WNY Athletics Wrestling Postseason Awards

Cover photo courtesy of Bob Koshinski

The winter sports season has come and gone and spring sports in WNY are in full swing. This past winter, NYS got back on track with a full return to high school wrestling with very few bumps along the grueling 3+ month long road through the season.

WNY athletes, parents, coaches, and schools showed their resiliency in the 2021-2022 season after grinding through a tough 2020-2021 school year and a confusing, and at times, chaotic restart to competitive interscholastic wrestling in the area. In many places, wrestling programs thrived this winter, perhaps even more so than the season(s) leading up to the pandemic. For many programs, participation & competitiveness increased in 2021-2022 which gave us an opportunity to look back on a painful 2020 year and look ahead to strengthening our programs and relationships with one another in the wrestling community as a whole. ‘Resilient,’ an adjective that goes hand in hand with what it means to be a ‘wrestler’ is the operative word to use to describe the 2021-2022 WNY interscholastic wrestling campaign.

Awards & Recognition

The Western New York Wrestling Coaches Association adequately recognized the outstanding wrestlers, coaches, and contributors of the 2021-2022 season at the formal WNYWCA end of the season banquet. Here are some individuals that I would like to recognize in addition to the WNYWCA awards.

Div. I head coach of the year: Clint Schaefer, Lancaster

Div. II head coach of the year: Drew Wilcox, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley

Div. I assistant coach of the year: Kyle McGregor, Starpoint

Div. II assistant coach of the year: Kevin Lucinski, Newfane

Special recognition – coach: Zach Weiss, St. Mary’s

Special recognition – male athlete: Travis Browning, Frontier

Special recognition –  female athlete: Skylyn Tomlinson, Jamestown

Best dual meet: Section VI Division I Dual Meet final: #4 Lancaster 38 – #2 Starpoint 26

Newcomer of the year: Brayden Kellison-Neglia, Newfane

Unheralded Wrestler Award: Luke Tomlinson, Maple Grove

Selfless Soldier Award: Dan Kirsch

Most Outstanding Wrestler (each league):

CCAA I: Jordan Joslyn, Chautauqua Lake

CCAA II: Dakota Mascho, Portville

NFL: Brian Bielec, Grand Island

N-O: Aidan Gillings, Newfane

Msgr. Martin: Austin Zimmerman, St. Joe’s

ECIC I: Konrad Krzyszton, Frontier

ECIC II: Gage LaPlante, Starpoint

ECIC III: Dan Kirsch, Pioneer

Top ten moments of the 2021-2022 season

As always, it is hard to pick only ten of the very best moments of the season when it is a. over three months long and b. so many great things happen on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, not to forget athletes who overcome injuries and other incredible roadblocks just to be able to compete. However, here is my attempt at the top ten moments of the 2021-2022 season in WNY:

10. Simon Lingle’s OT pin secures Linda Knuutila Memorial Tournament team title for Newfane in walk-off fashion. Going into the 189-pound final at NCCC, Newfane trailed Niagara Falls by a half point with no wrestlers left to wrestle past 189 for either team. While Newfane tied Niagara Wheatfield with six placers, Lancaster (7) and the Wolverines (8) had more podium finishers, but Lingle’s dramatic overtime pin in the championship match lifted the Panthers to the team title as the five team points earned for that win landed Newfane at 161.5 to NF’s 156 points. Thirty-one teams competed in this year’s tournament that featured over two dozen Section VI champions & state tournament qualifiers.

9. Chautauqua Lake claims Class C/D title by a half point. #3 The Thunderbirds pulled their best Lee Corso “not so fast!” when they squeaked out the Class C/D team title by a single half of one point when many may have picked small school heavyweights #1 Newfane or #2 Falconer to come out on top. The T-Birds quietly had an excellent season highlighted by a number of impressive individuals. The Section VI champion Panthers and perennial powerhouse Golden Falcons caught most of the shine in Division II again this year, but Jordan Joslyn’s lone individual class title and eleven total CL place winners were just barely enough to outpace Falconer’s eleven place winners after they staged a ferocious comeback in the consolation final round. The final scores: Chautauqua Lake – 212.5, Falconer – 212, Newfane – 172.

8. Niagara Falls sends four sectional champs, five qualifiers to the NYS individual championships. The Wolverines put together another outstanding campaign in 2021-2022 earning numerous team and individual accolades. ‘Falls reached a new program milestone as well when four Wolverines captured Section VI Division I individual titles while advancing five total wrestlers to the state tournament, both of which are new program records. All four of head coach Josh Eagan’s champions (Eian Peterson, Jaden Crumpler, Amarfio Reynolds, Jr, and Mike Syposs) will return next season while senior Jesiere Carter capped off a great career with an appearance in Albany.

7. Pioneer and Iroquois tie for the Class B title. More often than not, class championship weekend is one of the most exciting weekends of the wrestling season in New York State. All four Section VI class tournaments did not disappoint this year, especially the Class C/D and Class B tournaments. As usual, the blue blood Panthers and Chiefs went toe to toe, TYING for the Class B title with 216.5 points apiece in the fifteen-team field. Both teams entered thirteen wrestlers in the tournament with eleven Panthers placing compared to ten for Iroquois. However, four Chiefs earned individual Class B titles compared to three champs for Pioneer. Obviously, mathematically speaking, this tie was a huge statistical anomaly. However, given the long standing rivalry between these two teams, the proud traditions of these programs, and the fact that a sectional class title was on the line made this one of the most exciting and memorable individual moments of the past season.

