Tournament results and notes for the week of Wednesday, Dec. 27th – Saturday, Dec. 30th, 2023.
Wednesday, Dec. 27th – Thursday, Dec. 28th
Dick Vincent Duals @ Letchworth HS (V)
The annual Dick Vincent tournament over the Christmas break has quietly been one of the most impactful dual tournaments of the season for NYS small school heavyweight squads, especially after the introduction of the state dual meet championships. The 2023 edition was no different as the same top-4 teams from last year and perennial powerhouses from section's V and VI finished in the top four spots again with some excellent battles between one another.
Section V favorite Palmyra-Macedon captured the team title with a perfect 10-0 record over the two day tournament. Returning Section VI Div. II dual meet champion Chautauqua Lake finished in 2nd place at 8-2, followed by last season’s Section V small school champion and state duals semifinalists Canisteo-Greenwood with an 8-2 record. Falconer rounded out the top-4 teams also with an 8-2 record and another impressive showing in Letchworth.
Day one of the tournament saw P-M defeat in section rival Canisteo, 44-32, for an important result to take note of as the Section V duals are upcoming. Both of these teams have state dual meet tournament experience; Palmyra last competed in 2020 but C-G has been to four of the first five events. Should P-M make it back to Syracuse the powerful Raiders could end up as the top seeded Div. II team or at least one of the favorites to claim the state dual title.
In a matchup of the neighboring sections’ top ranked small school teams, Palmyra was a 36-33 winner over Chautauqua Lake on Thursday for a crucial head to head that could very likely have a big impact on state duals seeding. It is important to take note that the Eagles were without two key contributors for the Duals at Letchworth, one of whom is a returning NYS tournament place winner. Chautauqua Lake did earn an impressive win over Canisteo, 44-24, on Thursday as well. Like Palmyra, should Chautauqua return to the state duals with a full lineup the Eagles would certainly be in the title conversation as well.
Although the result won’t have bearing on the league race or Section VI Duals seeding, #2 Falconer upended the WNY top ranked and CCAA I rival Eagles, 38-36, on Thursday in Letchworth. After falling in all three meetings last season, the Golden Cougars earn the big win in the teams’ first head to head of 2023-2024.
Falconer came back after falling behind 30-0 to start the dual against Chautauqua Lake. Evan Newman got the Golden Cougars on the board with a decision at 116 before Dylan Newman and Gabe Lundmark earned crucial pins for Falconer. Jordan Joslyn won the only match for the Eagles in the final eight bouts of the dual. Three more Golden Cougars picked up big pins from 145-160 before Patrick Braley capped the come from behind win off for Falconer with a tech fall at 170 to earn five team points for the 38-36 win.
Falconer conceded forfeits at 285 and 108-pounds but won seven total weights to CL’s six and picked up five pins to four for the Eagles. Dylan Newman went unbeaten at 10-0 for Falconer over the course of the tournament while Joslyn and Mason Maring went unbeaten for Chautauqua Lake.
Photo courtesy of Jerzie Smith
Thursday, Dec. 28th
Grand Island Duals
Pittsford (V) repeats as team champion, unranked Gowanda upends #7 Grand Island
Section V powerhouse Pittsford cruised to the GI Duals team title for the second straight year going 6-0 on Thursday. A scrappy Gowanda squad wrestled to a runner-up finish posting a 5-1 record and earning perhaps the surprise victory of the day taking down WNY #7 large school Grand Island by a razor thin one point margin. The dual featured a double forfeit at 215 and the Vikings accepting the only true forfeit at 108. However, the Panthers won seven matches to GI’s six, and five pins compared to only three for the host team to secure a 34-33 victory.
Gowanda also got revenge on league rival Randolph for a 46-28 loss on Dec. 20th by taking down the Cardinals with another narrow 34-33 win. Michael Horth came up huge for Gowanda in defeating Randolph’s star junior Caden Inkley by decision, 9-4, at 160-pounds.
