Two individual sectional champions led twelve total place winners for the powerful Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds at Saturday’s Section VI Division II championships at Lake Shore HS. Thirteen T’Bird wrestlers were entered in the tournament and the twelve place winners all finished 4th or better in their respective weight brackets.
Individual champions Jordan Joslyn (126-pounds) and John Watson (152) led a group of six Thunderbird finalists, all of whom qualified for the NYS championships after the final round of ‘true second’ place matches. Trent Burchanowski (145) and Ison Shirley (215) both defended their runner-up performances with pins in true second place matches to qualify for the NYS federation championships, Feb. 24-25 in Albany.
Six state tournament qualifiers representing the Chautauqua Lake squad is the most for the teams’ participating schools since Ripley’s four qualifiers in the 2008 season.
Southwestern led the small school field with three individual Section VI champions in now two-time champions Carmine Calimeri (118) and Tavio Hoose (172) and first time champ Kenji Walters (110) who achieved one of the tournament’s higher level upsets.
After missing out on the state tournament last season, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley crowned one individual champion in Austin Chase (145) while qualifying two runners-up on Saturday to secure three spots back in Albany.
In total, twelve wrestlers will represent the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Div. I in Albany, the most out of any one league amongst the twenty-six Section VI Div. II state qualifiers.
Niagara-Orleans wrestlers had a big day at the sectional championships as well with both Newfane and Wilson qualifying three wrestlers each for the state tournament.
Newfane sophomore Aidan Gillings captured his third Section VI title defeating class and teammate Ayden Buttery in the 132-pound final. Joining the star sophomores for states is junior lightweight JJ Lucinksi who claimed the 102-pound Section VI Div. II title with a narrow 4-3 decision in the final.
Wilson continued smashing its own program records this season in sending three wrestlers to the state championships, a new program milestone. Prior to this season, only two wrestlers total in Lakemen program history have qualified for the state tournament. 160-pound champion Jacob Stephenson was the lowest seeded wrestler (4th) to win a Section VI title in both the Div. I and II tournaments this weekend.
Six true second place matches were contested at Saturday’s Div. II championships, down from ten in the 2022 tournament, the first year of the ‘true seconds.’ Wilson’s Victor Cusatis (118) and Iroquois’s Alex Schiffhauer (152) both took down their respective brackets’ runner-up after the finals to qualify for the state championships.
**2023 Section VI Division II champions**:
102: JJ Lucinski (Newfane)
110: Kenji Walters (Southwestern)
118: Carmine Calimeri (Southwestern)
126: Jordan Joslyn (Chautauqua Lake)
132: Aidan Gillings (Newfane)
138: Xander Kirsch (Pioneer)
145: Austin Chase (Falconer/Cassadaga Valley)
152: John Watson (Chautauqua Lake)
160: Jacob Stephenson (Wilson)
172: Tavio Hoose (Southwestern)
189: Matt Trim (Maple Grove)
215: Trevor Barry (Iroquois)
285: Ryan Carpenter (Randolph)
**Section VI Div. II runners-up/state tournament qualifiers**:
102: Dylan Newman (Falconer/Cassadaga Valley)
110: Dominick Callara (Medina)
118: Victor Cusatis (Wilson)
126: Blake Hageman (Lake Shore)
132: Ayden Buttery (Newfane)
138: Martin Ohlsson (Chautauqua Lake)
145: Trent Burchanowski (Chautauqua Lake)
152: Alex Schiffhauer (Iroquois)
160: Brodie Little (Falconer/Cassadaga Valley)
172: Brady Heckathorn (Pioneer)
189: Mason Maring (Chautauqua Lake)
215: Ison Shirley (Chautauqua Lake)
285: Hamza Merrick (Wilson)
**102**
Newfane junior JJ Lucinski captured the 102-pound sectional title as the 2-seed in the weight class. Lucinksi finished 6th in Section VI last season and came back at weight with an age and experience advantage over nearly all of the other competitors. A third period come from behind victory by decision, 4-3, over Falconer’s Dylan Newman in the final secured the 102-pound title and automatic qualification to the state tournament for Lucinksi, who also eclipsed 40 wins on the season. Newman defended his runner-up spot with a 7-1 decision over CL’s Gavin Burchanowski in the true second match.