6. Unseeded Falconer reaches NYS dual meet championships semifinals. The mighty Golden Falcons made it back to the state duals to keep their perfect record of four appearances through the first four editions of the tournament. The 2020 NYS small school champions were drawn in as an unseeded team in a pool against Section I champion Edgemont and Section X champion Gouverneur. With no wrestlers with state tournament experience or sectional champions and only one wrestler with a 2020 sectional tournament placement, the seeding criteria put Falconer out of the top eight seeds. However, the well coached Golden Falcons put their own expectations first, reaching the semifinals for the third consecutive tournament after cruising in pool wins over Edgemont, 41-24, and Gouverneur, 39-24.

5. Newfane claims first Section VI Div. II Dual Meet title. It has been a long time coming for the hungry Panthers program looking to claim a Section VI Dual Meet title. Newfane earned the top seed for the Duals boasting a number of dual wins over some very quality teams leading up to the event. Due to the nature of this year’s tournament, Newfane went without a preliminary and semifinal match and thus only met WNY juggernaut Falconer in the final. An always well coached and well prepared Golden Falcons squad challenged the Panthers, but Newfane claimed wins in the final three bouts to secure the program’s first ever Section VI Div. II Dual Meet title and trip to Syracuse for the state championships.

4. Lancaster claims Section VI Dual Meet title as 4-seed in the tournament. The Legends quietly spent three of the first four weekends of the season before the Section VI Duals competing in Section V. In doing so, they took a few losses to some other very good teams while also earning some quality wins and mat time against wrestlers from outside of the Buffalo area. Lancaster was seeded behind powerful Niagara County teams (1) Niagara Falls, (2) Starpoint, and (3) Niagara Wheatfield, however nothing can replace experience and championship pedigree is part of the fabric of Legends Wrestling. Lancaster first took down a very talented Wolverines team, 30-25, in the semis before defeating a powerful Starpoint team, 38-26, to earn the program’s second Section VI Div. I Dual Meet title and third trip to the NYS championships.

3. Section VI Div. I and Div. II squads place top five at the NYS tournament. Anytime one single region can land both its large and small school teams in the top five of the final sectional team scoring at the state individual tournament warrants recognition. Even without a champion in both divisions, Section VI landed both teams in the top five of the team scoring in their respective sides for only the fourth time (2007, 2010, and 2018) since the advent of the split-division format in 2004. The Division II team placed thirteen wrestlers this year for a 4th place section-team finish while Division I placed fifth with nine state placers. Only Section V also placed both of its teams in the top five of each division.

2. Springville’s Nick Brown overcomes three deficits to reach state final; first ever Griffins state finalist. SGI senior Nick Brown had a legendary performance at the NYS individual championships in February that will go down in the record books. As the 7-seed in the tournament, Brown overcame three straight deficits to reach the NYS Div. II 160-pound final match in a totally improbable run. Nick first overcame a 5-0 deficit in his first match to defeat Port Jefferson’s Anthony Pipia 10-5 to advance to the quarters. Then, after trailing 11-2 at the start of the 3rd period to returning state place winner Emmett Wood from Tioga, Brown chose top to start the period and used his physicality to put Wood on his back and secure a pin with only thirty-five second left in the bout. In the Saturday semifinal, Brown used a reversal straight to near fall criteria for the first period pin after having been taken down by BGAH’s Brady Buttice to earn a spot in the NYS title match. Brown’s run to the state finals embodied the prolific tenacity, grit, and never give up attitude that makes wrestling man’s most truly legendary sport.

1.Coen Freundschuh’s walk-off pin carries Starpoint into the NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Championships semifinal. The Spartans had an incredible season (maybe the best in program history) from start to finish. Their appearance at the state duals was the first in team history, and they went ready to play. As an unseeded team, Starpoint took down perennial Duals entry Fox Lane before meeting a high powered Indian River team in pool action. Wrestling is as much of a team sport as it is individual, which Starpoint made very clear in Syracuse. Trailing big at the end of the 2nd period of the 110-pound final match of the entire dual, and the Spartans trailing by three points, 8th grader Coen Freundschuh reversed his Indian River opponent and secured the bout and match sealing, walk-off pin to vault the Spartans into the semifinals of the state duals. There aren’t many moments in sports that are more exciting and adrenaline-inducing than a walk-off pin in a wrestling dual meet, so the combination of that plus the milestones that Starpoint reached just on that day alone make it my top moment of the 2021-2022 season.

Honorary top ten moments of the 2021-2022 season

Pioneer continues winning ways in light of tragedy. Pioneer secured it’s eighth straight league championship this season with another perfect dual record in ECIC matches. League championships have come to be not only a priority but an expectation in Yorkshire, especially on their latest run. After the August 2021 tragedy that claimed the lives of two recently graduated senior wrestlers, the memory of Alex and Nate weighed heavily on the minds of this year’s Panthers, who also carried the weight of the inherent grind that is wrestling through the long season. However, in the face of difficulty and grief, the people of the rural communities that make up the Pioneer district showed tremendous resolve in completing another outstanding wrestling season, upholding the proud tradition that is Panthers Wrestling while honoring the deceased with the utmost dignity & grace.

Chautauqua Lake Girls Intersectional Championships a big success. Chautauqua Lake hosted the 3rd annual girls intersectional tournament on Saturday, February 19th with over 50 athletes representing four NYSPHSAA sections and the Msgr. Martin league, including a couple nationally top ranked athletes. The tournament was visited by Canadian Olympic medalist Tonya Verbeek as well. Three champions representing the Buffalo region were crowned to put an exclamation point on another fantastic event that just goes to show how fast and serious the wrestling movement amongst interscholastic females is in the United States.