The 5th Section VI Dual Meet Wrestling Championships were contested for the fourth time in the history of the event (the 2018-2019 tournament was cancelled) on Saturday at Lancaster High School. This year’s tournament, unlike in previous seasons, saw a very different format that resulted in the same competitive, entertaining, and high quality dual meet showdowns.
The WNY #2 ranked and 4-seeded Lancaster Legends upended the top ranked and seeded Niagara Falls Wolverines in the semifinal round, 30-25, on the way to the program’s third appearance in the championship match out of four contested tournaments. In the final, the Legends met #3 ranked and 2-seeded Starpoint in an all-ECIC affair with a sectional title on the line. The rising Spartans challenged the Legends, however the eight wins and five pins in favor of Lancaster was enough to outpace Starpoint as Lancaster held on for the 38-26 victory in the home gym.
Starting at 118-pounds, Starpoint’s returning sectional finalist JR Leuer earned an 11-3 major decision good for a four point Spartans lead. At 126, another Spartans defending sectional runner-up in 8th grader Griffin LaPlante added six points to the team score for a 10-0 lead. LaPlante’s weigh in at 126 was a crucial move for the head coach Steve Hart’s strategy which allowed for an extra element of versatility in stretching the heart of the Spartans lineup.
After falling behind 10-0 in the team score after two bouts, Lancaster got on the board with a decision win courtesy of four time Section VI place winner Myles Gronowski at 126. Starpoint’s returning sectional placer Zach Caldwell had the momentous task of taking on two very experienced wrestlers on Saturday and held each to decisions in both of Starpoint’s duals. While Gronowski was a winner by decision, Lancaster did lose a team point off the mat which would only give Lancaster two team points instead of three for the win and affecting strategy for the remainder of the dual.
The Legends’ Carter Tadusz made a statement with a gigantic pin at 138-pounds to give Lancaster some essential bonus points. Starpoint’s 2020 sectional champion Gage LaPlante interrupted the Lancaster run with a major decision at 145-pounds to make the team score 14-8, however a core group of experienced Legends wrestlers were on the way.
Lancaster’s Micah Harry started off a four match run for the Legends with a decision win at 152-pounds. 2020 Section VI champion Michael Schaefer impressed with a quick pin at 160 to take the lead for Lancaster while Evan Stencel and Sam Judasz earned a critical pin and decision win, respectively, to help build a 23-14 team lead.
Starpoint senior Thomas Browne gained back some team points with a big pin at 215-pounds, however Lancaster heavyweight strongman Tommy Carlsen added another enormous pin at 285 for a 32-20 lead, exactly two pins-worth of team points ahead.
In the final two bouts of the match, Starpoint’s last ditch effort to tie were on the shoulders of their two lightest athletes. Kole Haseley gained a critical pin at 102-pounds bringing the dual to within one pin, 32-26. However, Lancaster’s freshman female phenom Trista Blasz shrugged off the pressure of the moment and sealed the championship for Lancaster with a pin at 110-pounds.
Lancaster’s 38-26 victory is the program’s second Section VI Duals title after they last won in 2018. The Legends will make their third trip to the state dual meet tournament on Saturday, January 29th at SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga County Community College in Syracuse. Lancaster is 0-4 all-time at the state duals, however with a number athletes on the current roster that participated in Syracuse in 2020, the Legends are hopeful to capture that elusive first win for the program resume.
Despite the loss, the 2022 Section VI Duals provided a number of program milestones for the rising Niagara County power. Prior to the final, Starpoint earned its first ever program victory over WNY heavyweight Niagara Wheatfield, 30-26. Starpoint led in that dual 30-10 before electing to forgo the final two bouts with the victory already in hand. Also, the Spartans made their first appearance at the Duals since the 2017 season in which the team won a match but missed placing. The runner-up finish on Saturday gave Starpoint its first placement at the tournament and a very realistic possibility of earning a wildcard to the state duals.
With only four teams in attendance, only two semifinal matches were contested. The field of seven entered teams were required to schedule a quarterfinal match in the week leading up to championship Saturday, with the exception of Niagara Falls who earned a bye as the top seed.
Due to the poor weather conditions and school closings on Thursday, the 7-seed Orchard Park at 2-Starpoint and 5-seed Clarence at 4-Lancaster matches were cancelled altogether. However, one quarterfinal was contested as 2020 champion and 3-seed Niagara Wheatfield defeated the 6-seed Williamsville North/East Spartans, 59-11, in Williamsville’s second ever appearance in the Duals. Orchard Park was set to finally compete in the Duals for the first time after having qualified in 2019 when the tournament was cancelled.
In the semifinal match, Lancaster trailed Niagara Falls 17-6 after six bouts, but five wins in the final seven bouts with three pins and one major decision were enough to put the Wolverines away after the 215-pound pin courtesy of Judasz. Without a heavyweight, Falls was forced to forfeit to Carlsen putting the match out of reach, 30-21. Falls’ Thomas Crumpler added a major decision at 102-pounds to end the match with a final score of 30-25 Lancaster.
Blasz, Gronowski, Ethan Monin, Schaefer, Stencel, Judasz, and Carlsen won individual bouts against Niagara Falls. Wolverines winners were Crumpler, Ja’shad Bumpers, Amarfio Reynolds, Jr., Darren Christian, Mike Syposs, and Jesiere Carter.
Starpoint’s 30-26 victory over Wheatfield was highlighted by a number of impressive individual performances. Gage LaPlante’s third period pin over Wheatfield’s Collin Coughenour at 145-pounds was a critical moment for the wrestler and the team. Leuer was a winner by decision over Chase Richards, Zach Caldwell was impressive in holding defending Section VI champion Tremell Mathews to a decision, and Payton Lyness challenged Te’Shaun Mathews in a major decision loss. With these results, Starpoint was able to neutralize bonus team points that the Falcons normally rely on from their core group in duals.
In the 3rd place dual, NFL rivals Falls and Wheatfield met in a Niagara Cup preview. Falls was a 35-24 winner led by eight individual winners. The dual featured a number of bouts between high level athletes and returning sectional placers. Wheatfield only won five weights, three of which were forfeits with only two head to head winners.
Winners for Falls were Eian Peterson, Bumpers, Jaden Crumpler, Reynolds, Christian, Syposs, Carter, and Max Hill. The 3rd place finish is the first and highest team placement at the Duals for the Wolverines program.
Individual bout winners for Wheatfield against Falls were Richards, Te’Shaun Mathews, Dylan Pringle, Casey Robinson, and Trevon Mathews.
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