Section VI Division II State Qualifier Wrestling Roundup

Twelve of the fifteen top seeded wrestlers won Section VI titles on Saturday at Lake Shore HS with only six of them being defending Section VI champions. Two 2-seeds and one 3-seed earned titles as well. The Section should have a considerable amount of wildcards to the state tournament by week’s end. The ECIC had the most individual champions with seven total. The Chautauqua-Cattaraugus league had five champions, and three champions represented the Niagara-Orleans League.

99-pounds

Defending Section VI Div. II 99-pound champion and 6th place NYS finisher Andy Lucinksi stormed to his second sectional title earning a major decision and two pins against his opponents. Lucinski met 2-seed Brayden Newman from Falconer in the final and earned a third period pin to improve to 38-2 this season. Lucinski will be one of only two returning NYS place winners at weight in Albany.

106

Undefeated Gowanda sophomore David Ball earned the top seed and ultimately his first Section VI title on Saturday. Ball earned a quarterfinal tech fall, then gutted out a 2-0 decision win in the semifinal over Newfane’s Adam Huntington in the pair’s third meeting of the season. In the final, Ball met Iroquois’s 2nd seeded Donovan Bukaczeski and was a winner by decision, 8-5, for the 106-pound title. Ball is 33-0 going into the NYS Div. II tournament.

113

East Aurora’s top seeded Alex Skowronski won his first Section VI title on Saturday with a 10-8 finals decision over 2nd seeded Daniel Kirsch from Pioneer. It was the third meeting of the season between Skowronski and Kirsch, all three of which were won by Skowronski and decided by two points or less. Alex improved to 43-4 this season. Kirsch met 3-seed Michael Schiffhauer in the semifinal in the fourth meeting of the season between the two.

120

Newfane’s Josh Gill became the Panthers’ second champion in the first four weights in earning his first Section VI title. Gill entered the tournament as the top seed and earned a major decision and a pin to reach the final. Iroquois 3-seed Ryan Sweeney took down 2ndseeded Luke Tomlinson from Maple Grove in the semifinal by major decision, 16-8, to reach the final. Gill was a 5-1 winner over Sweeney in the Class B final, but used a last second escape in the third period tied 3-3 to win the sectional title by a 4-3 score.

126

After finishing second in the 2017-2018 state qualifier, Lake Shore’s Julian Martin gutted out three wins by two points or less on Saturday to win his first Section VI title. 126 may have been the deepest weight class in both Division I and II this weekend. Martin’s first match was against defending sectional place winner Brandon Wallace from Fredonia. Martin was a 3-1 winner to set up a semifinal showdown with teammate Kyle Killian. Martin was an ultimate tie breaker winner over Killian in the Class B final, 2-1, but earned the decision in regulation time on Saturday to advance to the final on a 4-3 win. In the final, Martin met top seeded Mohamed Alshawi, a defending sectional champion from Lackawanna. In a wild match, Martin prevailed 6-4 to earn his first trip to states.

132

This weight class featured many experienced wrestlers. Fredonia’s Giovani Russo was the 3rd seed but won his first Section VI title taking down a Section VI champion, a state tournament representative, and another sectional placer in the process. Russo went to states as a wildcard in 2017-2018. On Saturday the Fredonia senior met Chautauqua Lake’s defending sectional champion Brendon Ramsey in the quarterfinal and was a winner by decision, 9-2. In one of the most anticipated matches of the weekend, Russo met Iroquois’s Jake Vergien, also a wildcard to Albany last season, and was a winner by decision 6-4 to avenge the Class B final loss and advance to the Section VI final. In the final, Russo met another Thunderbird wrestler in Austin Bourgeois and cruised to the sectional title with an 8-0 major decision. Russo is 32-3 heading into the state tournament. Ramsey took 3rd and may end up back in Albany as a wildcard.

138

Top seeded Zach Braddell from Tonawanda and 2-seed Dalton Gardner out of Fredonia met for the second time in a week but this time with the Section VI title on the line. Braddell, a three-time Section VI champ and two-time state placer was a 7-4 winner in the Class B final over Gardner, also highly decorated as a two-time Section VI champion and one-time state place winner. Each earned a major decision and a fall to set up a rematch for Saturday’s final. After a scoreless first period, Gardner earned a point for an escape in the second period. Down 1-0 in the third and Gardner applying pressure for the entire period on top, Braddell was able to get the Fredonia junior off balance and earned a reversal with less than ten seconds left in the period. Braddell hung on to win his fourth sectional title. Assuming Gardner earns a wildcard to the state tournament, the possibility of an all-Section VI state final in Albany is very good.

