Section VI Division II Wrestling Sectional Championship Roundup

Cover photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert/MaxPreps

Saturday’s Division II championship in Southwestern was highlighted by an impressive slate of finals, exciting semifinal bouts, and dozens of consolation round matches critical for wildcard consideration, resumes for underclassmen returning next year, and at least bragging rights in one of the state’s traditionally strong ‘small school’ sections.

NYS Dual Meet champion Falconer again led the field with eleven place winners in the tournament led by three finalists and one champion in 182-pound senior Hudson Johnson. Johnson is 7-0 this postseason and has pinned all seven of his opponents in the first period of his matches, including a late first period pin over Fredonia’s defending Section VI champion Ceric Kristan in the 182-pound final at Southwestern.

“He is on a roll right now,” said Falconer head coach Drew Wilcox on Johnson’s explosive postseason performance. “He’s doing the right things in and out of the practice room and it’s paying off for him.”

While Falconer placed the most wrestlers, Newfane led all Section VI teams in both divisions with four individual champions on Saturday night. Iroquois and Fredonia tied with eight place winners apiece followed by Olean, Southwestern, and Franklinville with five each while four wrestlers placed for Pioneer, Chautauqua Lake, and Maple Grove.

99: The most intriguing weight class of the entire postseason was finally sorted out. 4-seeded Newfane 7th grader Aidan Gillings used two third period takedowns to upset top seeded Caden Barrientos from Lewiston-Porter in the semifinal, evening their season series at 1-1. Gillings would go on to pin Chautauqua Lake’s 2-seed Martin Ohlsson in overtime in the championship bout to join Ryan Needle as the only other middle schooler in program history to qualify for the state tournament. Barker/Royalton-Hartland’s Gavin Ciarfella claimed 3rd in the loaded bracket defeating Eden’s 7-seed Johnny Vicario (who edged Barrientos, 7-6) in the consolation final. Barrientos would finish 5th overall and Pioneer’s Xander Kirsch 6th.

106: Division II’s only returning state place winner in Andy Lucinski claimed his third consecutive sectional title. The Newfane junior defeated Falconer’s Brayden Newman 8-3 in the final in the pairs’ second straight sectional final meeting. Newman avenged a loss from the class tournament semifinal in Saturday’s sectional semifinal as well. Franklinville’s Ethan Coleman capped off a solid season with a 3rd place finish in the weight class, earning a high quality win over Iroquois’s Peter Gaglio for third. East Aurora’s Nolan Skowronski finished 5th overall followed by Lake Shore’s Blake Hageman.

113: One of the highly anticipated matches of the weekend saw Pioneer sophomore and returning sectional finalist Daniel Kirsch take down defending Section VI champion Dave Ball in the championship match. Kirsch held onto a 1-0 lead throughout the third period, not allowing Ball to score from bottom position for two whole minutes. The championship rounds were highlighted by a number of close decision wins among the athletes, as the top seeded Ball won two decision matches to make the final while 2-seed Kirsch earned a decision and then an 8-4 OT win in the semifinal. Iroquois sophomore Michael Schiffhauer earned 3rd in the tough bracket with an OT pin over Chautauqua Lake’s Trent Burchanowski. Newfane’s Adam Huntington finished 5th and Falconer’s Austin Chase finished 6th.

120: Defending Section VI champion Carson Alberti defended his title on Saturday defeating Iroquois’s returning state tournament qualifier Donovan Bukaczeski 6-4 in overtime in the final. Bukaczeski earned the 7-5 decision win a week ago in the Class B final, however the Alden/Depew sophomore earned an escape with less than a minute left in third period to tie the match 4-4 and then secured the takedown in OT for the win. CL’s 3-seeded Hunter Harris wrestled back to 3rd place while Southwestern’s Michael Carnes finished 4th, followed by Tonawanda’s Nick Szortyka (5th) and Olean’s Nate Gabler (6th).

