The annual Niagara Cup battle between the WNY #1 Falcons and the visiting #2 Wolverines on Wednesday night January 9th has the makings to be one of the best in recent years. Wheatfield has won each of the last three league duals against their Niagara rivals. Falls last beat the Falcons in the 2014-2015 season. At stake on Wednesday night are the driver seat to the Niagara Frontier League title and Section VI Dual Meet Championship seeding implications.
The area’s top ranked large school squad led by head coach Rick Sweney is currently the #15 large school team in NYS as ranked by New York State Sportswriters Association in the latest January 1st poll. The Falcons are 4-0 in the Niagara Frontier League going into the dual with a 7-1 overall record. Wheatfield’s only loss is to the NYSSWA #9 state ranked Spencerport Rangers (V).
Four returning sectional champions return for Wheatfield. Brothers Justin and Warren McDougald are both three-time sectional champions. Justin is a two-time NYS finalist and Warren a two-time place winner. Josh Thibeault and Collin Coughenour are the other defending Section VI champions. Senior Jake DeWolf is also in the lineup after earning a wildcard to the NYS tournament last season. Three other Falcons with Section VI Division I place finishes return as well.
Wheatfield has team titles from the Matt Marino and Spc. Kenneth Haines Memorial tournaments this season. The Falcons were second at the Cheektowaga Warrior Duals and the NFWOA classic and placed fourth as a team at the STWOA Holiday Classic.
The Wolverines, led by head coach DJ Giancola, are off to an excellent start posting a 4-0 NFL record and a 16-0 overall mark. NYSSWA has Niagara Falls listed as an Honorable Mention squad in the January 1st poll. Falls is led by defending NYS champion Willie McDougald, who last season became Niagara Falls High School’s first state champion since Mel Cunningham in 1967. McDougald is 27-0 so far this season and is a three-time Section VI champion. Only two other sectional place winners return for the Wolverines, however, they feature a full lineup with some very talented athletes.
Falls has team championships this season at the Tonawanda Warrior Duals, Starpoint Spartan Duals, and Akron Invitational, and took third at the very tough NFWOA Classic this past weekend.
According to Coach Giancola, the idea for the Niagara Cup should be credited to Falls assistant coach Josh Eagan. Giancola added “It’s a championship cup trophy the winning school keeps at their school for a year until the next dual.”
The evenings’ lineups could look something like this:
Niagara Wheatfield (NW)
Niagara Falls (NF)
99: (NW) Te’Shaun Mathews vs.
(NF) Nicholas Syposs
106: Mark Kuhn (Section place winner) vs.
(NF) Ja’shad Bumpers
113: (NW) Anthony Kuhn vs.
(NF) Darren Christian
120: Collin Coughenour (Section VI champ) vs.
(NF) Michael Snowden (Section place winner)
126: (NW) Kyle Jungier (Section place winner) vs.
(NF) Will Fredo Borges
132: (NW) Justin McDougald (3x Section champ, 2x NYS finalist) vs.
(NF) Deandre Prum
138: Jake DeWolf (Section finalist, NYS tourn. wildcard) vs.
(NF) Willie McDougald (NYS champ, 3x Section champ)
145: (NW) Warren McDougald (3x Section champ, 2x NYS placer) vs.
(NF) Josh McCoy (Section finalist)
152: (NW) Ali Assaf vs.
(NF) Donald Sinclair
160: (NW) Jacob Thibeault vs.
(NF) Anthony Sullivan
170: (NW) Josh Thibeault (Section VI champ) vs.
(NF) Joseph Dixon
182: (NW) Cody Guiliani vs.
(NF) Censere Humphrey
195: (NW) Noah Mixon vs.
(NF) Maurice Jackson
220: (NW) Kevil Halford (Section place winner) vs.
(NF) Patrick Young
285: (NW) Anthony Lucinski vs.
(NF) Jourdan Scott
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