Wheatfield, Falls Wrestlers Lead at Large School Sectional Championships; Section VI Div. I Roundup

Niagara Wheatfield and Niagara Falls led all area large school teams with three champions each at Saturday’s Section VI Division I Wrestling Championships at North Tonawanda HS.

In total, twelve wrestlers representing Falls & Wheatfield qualified for the NYSPHSAA federation championships in Albany, Feb. 24-25. The Falcons advanced seven wrestlers to achieve a new program and Section VI record helped by Evan Azbell (110-pounds) and Garrett Chase (145) who each took 3rd place and defeated the finals runners-up in their respective bracket’s true second place match to earn entries to the state championships.

The tournament featured eight ‘true second’ place matches as well, up from five such matches in the 2022 large school sectional championships.

The Niagara Frontier League led the field with seven sectional champions representing its member schools. Hamburg’s two individual champions led the Eric County Interscholastic Conference teams, of which six total sectional champions represented it’s member schools on Saturday.

Niagara Wheatfield led all teams with twelve place winners out of thirteen competing wrestlers followed by Niagara Falls who placed all nine competing wrestlers.

Both Hamburg/Eden and Williamsville North/East placed seven of nine entered wrestlers while Lancaster’s seven entries all placed in the top-6 of their weight classes.

**2023 Section VI Division I champions**:

102: Cullen Edwards (Frontier)

110: Eian Peterson (Niagara Falls)

118: Kenny Schmitz (Hamburg/Eden)

126: Jaden Crumpler (Niagara Falls)

132: Tremell Mathews (Niagara Wheatfield)

138: Te’Shaun Mathews (Niagara Wheatfield)

145: Cam Catrabone (Williamsville North/East)

152: Dylan Gagnon (North Tonawanda)

160: Mike Syposs (Niagara Falls)

172: Luke Smeader (Hamburg/Eden)

189: Jack MacDonald (Orchard Park)

215: Casey Robinson (Niagara Wheatfield)

285: Tommy Carlsen (Lancaster)

**Sectional runners-up/state tournament qualifiers**:

102: Trevor DellaPenta (Hamburg/Eden)

110: Evan Azbell (Niagara Wheatfield)

118: Bryce DellaPenta (Hamburg/Eden)

126: Amarfio Reynolds, Jr (Niagara Falls)

132: AJ Didas (Clarence)

138: Chase Richards (Niagara Wheatfield)

145: Garrett Chase (Niagara Wheatfield)

152: Cam Millender (Sweet Home)

160: Joe Cicco (Niagara Wheatfield)

172: Mikey Schaefer (Lancaster)

189: Evan Stencel (Lancaster)

215: Cam Hall (Niagara Falls)

285: Bryce Hawes (Clarence)

**102**

Frontier freshman Cullen Edwards reached the sectional final for the second straight year, this time winning the lightweight title to earn an automatic entry to the NYS tournament. Edwards reached the 2022 state tournament as an auto-qualifier for a runner-up performance in the Section VI championships. Edwards was a 6-4 winner in the Saturday final over Eden’s Trevor DellaPenta in their second meeting this season. DellaPenta also advances to the state championships – the first of four state qualifiers on the day for the Hamburg/Eden squad.

**110**

Niagara Falls sophomore Eian Peterson impressed as 2-seed in the weight class giving up only two points in three combined matches on Saturday while accumulating 32 points in those matches. In the final, Peterson earned revenge for a loss on Dec. 21 to Grand Island’s Dylan Castiglia in a big way with a 13-1 major decision victory to earn his second straight Section VI individual title and trip to states. Wheatfield’s Evan Azbell was the first true second place winner of the afternoon with a second period pin over Castiglia to qualifier for the state tournament.

**118**

Hamburg senior Kenny Schmitz captured the Section VI Div. II title for the second time in his career and earned an auto-qualification back to the state tournament. Schmitz was a title winner in the 2021 spring season and fell in the 2022 championship bout, but advanced to compete in Albany as the sectional runner-up. Schmitz was a 6-0 winner in the title bout over Eden’s Bryce DellaPenta, a returning Section VI Div. II champion, who entered the tournament unseeded and took down both the 3 and 2-seeds on the way to the final. Schmitz and DellaPenta will both represent the combined Hamburg/Eden team in Albany.

**126**

An inner-squad battle of two of the state’s best wrestlers at the weight saw returning Section VI champions Jaden Crumpler and Amarfio Reynolds, Jr from Niagara Falls face off in the 126-pound final. Returning NYS finalist Crumpler was a 7-2 decision winner over ‘Junior’ to repeat as champion and earn an automatic spot back to the state tournament. Reynolds, who is a returning 7th place winner in NYS, will join his Wolverine teammate in Albany. Crumpler is currently ranked #2 at 126-pounds in NYS large schools, Reynolds, #3.