126: East Aurora’s Alex Skowronski met and fell to Iroquois’s Jake Jozwiak in the Class B final and ECIC semifinals, however the defending Section VI champion came out on top in their third meeting of the season with an OT takedown for the 7-5 win to retain the sectional crown. 2-seed Skowronski had to hold off SW’s 3-seeded Garrett Swan, 6-4, in the semifinals while top seeded Jozwiak edged Falconer’s 4-seed Joey Pillittieri 2-1 in the semi. Swan would wrestle back to 3rd in the weight class defeating Pillittieri in the consolation final. Alden/Depew’s Mike Alberti finished 5th in the bracket and Eden’s Blake Colantino 6th.

132: Top seeded returning sectional finalist Ryan Sweeney claimed his first career Section VI title and qualifying to Albany. The Iroquois sophomore was a 12-6 decision winner over a very strong opponent in Maple Grove’s Luke Tomlinson in the final, a returning sectional 3rd place winner. Both sophomores should be wrestlers to watch over the next to two years as well while Tomlinson has a real chance at a wildcard to Albany. Tomlinson met returning Section VI champion Julian Martin from Lake Shore in the quarters, edging the Eagles junior 9-7. Martin wrestled all the way to 3rd place beating three higher seeded wrestlers and guaranteeing consideration for a wildcard to the state tournament. Eden’s Shane Walczyk finished 4th while Falconer’s Hunter Teboe (5th) and Franklinville’s Nolan Palmatier (6th) rounded out the weight’s place winners.

138: Chautauqua Lake’s Brendon Ramsey made it back to the top of the podium with his second sectional title in three years. The returning third place finisher who won the Section VI title in 2017-2018 used two pins and a finals decision over Newfane’s Nik Voelker, 9-3, to claim the Thunderbirds’ first title since his own two years ago. Class B champion Alex Miley from Pioneer fell in the semifinal to Voelker, but wrestled back to 3rd place defeating Iroqouis’s Tristan DeGrace in a class final rematch first before defeating Lewiston’s Ciaran Edwards for 3rd. DeGrace finished 5th in the weight class followed by Dunkirk’s Adam Sanchez (6th).

145: Newfane junior Ryan Nugent claimed his first Section VI title as the top seeded wrestler in the bracket. Nugent fell in the 2019 final but earned a wildcard to the NYS tournament. After a strong junior season the Panthers star will head back to Albany as an automatic qualifier. Nugent earned two pins and a finals decision, 6-0, over 2-seed Kameron Riordan from Pioneer in the championship match. Riordan met Fredonia’s Hunter Larson in the semifinal winning an 11-2 major decision after having beaten the Silver Creek sophomore 5-3 in the Class B final. Larson claimed 3rd place in the bracket followed by Barker/Royalton-Hartland’s 7-seeded Colby Hancock, who took down three higher seeded wrestlers to reach the consolation final. Springville’s Nick Brown finished 5th while Gowanda’s Dominik Rodriguez took 6th.

152: Portville sophomore star Dakota Mascho earned the top seed in the bracket, cruising past his first two opponents before defeating Falconer’s 2-seed Bryce Baglia by the same score, 7-1, in the sectional final as in the Class C/D final to become the first Panthers Section VI champion since Nick Kozlowski in 2017. Mascho has taken 3rd in each of the last two seasons, but finally punched through as an automatic qualifier to the NYS tournament. Baglia was 3rd in Section VI last year and maybe a recipient of a wildcard to Albany. East Aurora’s Joplin Hess avenged a loss to Fredonia’s Cole Golembieski from the Class B final in the sectional quarterfinal before falling to Baglia by a narrow 2-0 margin. Hess was a winner by pin over Lake Shore’s Devin Jeffery for 3rd in the bracket in the fifth meeting of the season between the two wrestlers. Golembieski captured 5th in the weight class while Gowanda’s Ethan Fort finished 6th.