Photo shared by Gowanda Varsity Panther Wrestling on Facebook
Randolph fell by a narrow 34-33 (yes another 34-33) margin to Grand Island. The Vikings jumped out to a 21-0 lead on the Cardinals to start the dual but Randolph responded winning six of the last nine weights. GI received the dual’s only forfeit which proved to be a big difference maker in the final team score. Wilson earned wins over Sheffield, PA and Tonawanda.
Lakemen junior heavyweight Hamza Merrick captured his 100th career victory on the day as well, becoming only the fourth wrestler in program history to achieve the century wins mark. Merrick, Willie Wortkoetter, and Jacob Stephenson were named to the GI Duals all-tournament team for Wilson while Dani Daghestani, Dylan Castiglia, and Alejandro Perez earned all-tournament honors for the Vikings.
Final team standings:
1. Pittsford 6-0
2. Gowanda 5-1
3. Grand Island 4-2
4. Randolph 3-3
5. Wilson 2-4
6. Sheffield (PA) 1-5
7. Tonawanda 0-6
Thursday, Dec. 28th – Friday, Dec. 29th
66th Annual Windsor Christmas Tournament @ Windsor HS (IV)
Hoose, Buttery lead WNY athletes at Windsor; Southwestern narrowly finishes top-3 in final team standings
The annual upstate New York classic that has been running longer than the NYS championships brought together wrestlers from large and small school teams across the state as well as a few squads from Pennsylvania.
Nine WNY wrestlers reached the semifinals after wrestling on day one however only four advanced to the finals after Friday morning. 190-pound champion Tavio Hoose went 4-0 on the way to the title and helped to pace Southwestern to a 3rd place team finish with 97 points, only one point ahead of 4th place Honeoye Falls-Lima (V) in the team standings. The young Trojan star earned a pin in his first match on Thursday but was pushed in the next three matches, wrestling six minute decision victories in each of them including a 5-2 win in the 190-pound final.
Southwestern’s Adrian Torres went 3-1 over the tournament but fell in the 101-pound final. Trojan senior Neves Hoose wrestled to a 4th place finish at 170, while junior Carmine Calimeri wrestled to a 5th place finish at 131. Carmine fell only to the eventual champion in the semifinals and to Homer’s (III) Hunter Lines in the consolation semifinal. However, he did earn a quality win over another returning state tournament qualifier in Horseheads’s (IV) Cody Dale, 9-3, for 5th place at Windsor.
St. Francis, without the LaPlatne brothers, landed a 7th place team finish with 83 points (despite not having an individual champion), less than five points ahead of Section III’s Indian River with 78.5 team points. Four Red Raiders placed at Windsor led by 108-pound runner up Cullen Edwards. Edwards went 3-1 on the tournament, earning a quality win over Chenango Valley’s (IV) Anthony Valls in the semifinal, but had his unbeaten start to the season come to an end with a 6-2 decision loss in the final to Norwich’s (IV) Maverick Beckwith, a returning Div. II state tournament 3rd place finisher.
Sophomore Zach Caldwell wrestled to a 3rd place finish for the Raiders at 190-pounds. Caldwell dominated his first two opponents in the championship bracket before falling to the eventual runner-up in the semifinal. For the second time this season, Caldwell met up with teammate Connor Miller in a tournament competition and was a 3-2 winner to advance to the 3rd place match. Zach picked up a quality win over Horsehead’s returning state tournament qualifier Hunter Lavigne, 17-4, for Windsor bronze. Miller posted a 4-2 tournament record on the way to 5th place. Unseeded sophomore Tim McCann wrestled to a 4th place finish at heavyweight going 3-2 in the tournament. McCann was also awarded the event’s ‘Sportsmanship Award.’
Newfane’s three star athletes all competed at Windsor again. Junior Ayden Buttery placed 5th at the tournament a year ago but captured the 145-pound title in the 2023 edition going 4-0 and earning a pair of high value head to head wins. Buttery cruised past his first two opponents before earning a first period pin over fell returning NYS tournament qualifier Waylan Winseman from HFL in the semifinal. In the final, Ayden met Tioga’s (IV) 2022 state place winner Tyler Roe for another one of the nights’ all-NYS championship matches. A late third period escape by Buttery was the bout’s only score of the 145-pound final as he would hold on to win 1-0 for the Windsor title.