**110**
The first of only two finals matches to feature returning NYS tournament qualifiers saw last year’s 110-pound sectional finalist Kenji Walters (11th grade) from Southwestern defeat the returning 102-pound runner-up and NYS 7th place winner Dominick Callara (12th) from Medina in the title match, 5-3. Walters used a late third period takedown to secure the sectional title, the first of three on the day for the Trojans. Callara will also represent the Mustangs in Albany again at the NYS championships.
**118**
Southwestern freshman and defending Section VI champion & NYS 6th place winner Carmine Calimeri cruised to his second sectional title with two pins and a finals decision, 9-2, over Fredonia’s Lucas Hoffman to ensure another trip to the state capital in two weeks. Hoffman won by pin and major decision to reach the final. In the true second match, Wilson freshman Victor Cusatis became the third Lakemen wrestler of the afternoon to ensure a trip to the state tournament with an 8-3 decision over Hoffman to help smash the new program milestone.
**126**
Top seeded Chautauqua Lake junior Jordan Joslyn dominated the field on the way to the 126-pound Section VI Div. II title with an opening round pin followed by 16-1 tech falls in both the semifinal and final. A season ago, Joslyn fell in the small school final and just barely missed placing at the state tournament, falling in the blood round. With a 40-2 overall record this season, Jordan has been a big piece of Chautauqua Lake’s success and should be considered in the hunt for a state title in Albany. Joining Joslyn in Albany will be the bracket’s runner-up in Lake Shore senior Blake Hageman who fell in the final but defended his spot in the true second place match.
**132**
An all-Newfane final saw star sophomores Aidan Gillings and Ayden Buttery face off for a third time this season. ‘Gilly,’ already a two-time sectional champion and two-time 4th place winner in NYS captured his third sectional crown with a 5-4 decision over Buttery in the final. Gillings earned two quick pins on the way to the final while Buttery held off fellow 10th grader in Randolph’s rising star Caden Inkley, 4-2, in the semifinal. Inkley went on to claim 3rd in the bracket, making the true second place match moot. After a heartbreaker of a loss in the 2022 true second, Buttery secured a spot in the 2023 NYS championships with what turned out to be a crucial semifinal victory. The combined record of the Newfane pair at 132-pounds in the Div. II state tournament bracket is 83-10 overall this season alone.
**138**
A season long rivalry that began in the first weekend of the season concluded in the final weekend of the season (locally at least) in the third meeting this year between seniors Xander Kirsch from Pioneer and Martin Ohlsson from Westfield/Chautauqua Lake. Kirsch captured his first individual sectional title with a 4-0 decision to secure a spot in the NYS tournament. Ohlsson won their first meeting on 12/3 by pin, but Kirsch was a winner in their next meeting, 2-0, on 12/17. In total, Kirsch/Ohlsson own seven sectional place finishes (three for Kirsch, four for Ohlsson) while Ohlsson’s 2nd place finish in the 2020 sectional tournament led to a 5th place finish in NYS at 99-pounds. Martin will compete in the NYS championships in two weeks as well.
**145**
Austin Chase ensured that Falconer wouldn’t have another rare year without a sectional champion in winning the Div. II 145-pound title. The senior Golden Falcon earned two pins on the way to the title match and a 5-0 finals decision over returning state qualifier Trent Burchanowski from Chautauqua Lake to earn his first entry to the state tournament. After the final, Burchanowski fell to the true second place match but earned a pin over impressive Iroquois sophomore Brady Wilkinson to earn another trip to Albany.
**152**
With only three returning wrestlers with a sectional place finish in 2022 the bracket was guaranteed to have a first time champion, two first time sectional finalists, and two first time NYS qualifiers. Chautauqua Lake junior John Watson earned the top seed in the weight and ultimately claimed the Section VI Div. II 152-pound title with a second period pin over Barker/Royalton-Hartland senior Quinn Brown in the title match. Brown, one of the three returning sectional placers, took down the other returning placer in 2-seeded Jacob Clark from Falconer in overtime, 8-6, in the semifinal. Brown fell to the true second place match to meet Iroquois freshman Alex Schiffhauer. As the 5-seed, Schiffhauer fell in the quarterfinals but gutted out three straight decisions in the wrestle backs to reach the true second match. In that match, Schiffhauer earned yet another decision, 5-3, over Brown to earn the section’s second auto-qualifier spot in the weight for the state tournament.