160: Top seeded and returning sectional finalist and state tournament qualifier Giovanni Schifano claimed his first Section VI title and became the Eden Raiders’ first since Alex Smythe in 2014. Schifano earned an automatic qualification to Albany after having placed top three in the Section three times with two sectional runner-up finishes previously. Giovanni was a 6-2 decision winner of Olean’s Gavin Kulp in the final, who elected to compete up a weight class for the postseason after wrestling 152 during the regular season. Iroquois junior Tyler Barry improved off his 2019 sectional place finish with a pin in the consolation finale for 3rd place. Gowanda’s Everette Golden finished 4th in the bracket followed by Olean’s Jeramiah Crivelli (5th) and Falconer’s Mack Mikula (6th).  The placements perfectly matched the seeds in this weight class.

170: Tonawanda senior Jason Frazer captured his second consecutive Section VI title as the top seed in the bracket. Frazer pinned in his first match before edging Falconer’s 5-seeded John Kozlowski 10-6 in the semifinal. Frazer was a winner by medical forfeit in the championship match over Portville’s Jayden Lassiter who was unable to compete. Lassiter did however defeat Franklinville’s 2-seeded returning sectional finalist Cleon Lawton in the semifinal, whom he lost to 3-2 at the class tournament. Lawton wrestled back to 3rd defeating another Portville star in Roland Thompson in the consolation final. Southwestern’s Tate Bryant took revenge for a 4-2 loss in the quarterfinal to Kozlowksi with a second period pin in the 5th place bout.

182: Falconer’s Hudson Johnson has rolled through his postseason opponents and didn’t slow down on Saturday as he claimed his first career Section VI title and qualifying to Albany. Johnson was a 3rd place finisher in 2018-2019. The Falconer senior earned two more first period pins before earning a fall over Fredonia’s defending Section VI champion Ceric Kristan in the final with less than thirty seconds left in the opening period of the match. Iroquois junior Ryan Current wrestled back to 3rd in the weight class after falling to Johnson in the semifinal. Maple Grove’s Kyle Trim finished 5th in the bracket while Southwestern’s Tyler Williams and Franklinville’s Everett Leonard finished 5th and 6th, respectively.

195: The host’s young star Dontae Hoose captured his first Section VI title after having placed 3rd as a freshman in 2019. The top seeded Hoose led a field of all-Class C/D top seeds, edging 4-seeded Brock Johnson from Falconer, 5-4, in the semi before cruising to a 10-1 major decision over Franklinville’s Kyle Wittenrich in the Saturday night final. Wittenrich defeated defending Section VI finalist Jake Tomlinson from Maple Grove 10-5 in the semifinal as the 3-seed in the weight class. Tomlinson did wrestle back to 3rd overall edging Johnson 9-7 in the third place match. Fredonia’s unseeded Matt Lotter lost in the first round but wrestled back to 5th defeating Medina’s 5-seeded Riley Black 9-8 in the final match of the day.

220: Olean’s top seeded Conner Walsh wouldn’t be denied a Section VI title after last year’s 3rd place finish in Division I. Walsh pinned both of his first opponents in the first period before tying Fredonia’s 2-seeded Alex Christy in the third period of Saturday’s 220-pound championship match. Nearly half way through the one minute overtime period Walsh earned a takedown securing a 6-4 win and trip to Albany for the state tournament. Maple Grove’s 5-seeded Zachariah Padd was upset in the first round of the tournament, but won four straight matches to capture 3rd in the weight class. Lackawanna’s Christian Miller finished 4th followed by Falconer’s Collin Beichner (5th) and Dunkirk’s Bradley Jones (6th).

285: The highly anticipated small school 285-pound championship was finally settled as defending Section VI champion Jaden Heers retained his title with a 6-4 finals decision over Albion heavyweight Cody Wilson in the finale. It was the fourth meeting of the season for the Niagara-Orleans rivals, all of which were decided by two or one points. After not placing in 2019, the Newfane senior could be considered a contender for a NYS title in Albany. Wilson, a 4th place finisher in 2019, defeated Fredonia’s 2-seeded Jake Skinner with a semifinals pin after falling by a 3-2 margin in the ultimate tiebreaker period of their Class B final. Skinner, a returning sectional finalist, placed 3rd in the weight class followed by Falconer’s Collin Mower (4th), Olean’s Anthony Addotta (5th), and Fredonia’s Yaniel Acevado (6th).