**132**

Returning Section VI finalist and NYS tournament qualifier Tremell Mathews added another sectional title and trip to Albany on his resume in capturing the 132-pound large school title. Mathews previously won sectional title in the spring 2021 season. The Wheatfield senior defeated top seeded Clarence sophomore AJ Didas in the final, 8-3, to secure another trip to the state tournament. After falling in the final, Didas was confronted with a true second place match against a very talented wrestler in Niagara Falls’ Grady Peterson. After an aggressive opening period by both wrestlers, Didas secured the late first period pin to ensure his first trip to Albany for states.

**138**

Top seeded Wheatfield junior Te’Shaun Mathews cruised to the Section VI Div. I 138-pound title with a pin and two major decisions on Saturday. Mathews is a returning sectional finalist and NYS tournament qualifier. Te’Shaun earned a finals victory over freshman teammate Chase Richards by major decision, 10-1, for his first sectional title and 4th sectional place finish in the last five seasons. Richards defended his runner-up performance with a dramatic finish in the true second place bout, reversing Kenmore freshman Sawyer Dickinson with only seconds remaining in the 3rd period for the 4-3 decision victory and automatic entry to the state tournament.

**145**

Top seeded, nationally ranked Williamsville North junior Cam Catrabone captured his 5th consecutive Section VI title on Saturday with a 3-0, 3-pin day. After 6th place finishes in each of the last two state tournaments (2022 and 2020 – no tournament in 2021) Cam is a hopeful to capture his first individual state championship in Albany, which would also be a first for the Spartans’ program. 4-seeded Niagara Wheatfield sophomore Garrett Chase toughed out a 2-0 decision in the opening round and fell to Catrabone in the semifinal. After wrestling back to 3rd place, Chase took down Lancaster senior Carter Tadusz, 3-0, in the true second place bout to give NW back to back 3rd to 2nd place finishers and state tournament qualifiers.

**152**

The Div. I 152-pound final provided perhaps the most exciting final of the day at North Tonawanda as the hometown wrestler Dylan Gagnon secured a sectional title in overtime. Trailing 3-2 with less than twenty seconds left, Gagnon secured a takedown for a 4-3 lead on Sweet Home’s returning section finalist and state tournament qualifier Cam Millender. An escape by Millender with less than five seconds left sent the match to overtime. In OT, Gagnon countered a Millender shot to get the takedown to near fall points, ultimately holding on to win 9-4. Gagnon also received the tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler honors. The true second place match went uncontested due to a medical forfeit so Millender will head back to the state tournament.

**160**

Top seeded defending Section VI champion Mike Syposs from Niagara Falls dominated the field on Saturday earning two first period pins and a finals major decision to claim his second sectional title and the third of the day for the Wolverines while also reaching the 30-win mark on the season. Syposs was a 12-0 major winner Niagara Wheatfield junior Joe Cicco in the title match. Cicco held off Hamburg’s Evan Braunscheidel, 7-2, in the true second match to ensure a trip to the state tournament.

**172**

Hamburg senior Luke Smeader was one of four 2-seeded wrestlers to capture an individual title on Saturday as he pinned all three opponents on the way to the 172-pound title. Smeader took down top seeded and past Section VI champion Mikey Schaefer from Lancaster early in the third period of the title match directly to near fall criteria and ultimately the title-clinching pin to earn Hamburg’s second individual title of the afternoon. With the win, Luke joined his brother Jake (Class of 2017) as a Bulldog Section VI champion. Schaefer was a quick first period winner in the true second place match to secure a second career trip to the state championships.

**189**

Orchard Park junior Jack MacDonald continued his impressive 2022-2023 campaign with a 3-0, 3-pin day to claim his first sectional title. MacDonald was a 2022 runner-up but advanced to the state tournament as an auto-qualifier. MacDonald met a familiar foe in Lancaster’s Evan Stencel, also a returning sectional finalist and state tournament qualifier, in the title match, their 4th meeting of the season. After building a 6-2 lead, MacDonald ultimately secured a late second period pin in the championship bout. Stencel will also represent Section VI again after a major decision win in the true second place match to defend his runner-up position. A place finish in Albany for MacDonald would be the first state placer for the Quakers since the 2004 season.

**215**

Wheatfield’s Casey Robinson secured the third individual title for the Falcons on Saturday with a 3-0 tournament performance. After taking 3rd a season ago and ultimately winning the true second place match to reach states, Robinson claimed the 2023 215-pound title outright with a finals pin over Williamsville North/East sophomore Max Smith in the third period. Niagara Falls senior Cam Hall fell in the semifinal to Robinson, but like his Falcons counterpart last season, wrestled back to defeat Smith in the true second place match with a late third period pin to earn an auto-entry to the NYS championships.

**285**

Athletic Lancaster heavy weight Tommy Carlsen cruised to the 285-pound Section VI Div. I title as the top seed in the weight class going 3-0 with three pins on the day. Carlsen built a 6-0 lead halfway through the second period of the title match against Clarence sophomore Bryce Hawes before ultimately taking Hawes down straight to near fall for the pin in the last title match in the lineup. The finals clash was the fourth meeting of the season for the pair from the Border War rival schools. Hawes also earned an entry to the NYS tournament for his runner-up performance.