead before junior and returning NYS 3rd place winner Mason sealed the match with a pin at 118 for a final team score 42-35 in favor of Eden.

“We knew we had our work cut out for us because to beat a team twice was not going to be easy,” said Weber after taking down Pioneer. “Also, Falconer with Coach [Drew] Wilcox they do a phenomenal job. Our guys wrestled well against them and they wrestled out of their minds, and wrestled tough all tournament. We just took one match at a time and kept things positive, and the kids fed off of it. It was a fun ride for sure.”

In the 2022-2023 season the Raiders combined with Hamburg due to low participation. Eden separated and was back to an independent team in 2023-2024 posting a 4-2 dual record in ECIC III league matches. In 2024-2025, the Raiders won eleven duals and wrestled to a runner-up finish in the league while qualifying for the Section VI Duals for the first time. In only three years since certifying only five wrestlers, the Raiders will represent Section VI as the Division II Dual Meet champion at the NYSPHSAA state championships.

“To go from not having enough kids to wrestle to winning the sectional duals is a great turnaround for the program,” said Weber, who was an assistant coach during the 2022-2023 season. “We knew we had some younger kids coming up when we made the decision to go back to having our own team.”

Eden’s Section VI title is their first place finish in only the programs’ second appearance at the Duals.

Pioneer reached the Duals final for the first time since winning the section title in 2017 in the very first Section VI Duals. The Panthers have now placed top-4 four times in six appearances at the championships.

After falling in the semifinals, both Falconer and Gowanda wrestled back to meet in the consolation final for the second year in a row against one another. The Golden Falcons were able to take down the Panthers again, this time 48-32 to secure third place. Falconer has taken 3rd or better in all eight team appearances at the Duals and won the Section VI title in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and again qualified for states in 2022 as a wildcard entry.

Gowanda wrestled to the team’s third straight 4th place finish at the Duals and now have placed in three of four appearances at the Duals while reaching the semifinals in each of the last three tournaments.

 All tournament scores:

Championship:

1-Eden 42

2-Pioneer 35

Consolation final:

5-Falconer 48

3-Gowanda 32

Semifinals:

1-Eden 43

5-Falconer 32

2-Pioneer 42

3-Gowanda 27

Quarterfinals:

1-Eden 56

8-Salamanca 22

5-Falconer 39

4-Lackawanna 37

3-Gowanda 41

6-Albion 35

2-Pioneer 42

7-Newfane 28

Consolation semifinals:

3-Gowanda 48

4-Lackawanna 31

5-Falconer 41

7-Newfane 38

Consolation 1st round:

4-Lackawanna 53

8-Salamanca 22

7-Newfane 40

6-Albion 33