Pioneer Wrestling Wins Sixth Straight ECIC Title

The Pioneer Panthers wrestling team secured its sixth straight ECIC title on Wednesday night while extending the team’s league unbeaten streak to 44-0 over the last six seasons.

“It’s more than just winning, it’s a tradition” stated undefeated Pioneer senior Mike Rigerman after the Panther’s league clinching 52-21 win at home against Amherst. “It’s expected of us to go out there and dominate every match.”

Pioneer (7-0 ECIC II, 21-3) are the #2 ranked small school team in western New York by WNY Athletics and #7 in NYS by the New York State Sportswriters Association in the latest January 10thpoll.

“We come from a community of really hard-working people, so the sport of wrestling matches up with that type of mantra” stated Pioneer head coach Chris Edwards after his team’s division clinching win. “Their kids come here, they’re hard working, they’re respectful, and they do as expected. The tradition of Pioneer wrestling goes back to the 1970’s so everyone wants to be a part of it. But, in being part of it, we also want to create our own tradition as well.”

Pioneer is the #2 seed in Saturday’s Section VI Division II Dual Meet Championship behind #1 Falconer. The Panthers were the first Section VI small school dual meet champion in the inaugural season of the event in 2016-2017.