145

Falconer’s top seeded Jimmy Kramer cruised to his first Section VI title with a pin and two major decisions on the day. The Golden Falcon junior met Newfane’s defending sectional runner-up Ryan Nugent in the final, but it was all Kramer as he got to work on top earning important near fall points to build the lead. Kramer improved to 48-5 on the season and has only earned three of those wins by forfeit.

152

Johnny Putney defended his Section VI title beating out a talented field of challengers on Saturday. After a quarterfinal technical fall, Putney met Portville’s defending 3rd place finisher Dakota Mascho in the semifinal. The young Panther star pushed the Blue Devil senior, but Putney prevailed 5-0 to advance to the final. On the bottom side of the bracket, 2-seed and defending qualifier 3rd place finisher Giovanni Schifano from Eden also earned a quarterfinals tech fall to set up a rematch with Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s defending 4th place winner Sam Grey. Schifano was a 4-0 winner over Grey on January 26th and gutted out another close 3-0 decision in Saturday’s semifinal. In their only meeting of the season, Putney was a winner by major decision 13-0 back in December. However, the Eden standout kept it closer but ultimately fell 3-1 to Putney in the final. While Schifano fell to 41-3 on the season, Putney improved to 42-3. In their fourth meeting of the season, Mascho decisioned Grey 8-6 to take 3rd place in the weight and tie the season series 2-2 with Grey.

160

Iroquois’s defending Section VI champion and NYS 4th place winner Cory Day earned two pins to advance to Saturday’s final for the third straight season. In the final, Day met Falconer’s Nick Saeger. Day was a winner by decision 10-3 to improve to 39-3 this year. Day may be a, if not the, favorite to win the NYS Div. II title in Albany in two weeks. Saeger was 6th in Section VI last year and is 44-10 on the season.

170

Fredonia had four finalists and two champions on Saturday, one being top seeded Ceric Kristan who won his first Section VI title after placing 4th last season. Kristan squared off with Franklinville’s Cleon Lawton, also a defending sectional place winner, in the final. Kristan was a 3-1 winner for the second Fredonia championship of the night. Ceric has been solid for the Hillbillies all season posting a 36-6 record going into states.

182

Tonawanda’s Jason Frazer was all business on Saturday night as he looked to take the wide open weight class for himself. Frazer posted two pins and a final match major decision to win the Section VI Division II title and advance to Albany. In the final, Frazer met Maple Grove’s Jake Tomlinson and quickly built a lead to cruise to the championship, winning 15-5. Jason improved to 34-7 on the season.

195

Very few wrestlers in WNY have had as an impressive season as Facloner’s defending Section VI champion Robbie Penhollow. Penhollow disposed of his competition on Saturday with two pins and a final match major decision to defend his sectional title and continue his path to a state championship. Penhollow met Akron’s Millard Young for the third time this season and the second time in as many weeks in the Saturday final. Penhollow came out strong and never looked back cruising to a 14-2 win. Robbie improved to 45-1 overall this season. Young is 29-4 with three losses to Penhollow and one to an out of section wrestler. After a 3rd place finish in last season’s qualifier, Young may have enough points to earn a wildcard.

220

Pioneer’s Mike Rigerman hasn’t allowed the momentum built up from the football season to wane whatsoever, as he improved to 39-0 this season, earning twenty-seven of those wins by pin. Rigerman is the defending Section VI champion and a 4th place NYS finisher. On Saturday he pinned his way through the tournament again to claim his second straight sectional title. Mike should be the favorite to capture a NYS title in Albany.

285

The weight class was one where pretty much anything could happen on Saturday. Newfane held the top two seeds in 1-Ty Cassinelli and eventual champion 2-Jaden Heers. 4th seeded Ben Szymanowski from Chautauqua Lake returned after having competed at the state tournament last season as a wildcard. Szymanowski took down the top seeded Casinelli with a late third period pin in the semifinal. On the bottom of the bracket, Heers faced off with 3-seed Pioneer wrestler Trevor Smith and advanced to the final with an 8-3 decision. In a back and forth match, Heers earned a fall as the second period was about to expire to win the Section VI title and punch his ticket to the NYS tournament.