While the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) mandated two-pound post-Christmas weight allowance is generous, the typical schedule of high school wresting in New York State is not. Teams had Christmas Day off of practice but many hit the mats running on the day after to begin preparing for weekend tournaments, most being two day events. Some teams traveled out of the boundaries of Section VI to compete. Here are the notable tournaments from this past weekend.
Dick Vincent Duals at Letchworth High School (12/27-12/28/2017)
The annual tournament held at Letchworth High School (Sec. V) was essentially a showcase of traditionally strong western New York small school programs from Sections V and VI. Canisteo-Greenwood (V) won the tournament with a 10-0 dual meet record. Section VI #1 small school Pioneer and #3 small school Falconer represented Section VI at the tournament. Pioneer finished second (9-1 record) defeating the field with its lone loss to Canisteo. Falconer finished third (8-2) with losses to Canisteo and Pioneer. The result of the Pioneer, Falconer dual was a 38-30 victory for the Panthers. As they are right now, Pioneer would be the expected #1 seed for small schools at the Section VI Duals and Falconer the #3.
Bolivar-Richburg Wolverine Scuffle (12/27-12/28/2017)
Another dual meet tournament featuring mostly southern tier small schools which was held at Bolivar-Richburg High School (V) over the weekend. Olean claimed the team title with a 9-0 record over the two days. The Huskies scored 52 or more team points in eight duals and defeated local rival Portville (2nd place, 8-1 record) 49-31. Don’t look now, but Olean (17-0) may be looking to play spoiler to the small school favorites at the Section VI Dual Meet Tournament. Watch for Olean at Chautauqua Lake on January 10th to be a crucial matchup of small schools heading into the Section VI Duals.
52nd Annual Teike-Bernabi Tournament at Spencerport (12/28-12/29/2017)
One the most respected tournaments in upstate New York held at the home of one of New York State’s most accomplished and storied programs. The tournament featured teams from Sections III, IV, V, and VI. The host Rangers (Sec. V) ran away with the tournament title scoring 365 team points. Lancaster finished second with 240.5 points, Rush-Henrietta (V) third with 233, Johnson City (IV) fourth with 188, and Clarence with 182.5 rounding the top five teams. Joe Andreessen (Lanc) recorded his 18th pin of the season and cracked Lancaster’s top ten wins’ leaders with 142 career victories. Andreessen was named the tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler with a tech fall of Ryan Tillich (R-H) in the 195-pound final. Willie McDougald (Niag. Falls) continued is dominate season with a 7-1 decision of Spencerports’s Tyler Mitchell in the 132-pound final. McDougald was newyorkwrestlingnews.com’s preseason #2 ranked large school wrestler at 132-pounds coming off his 6th place finish at the NYS tournament last season. Mitchell, the #4 ranked preseason 132-pounder, was a wildcard to last seasons’ Division 1 state tournament. Other local individual champions were Aiden Rabideau (Clar) at 113lbs, Cory Day (Iroquois) at 145lbs, Ryan Stencel (Lanc) at 152lbs, and Joe Mannarino (Clar) at 170lbs.
50th Annual Akron Holiday Varsity Tournament (12/29/2017)
This tournament featured a handful of big and small school Section VI locals as well as some out of section competition. Churchville-Chili (V) won the tournament with 177.5 points followed by Akron-Alden (156), St. Francis (129.5), Amherst (104), and Liverpool (Sec. III – 101 pts) rounding out the top five teams. Local champions were Dave Ball (Gowanda) 99lbs, Tyler Bartolomei (NT) 106lbs, Owen Kissell (AA) 126lbs, Zach Brown (Newfane) 152lbs, Robbie PeQueen (AA) 160lbs, Jacob Sarow (AA) 170lbs, Giuseppe Hoose (SWestern) 182lbs, Nolan Thomas (St. Fran) 195lbs, Jayden Heers (Newfane) 220lbs, and Calik Kennedy (Amh) 285lbs. Churchville-Chili crowned five individual champions.
Spc. Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament at Oswego State College (12/29-12/30/2017)
The annual memorial tournament featured over forty teams from across New York State. This is a grueling two-day tournament frequented by top teams and individuals from both big and small schools.   Section III large school power Fulton hosted the tournament and also claimed the team title with 257.5 points. Niagara-Wheatfield finished second with 179 points, followed by Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-Dewitt (III) in third with 176.5, Fairport (V) with 166, and Webster-Thomas (V) with 150. Newfane also took a small group of wrestlers. Justin McDougald (NW) secured three pins and a tech fall en route to the 126-pound final where he won by decision over previously undefeated Tyler Kellison of CBA/JD. Newfane’s Andy Lucinski secured four first period pins and a 2-0 decision in the semifinal to make it to the 99-pound final where he lost a decision to Devin Coleman of Camden (III). Niagara-Wheatfield’s Warren McDougald made the final in 145-pound weight class. He met fellow all-state wrestler TJ Philpotts of Holland Patent/Sauquoit Valley (III). McDougald took 7th at the 2016-2017 NYS tournament at 132-pounds in Division 1 while Philpotts was the third place finisher at 138-pounds last season in Division 2. Philpotts won the matchup of the all-state wrestlers by decision 6-3. Also placing were Collin Coughenour (NW) 6th at 99lbs, Logan Hasley (NW) 5th at 106lbs, Anthony Kuhn (NW) 8th at 106lbs, Jake DeWolf 6th at 138lbs, Josh Thibeault (NW) 6th at 152lbs, and Julian Nixon (Newfane) 5th at 182lbs.
Grand Island Duals (12/30/2017)
The host Vikings won their own tournament on Saturday with wins over Lake Shore, Chautauqua Lake, East Aurora, Orchard Park, and Fredonia. Chautauqua Lake took second and Jamestown was third. The ten team tournament was fielded completely by Section VI teams and split into two pools of five. Chautauqua Lake’s Bryce Rowe went undefeated and was mentioned to have been the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler. The team standings are as follows:
Grand Island
Westfield/Ripley/Chautauqua Lake
Jamestown
Frontier
Fredonia
Orchard Park
Wilson
East Aurora
Lake Shore
Lewiston-Porter
Other notable tournaments in upstate New York this weekend were the storied 61st Annual Windsor Christmas Tournament at Windsor (IV) and the power-packed Mountain Duals at Dolgeville (III). There were no attendees at these tournaments from Section VI.
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