The 138-pound bracket featured the most individually accomplished group of four wrestlers in the tournament with nine state place finishes between the athletes. Newfane’s Aidan Gillings (3x state placer) landed the 2-seed behind Tioga’s 2x NYS champ and 2023 runner up Gianni Silvestri. Gillings earned a quality 7-0 decision over Ithaca’s (IV) returning state qualifier Quentin Getzin in the quarterfinal but fell to Lowville’s (III) two time state place winner Patrick Grimsey in the semifinal, 3-2. ‘Gilly’ earned another quality win with a 4-0 decision over Towanda’s (PA) Rylee Sluyter in the consolation semifinal. In the third place match, HFL’s 2022 state placer Jacob McVige overpowered Aidan for Windsor bronze.
Top seeded Newfane senior JJ Lucinski reached the 101-pound semifinal on Thursday, but bowed out of the tournament due to illness thereafter and still earned 6th place in the weight class.
Bolivar-Richburg Wolverine Scuffle @ Bolivar-Richburg HS (V)
Four Section VI squads compete, Portville 3rd in team standings
Portville led WNY area teams at the annual Wolverine Scuffle that normally features an all-small school field. The Panthers went 7-2 overall falling only to the host team and Bath (V) by single digit scores in both matches. Portville earned a 48-27 victory over CCAA interdivision rival Maple Grove as well as a 49-24 victory over CCAA I rival Olean in their second head to head meeting of the season. The Panthers also cruised to a 47-27 win over Arkport (V) in the final round of the tournament to secure their 3rd place finish at the Scuffle. The Red Dragons went 5-4 overall in Bolivar to include a 41-34 victory over the Huskies and a 34-33 win over Lyndonville (V) in their final dual of the tournament to ensure a winning record and 5th place finish.
Final team standings:
1. Bolivar-Richburg 9-0
2. Bath 8-1
3. Portville 7-2
4. Arkport 6-3
5. Maple Grove 5-4
6. Olean/Allegany-Limestone 4-5
7. Lyndonville 3-6
8. Franklinville 2-7
9. Fillmore/Keshequa (V) 1-8
10. Campbell-Savona (V) 0-9
57th Annual Teike/Bernabi Wrestling Tournament @ Spencerport HS (V)
Zimmerman, Massaro lead St. Joe’s to 4th place finish; Iroquois’s Josh Pfeiffer claims title
St. Joe’s star senior duo of Austin Zimmerman and Nik Massaro each captured individual titles in a very deep Teike/Bernabi field to land the Marauders a 4th place team finish in a tournament largely dominated by powerful Section V big school squads. Brockport, Hilton, and Rush-Henrietta occupied the top-3 team placements followed by St. Joe’s, Shenendehowa (II), and Iroquois in 6th place. St. Joe’s entered nine wrestlers in the tournament and Iroquois, eight, whereas the top-3 teams entered thirteen, thirteen, and fifteen wrestlers each, respectively. Lancaster also competed in the event, entering nine wrestlers and placing 13th as a team.
The Thursday portion of the tournament was contested as a round robin style competition to set up a bracketed format on day two.
Zimmerman dominated the 116-pound field with three pins on day one, two on day two, and an impressive 18-3 tech fall in the first place match over Spencerport’s Ryan Cieslinski, a fellow returning NYS place winner. The pair had a rivalry in the 2022-2023 season with Austin winning both matches, 3-0. Zimmerman was named the tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler for his performance in winning his second consecutive Teike/Bernabi title.
Photo courtesy of SJCI Wrestling on Facebook
Returning all-state St. Joe’s senior Nik Massaro cruised through the 131-pound bracket as well picking up two pins and a tech in the round robin portion before going 3-0 in the day two bracket to capture the Teike title for the second straight year.
Sean Gordon wrestled to a 3rd place finish at 138-pounds for St. Joe’s while Nathaniel Lopez landed a 4th place finish at 215-pounds – his first appearance at the weight this season.
