WNY Wrestling Roundup: Week Four

Dual meet results and notes for the week of Monday, December 16th through Thursday, December 19th.

Tuesday, December 17th

Fairport 41 (V) – St. Joe’s 39

The Marauders have been gaining momentum as of late. A close loss to a solid Red Raiders team is an indication that the Marauders are trending in the right direction. Ben Parish and Ronnie Jones back to back at 160 and 170-pounds, respectively, has caused problems for opposing teams recently and did so against Fairport. Third year wrestler Tom Blum has been a reliable asset for Coach Devlin so far. He held Section V 4th place finisher Patrick Unger to a decision in this match. The teams split with six contested match wins each, and St. Joe’s earned the advantage in pins, five to three.

Lackawanna 48 – Tonawanda 33

The Steelers have achieved ten wins this season and it isn’t even winter break yet. With two ECIC III wins and a 10-6 overall record, this team and program has come along way in only two years when it went 0-7 in league action. Credit to the school and head coach Abdulgawi Mohamed for the job being done in Lackawanna.

#2 Fredonia 58 – Randolph 19

The Hillbillies picked up their 14th win of the season with a non-league victory over the Cardinals. Fredonia won six head to head bouts and collected four forfeits in the contest while Randolph won three of the nine matchups.

#6 Portville 52 – Maple Grove 15

While the Red Dragons are in the midst of a program revitalization, the strong Panthers lineup was too much for it again. The returning CCAA II champion and second place team wrestled to nearly an identical score as last year’s match (a 52-20 win for Portville). However, the Dragons conceded two forfeits this time instead of four, meaning two of WNY’s smallest schools by BEDS numbers (Portville-247, Maple Grove-169) contested 13 of 15 matches in the dual while some bigger schools are unable to field a team entirely. Portville is 4-0 in league matches and 9-0 overall heading into the break. Kyle Trim defeated Portville’s Jayden Lassiter 4-3 setting up a potential series of postseason showdowns between the two.

Olean 57 – Dunkirk 24

The resurgent Huskies team captured its first dual win of the season.

Kenmore 58 – Canisius 24

Kenmore went over .500 on the season with a win at Canisius. The Devil Dogs entered a wrestler in every weight except for 99-pounds (a double forfeit) and collected ten wins overall in the contest. The Crusaders’ Joe Dixon and Brayden Vandenberg remain undefeated on the season.

Wednesday, December 18th

#1 Falconer 66 – Southwestern 12

The Golden Falcons earned their third league win of the season and 50th overall since 2011-2012 while while only losing one match in that same time. Mack Mikula and Hudson Johnson both picked up quality individual wins in the contest. The Golden Falcons won all but one weight class between 132 and 285 (nine wins) earning four pins and three forfeits in them. The Trojans have seen CCAA I’s top three teams so far this season, so they will have opportunities after the new year to get into the league dual win column.

#1 Lancaster 63 – #9 Orchard Park 10

NO FORFEITS. The Legends and Quakers wrestled a full 15 on 15 match in OP under the brand new mat light. While the Quakers have and are having a good season, the powerful Lancaster lineup matched up all too well in their own favor. The Legends won twelve bouts, nine of which were by pin. In a few interesting upper weight bouts Mike Pataky defeated Camden Smith 13-7 and the Legends’ Dan Empfield was a 3-2 winner over returning Class AA champion Matt Wagner as well. OP’s Brody Banks earned a quality win over a returning sectional finalist. Lancaster is still perfect this season at 3-0 in ECIC I and 11-0 overall.

#2 Clarence 43 – #6 Williamsville North 28

NO FORFEITS. The Red Devils defeated the Spartans for the second time this season, however the score was slightly closer than the 57-18 win from December 7th. North won five matches to Clarence’s two between 99 and 138-pounds, however the Red Devils won every match but one between 145 and 285 and locked up four pins during the run. Mike Catanzaro and Aiden Rabideau missed each other as they went out at 138 and 145, respectively. Clarence improved to 3-0 in league and 13-2 overall on the season. North has already taken on the top three teams in ECIC I. January matches against Frontier and Orchard Park will be good tests to see how far this young team has come this season.

Amherst 51 – #9 East Aurora 27

The Tigers picked up a quality ECIC II win over a good East Aurora/Holland team at home. With the benefit of a full lineup, Amherst picked up forfeits at 99 and 126-pounds and then pinned in six of their seven head to head wins. The Tigers upper weights showed up in force collecting all six pins between 152 and 285-pounds. Amherst now has two league wins over ranked small school opponents.

