WNY Wrestling Roundup: Week 5

It was a long and tough weekend of high school wrestling across NYS following the Christmas holiday. With tournaments starting Thursday and going through Sunday, some teams opted to stay in section while others traveled to compete. Others chose to not wrestle at all. With the planned days off from school most events were able to be spread over two days in grinding individual and dual meet tournaments. And, most importantly, the two-pound post-Christmas weight allowance was initiated. With the last half of the season on deck teams are coming down the final stretch of Duals qualification and league title races while individuals across the state determine what weights they’ll go for the rest of the season. This weekend had huge implications on all three subjects.

Dick Vincent Duals @ Letchworth H.S. (Thur 12/27 – Fri 12/28/2018)

Falconer avenged losses to Pioneer and Canisteo-Greenwood at last year’s event to win the 2018 edition going 10-0 over two days. WNY’s #1 small school team earned a 39-36 win over NYSSWA #3 ranked Canisteo-Greenwood (V) on Friday afternoon in a matchup between Section V’s and VI’s defending dual meet tournament champions. C-G was the state duals runner-up in Division II last season. WNY’s #1 and #2 Pioneer hit the mat first round on Friday morning. The Golden Falcons won eight bouts to Pioneer’s seven. After the first bout at 132, Falconer won the next seven bouts in a row. The Panthers answered with six straight wins after that. With the team score 32-31 Pioneer at the last bout, Falconer’s Joey Pillittieri won a major decision 8-0 to earn four team points and win the dual for Falconer 35-32. Pioneer finished the tournament 8-2 tied for third place with losses to only Canisteo and Falconer. The Golden Falcons finished the tournament with wins over three NYSSWA top 15 small school teams in the state (#3 Canisteo, #9 Pioneer, and #13 Perry-V) and three teams on the Sportswriter’s honorable mention (Midlakes-V, Palmyra-Macedon-V, and Warsaw-V).

Spc. Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament @ SUNY Oswego (Fri 12/28 – Sat 12/29/2018)

Niagara-Wheatfield went 3-for-3 in the finals and outpaced the host Fulton Red Raiders (III) 222 to 217 points to take the tournament team title. 30 teams from sections I, III, V, VI, X, and a team from Massachusetts participated at this year’s event which has become one of the notable Christmas week individual tournaments in upstate New York. Justin McDougald was the 132-pound champion followed immediately by Jake DeWolf who won the 138-pound title. Warren McDougald was the third Falcon champion at 145-pounds. Eight total place winners helped the Falcons to the team title including third place finishes by Collin Coughenour and Josh Thibeault. This was Justin McDougald’s first appearance at 132-pounds this season. Newfane sent a handful of athletes as well. Defending sectional champion and state place winner Andy Lucinski (season record 23-1) won the 99-pound Haines title with a dominating 14-4 major decision in the first place match. Ty Casinelli was 6th at 285-pounds for the Panthers.

Bolivar-Richburg Wolverine Scuffle (Fri 12/28 – Sat 12/29/2018)

WNY #6 Olean remained one of only two undefeated teams left in WNY after a 9-0 finish at the annual Bolivar-Richburg Scuffle. The Huskies are now 17-0 and are also a NYSSWA honorable mention team. The tournament was attended by all southern tier teams between sections V and VI. WNY #8 Portville, Maple Grove, and Franklinville competed as well. The tournament also serves at the dual meet championship for the ‘Expressway Wrestling Conference’ which features Portville and Franklinville and three teams from Section V that maintain a regional traditional wrestling rivalry. Portville was 3-1 against their Expressway rivals and 7-2 overall for second place in the tournament. In a dual between league rivals Portville and Maple Grove, the Panthers were winners 46-42 setting up a league showdown on Friday, January 18th in Portville. Currently the Dragons lead CCAA Div. II with a 3-0 league record while Portville is in second with a 2-0 league mark. Olean will travel to Fredonia for a big CCAA Div. I showdown on Wednesday, January 9th.