Iroquois sophomore Josh Pfeiffer impressed with a pair of close decision victories on day one to post a 3-0 total record going into the Friday bracket. On Friday, Two pins landed Pfeiffer a spot in the 108-pound championship bout where he was a winner by a 10-2 major decision over Brighton’s (V) Nathan Wagner.
At 145-pounds, the Chiefs double entered Sam Donovan and Alex Schiffhauer in the bracket. The pair met in Friday’s bracket where Alex was a 7-1 winner, but they were set up to meet again for 3rd place later on. An uncontested match landed both wrestlers a tie for a 4th place finish in Spencerport. Donovan posted a 6-2 record over the tournament while Schiffhauer went 5-1 over the two days. Donovan also earned the tournament's Aggregate Pin Award while Iroquois junior Brady Wilkinson achieved his 100th career victory competing in Spencerport.
Lancaster had a pair of place winners in Michael Schaefer at 170-pounds and Ricky Andres at 124.
Schaefer went 3-0 in first day pool action with two fast pins and a 9-2 decision victory. On day two, he again cruised past his first two opponents but fell in the title match by 17-2 tech fall to Vernon-Verona-Sherill’s (III) fellow returning NYS Div. I tournament qualifier Charlie Foster.
Andres impressed with a 3-0 record with two pins on day one of the event in Spencerport. A fell fought 3-2 record in the day two bracket was enough to land Ricky a top-4 place finish at 124-pounds.
Friday, Dec. 29th – Saturday, Dec. 30th
2023 Powerade Tournament @ Canon-McMillan HS (PA)
St. Francis’s Griffin LaPlante places 8th at brutal Powerade, four WNY athletes impress in strong showing
In his second career showing at the nationally regarded Powerade Tournament, St. Francis sophomore Griffin LaPlante reached the podium with an 8th place finish at 152-pounds as the 6-seed in the bracket. LaPlante reached the quarterfinals on Friday before falling to the consolation wrestle backs. A 1-0 decision victory in the Saturday morning blood round ensured a top-8 finish for Griffin. Returning placer Gage LaPlante earned the 6-seed at 172-pounds but fell in the consolation blood round on Saturday to bow out of the tournament. Lewiston-Porter’s Jaron and Caden Barrientos each won three or more matches in their first appearances at Powerade but just missed placing. Please visit the below links for more 2023 Powerade Tournament coverage:
Day one:
Day two:
20th Annual Spc. Ken Haines Memorial Wrestling Tournament @ SUNY Oswego
Two champions, nine total place winners lead Niagara Wheatfield to Haines Tournament co-team title
Garrett Chase and Chase Richards captured individual titles at SUNY Oswego to lead Wheatfield to the co-team title, tying Section V heavyweight Webster-Thomas with 213-points for each squad. Seven more place winners helped to pace the Falcons to the Haines team title for the first time since 2018. Wheatfield has been competing at the Memorial Tournament for most of the existence of the event named for the fallen soldier from Fulton who was killed in action on December 3rd, 2006 serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Garrett Chase cruised past his first four opponents in the championship bracket on the way to the 138-pound final at SUNY Oswego’s Laker Hall to include two technical falls and a semifinal pin. In the title match, Chase was a 6-3 winner over West Genesee’s (III) Logan Willis.
At 145-pounds, Chase Richards had a path to the final very much the same as his counterpart at 138, dominating his first opponents in the championship bracket with three pins and a tech on the way to the final. In the Haines title match, Richards picked up a quality win over a fellow returning NYS tournament qualifier with a 7-4 decision over Cicero-North Syracuse’s (III) Kennedy Thomas.
Te’Shaun Mathews and Joe Cicco wrestled to runner-up finishes for Wheatfield in Oswego. Mathews reached the 152-pound final while Cicco fell in the 160-pound title match as Falcons wrestled in four straight finals from 138-160. Mathews fell by a slight 4-2 decision to South Jefferson’s (III) returning Div. II state tournament qualifier Ryley Monica. Cicco cruised to the 160-pound title match cruising past his first four opponents before falling to fellow state tournament qualifier Maxx Fesinger from West Genesee in overtime, 7-5, in the final.