**160**
Small school Most Outstanding Wrestler Jacob Stephenson became Wilson’s first Section VI champion since Matt King in 2008 and only the third in program history, pinning his way to the 160-pound small school title on Saturday. The Lakemen sophomore started the day as the 4-seed and pinned both the 5, 1, and 3-seeds in order to claim the title. Stephenson overcame a 5-point deficit in the semifinal to pin Franklinville’s Evan Leonard to reach the final. In the championship, Stephenson secured the pin with only five seconds remaining in the second period over Falconer senior Brodie Little. In the bottom side semi, Little was a 7-4 decision winner over Southwestern junior Neves Hoose in the pair’s fifth and final meeting of the season. After falling in the first two bouts, Little won the last three in their season rivalry. Since Neves wrestled back to 3rd, the true second place match was uncontested and Little advances to the NYS tournament.
**172**
One of the high profile head to heads of the weekend saw two returning state tournament qualifiers meet in the 172-pound small school final. Super star freshman Tavio Hoose returned back at weight this season and brought a 37-1 record into the sectional tournament. Pioneer senior Brady Heckathorn (36-2) jumped two weights after reaching the state tournament as the section runner-up at 152 a season ago. With three more returning sectional placers, 172 proved to be unusually deep this time. In the final, Tavio broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown with only a minute remaining in the match, ultimately holding on to win his second sectional title, 3-2. Heckathorn’s 5-1 semifinal decision over strong Chautauqua Lake junior Jayden Malecki avoided a contested true second place match so Brady will return to the NYS tournament for a second time. A champion and perhaps two place winners in Albany would be huge for the section.
**189**
Top seeded Maple Grove junior Matt Trim defended his seed, eclipsed 40 wins on the season, and captured the Section VI Div. II 189-pound title on Saturday with a 4-3 finals decision over CL’s Mason Maring in their third meeting of the season, each of which Trim won but by a smaller deficit each time. Maring was a winner by a 7-4 decision in the semifinal over returning Section VI Div. I champion 2-seed Chris Bargy from Olean/Allegany-Limestone in their first meeting of the season. Maring’s victory eventually secured a trip to the state tournament for the T’Bird sophomore as Bargy wrestled back to a 3rd place finish.
**215**
Returning sectional finalist and NYS 5th place winner Trevor Barry from Iroquois wasted no time in getting after the 215-pound sectional title as he pinned his first two opponents in less than a minute. In the final, Barry secured a pin mid way through the second period of the match against 2-seed CL junior Ison Shirley to claim the Section VI title. Barry has only won by pin and tech falls this season. After the final, Shirley was a third period winner by pin over Pioneer’s Luke Matheis to keep his runner-up finish and qualification to the NYS tournament. After falling in the quarterfinal round, Matheis won three straight consolation matches to make a run to the true second place match.
**285**
Another unusually deep heavyweight bracket featured three returning sectional placers, a state tournament qualifier, and a few other highly talented wrestlers in the top-5 seeds. Wilson sophomore Hamza Merrick broke the program’s all-time individual wins in a season record this year bringing a 39-2 record into the sectional tournament. However, Randolph’s returning finalist and state tournament qualifier Ryan Carpenter would ultimately end up on top of the bracket gutting out decision wins over 3-seeded freshman and rising Wilson star William Wortkoetter, 15-11, in the semi before capturing the sectional title outright, 7-2, in the final over Merrick. CL’s 4-seed Gavin Segovia fell in the semifinal to Merrick, but wrestled back to a 3rd place finish in the weight class. Given the head to head in the semifinal, the true second place match wasn’t needed meaning an auto-qualification to the state tournament for Merrick which also set a new Wilson program milestone of qualifying more than one wrestler in the same year for the state tournament.
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