Grand Island Duals (Sat 12/29/2018)

Brockport (V) won the tournament championship with a 5-0 dual record on the day. WNY #5 Grand Island finished third overall after not being scheduled to wrestle Brockport. There were six teams in each pool. The Vikings defeated WNY #4 small school Fredonia 42-38 in the third place match. Frontier pulled off one of the big upsets of the season over the Hillbillies with a 39-36 win in their pool action. The Falcons also beat #10 small school East Aurora on Saturday. Other ranked teams piled on each other all day. #7 Chautauqua Lake defeated East Aurora. The Blue Devils also avenged an early December loss to #9 Lake Shore with a 45-28 win at Grand Island. A tough Orchard Park squad also earned their second win of the season over the Eagles in a close 45-38 dual. GI junior Adam Daghestani (season record 28-0) broke the Viking program all-time win record with his 129th career victory on Saturday. The record was held by Chris Ciehoski since 2003.

Akron Holiday Tournament (Sat 12/29/2018)

Niagara Falls had six finalists and took the tournament team title with 177 points followed by Amherst with 133.5 and West Seneca West with 111.5. Wrestlers from 21 teams represented at the 51st edition of the event. Falls crowned three champions in 120-pound Michael Snowden, 145-pound Willie McDougald, and 170-pound Joseph Dixon. McDougald was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after a 12-2 major decision over Churchville-Chili’s (V) Ty Raines, a 6th place finisher in NYS Div. I last season. Other area winners were Gowanda’s David Ball who earned a big overtime win against Depew/Cleveland Hill’s standout Carson Alberti in the 106-pound final. North Tonawanda’s defending sectional champion Tyler Bartolomei was the 113-pound tournament champion. Medina’s Colby Petrie won the 126-pound title. Amherst had two champions in Lenox Walker and Amandip Deo at 132 and 182-pounds, respectively. Newfane also had a pair of champions in Ryan Nugent at 138-pounds and Jayden Heers at 285-pounds. Barker/Royalton-Hartland’s Andrew Schafer won the 160-pound title and Lockport’s Javan Marble was the 195-pound champion. Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Sam Grey (season record 23-1) continued his strong season with a first period pin the final earning the tournament’s Aggregate Pin Award and 152-pound tournament championship.

Teike-Bernabi Memorial Wrestling Tournament @ Spencerport H.S. (Thur 12/27 – Fri 12/28/2018)

The host Rangers ran away with the team title scoring 430 team points. Clarence, Lancaster, and Iroquois followed in that order in the final team standings. Four area wrestlers earned tournament titles. Lancaster crowned a pair of champions in Nick Barberio at 120-pounds and Ryan Stencel at 152. Barberio earned his 100th career win on Thursday. Stencel earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the upper weights after earning five pins, a technical fall, and a 15-3 major decision in the final over Spencerport’s Mike Vinci. Vinci was 3rd in Section V last season. This was Stencel’s first competition at 152-pounds this season. Clarence’s Aiden Rabideau won the 126-pound title and the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights. Rabideau earned six pins (five in the first period and three in 32 seconds or less) and a 1-0 decision in the final over Section V place winner Michael LoPresti from Spencerport. This was Rabideau’s first competition at 126. Iroquois’s Jake Vergien dropped to 132-pounds for the first time this season and won the Teike title. Area runners-up were Lancaster’s Myles Gronowski (106), St. Joe’s Sullivan Walsh (170) and Matt Werts (195), and Iroquois’s Cory Day (160). Seven area wrestlers earned 3rd place and eight earned 4th places. Canisius and Cheektowaga also competed at the event.

KSA Events Holiday Wrestling Tournament @ Orlando, FL (Thur 12/27 – Fri 12/28/2018)

St. Francis traveled to the Sunshine State over the break and posted a 7-2 dual record in placing 3rd overall. Coincidentally the only two duals St. Francis lost were to teams from Maryland and Illinois. Nolan Thomas and Jack Lauer posted perfect 9-0 records on the weekend. Slade Merk and Dominik Thomas went 8-1 and Dan Browning and Logan Lauck went 7-2 over the two-day event. Two-time CHSAA champion Dominik Thomas broke the Red Raider program win record with his 135th career victory in a Raider uniform. Thomas has 193 career wins overall.