Gabriella Barone (101) and Muntathar Abbas (124) earned 4th place finishes for the Falcons while Jacob Sweeney (108), Eian Peterson (116), and Iain O’Donnell (190) all landed 5th place finishes for Wheatfield.
Saturday, Dec. 30th
Spc. Ken Haines Memorial Girls Wrestling Tournament @ SUNY Oswego
Growing upstate New York powerful girls’ teams battle for Haines Tournament supremacy
Niagara Wheatfield placed 3rd in the final team standings with 179-points behind 1st place Fulton (III) and runner-up Shenendehowa (II), both of whom are also rising girls’ powers in their respective regions across the I-90 corridor.
Emma Ponzi and Nevaeh Senik each claimed individual titles for the Falcons to lead a group of ten total NW place winners. Ponzi went 3-0 on the day with three pins in a dominate performance to capture 126-pound Haines Tournament gold. Senik continued her strong breakout season with a 4-0 performance including three pins to win the 132-pound Haines bracket.
Niagara Wheatfield place winners:
1st – 126-pounds: Emma Ponzi
1st – 132: Neveah Senik
3rd – 120: Jezell Allen
4th – 100: Lily Pieczonka
5th – 94: Sumaya Syed
5th – 138: Emma Beckles
6th – 114: Emma Greene
6th – 120: Mackenzie Sweeney
6th – 126: ShaJaya Simmons
6th – 185: Isabella Torres
55th Annual Akron Tournament
Churchville-Chili (V) dominates at Akron, Amherst second with two champions, Jamestown, Niagara Falls round out top-4 teams
The Saints cruised to the Akron team title with 212 points and five individual champions and seven finalists to 2nd place Amherst’s 176 points and two champions. Despite not having a champion, Jamestown landed a 3rd place team finish while Cameron Crumpler (101) and Reginald McCreary (138) helped pace Niagara Falls to 4th in the team scoring. Churchville’s Cael Raines earned both the Aggregate Pin and Most Outstanding Wrestler awards.
131-pound champion Riley Kirst and 152-pound champion Zak Saeed captured Akron titles for Amherst who placed seven total wrestlers in the top-4 of their respective brackets, including three crucial 3rd place finishes in the consolation finals. Kirst reached the championship as the 4-seed in the bracket but went a perfect 4-0 with four pins on the day including the final over Jamestown’s Tyler Zwald. Saeed went 4-0 on the day as well, earning three pins including a first period fall in the title match.
Photo courtesy of Amherst Wrestling @AmherstAmbush on X
Jamestown was led by eight total place winners – three runners-up and five fourth place finishers – which was enough for 3rd in the team standings. The Wolverines crowned two champions and six total place winners to outpace Section V’s Victor in the top-5 of the team standings.
Starpoint’s Sean McDonald (108) and North Tonawanda’s Dylan Gagnon (160) also claimed Akron titles amongst WNY area wrestlers. Gagnon captured his 100th career victory on Saturday at Akron as well.
5th WNY wrestling dual team power ranking (Following results from Weds. 12/27 – Sat. 12/30)
Large schools
1. Niagara Wheatfield Falcons
2. Williamsville North/East Spartans
3. St. Francis Red Raiders
4. St. Joe’s Marauders
5. Amherst Tigers
6. Jamestown Red Raiders
7. Niagara Falls Wolverines
8. Hamburg Bulldogs
9. Grand Island Vikings
10. North Tonawanda Lumberjacks
Honorable Mention – Lancaster Legends
Small schools
1. Falconer/Cassadaga Valley Golden Cougars
2. Chautauqua Lake Eagles
3. Southwestern Trojans
4. Newfane Panthers
5. Pioneer Panthers
6. Iroquois Chiefs
7. Portville Panthers
8. Gowanda Panthers
9. Randolph Cardinals
10. Wilson Lakemen
HM - Medina Mustangs
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