#8 Starpoint 54 – Sweet Home 32

The scrappy Panthers took Starpoint a little bit by surprise in Amherst but the #8 Spartans were ultimately victorious for their third ECIC II win. Sweet Home was down to only two forfeits and even collected one at 113-pounds. The Panthers won four straight matches from 152 to 182, three of which were pins. And, Sammy Esaleh earned a very quality win over Jacob Eckler at 132. However, the experienced Spartans lineup won nine total matches and all seven head to head wins were by pin. Going into the break the Spartans are 11-4 overall.

#5 Pioneer 54 – Williamsville South 20

The Panthers won eleven matches to the Billies’ four, holding South winners to two techs, a major, and only one pin on the night. The Panthers earned four pins against an underrated South team. While they have appeared in different weights so far this season, the Dan Kirsch-Brady Heckathorn-Donald Bennett trio back to back to back looks really good on paper. From 126 to 138, they earned a tech fall, a pin, and a major decision, respectively. Pioneer travels back to Amherst to take on the dangerous Tigers on January 8th. Meanwhile, the Billies have already wrestled the top two squads in the league and have a real chance to knock off some unsuspecting ECIC II rivals in the rest of the season.

#4 Niagara Falls 53 – North Tonawanda 24

The Wolverines are 3-0 in NFL action and control their own destiny in the league title race. Falls earned eleven wins and picked up three forfeits in the contest. NT won three of the eleven contested matches, all by way of pin. Wilfredo Borges earned a quality win over NT’s Anthony Swan at 132, as did Leviticus Cox over Camerin Holmes at 182 by a 6-4 decision.

#9 Lake Shore 55 – Alden/Depew 17

It was only the Eagles’ second dual of the year on Wednesday, and they picked up their first ECIC II win of the season. Lake Shore claimed ten wins to the Bulldogs’ three as both 99 and 106 were double forfeited. The Eagles earned four pins in ten contested matches without Julian Martin in the lineup. Carson Alberti remains undefeated on the season for A/D while brother Mike is 12-2 overall.

#10 Grand Island 66 – Lockport 22

The Vikings improved to 3-0 in Niagara Frontier League action with another big win. After suffering from bad numbers last season, the Lions have improved in that department as they conceded three forfeits in this dual; compare three forfeits to five conceded in last year’s dual, not including two double forfeits. Despite the better numbers, the experienced GI squad rolled to victory behind eleven wins and seven pins. Grand Island’s dual meet tournament in the final weekend of December is shaping up to be a very intriguing and impactful event.

Lackawanna 45 – Eden 33

The Steelers are 3-0 in ECIC III and 11-6 overall before the break after beating Eden. Unfortunately in this match, forfeits on both sides were abundant. Lackawanna was victorious in three of the five contested matches. Mohamed Alshawi was a 7-3 winner over Eden’s Blake Colantino in a postseason level matchup. The powerful Iroquois Chiefs will pay a visit to the Steelers on January 8th for an ECIC III showdown.

#10 Albion 60 – Barker/Royalton-Hartland 24

The Purple Eagles rolled to eleven wins and six pins to stay perfect in Niagara-Orleans duals at 3-0 and 7-2 overall. Albion could be looking at an invitation back to the Section VI Duals soon. B/R-H’s Gavin Ciarfella is now 16-1 this season with his only loss being a default.

Springville 51 – Maryvale 36

The Griffins won their first league dual meet of the season and are .500 overall at 5-5 before the break. Head coach Mark Vogel and staff are doing an outstanding job at SGI. Each team conceded two forfeits in this dual for a combined eleven head to head matches. Springville earned the advantage with seven head to head wins to four for Maryvale, six of which were pins. The Flyers’ four matchup wins all ended in pins. The Griffins will meet Eden and Cheektowaga back to back at the start of January.

Akron 53 – Wilson 24

Akron secured seven wins in nine contested matches to defeat league rival Wilson on Wednesday night.

#3 Niagara Wheatfield 83 – CSAT 6

The Falcons improved to 2-1 in the NFL standings and 9-4 overall.

#3 Iroquois 72 – Cheektowaga 6

The Chiefs finally wrestled a league dual after their first was postponed due to weather. Iroquois is 12-2 so far this season.

#4 Newfane 76 – Medina 12

The Panthers are 3-0 in N-O duals and 14-3 overall.

#7 Frontier 69 – West Seneca 18

The Falcons are 3-0 in ECIC I and now 11-5 overall. Currently, there are four teams with eleven or more wins in ECIC I with two more approaching ten.

Kenmore 70 – Lewiston-Porter 11

Thursday, December 19th

Williamsville South 43 – Akron 36

South earned a non-league win over the Tigers in a contest that featured a handful of forfeits. The Billies picked up five forfeits and two head to head wins. With the match tied 30-30 and four bouts left, Luqman Ahmad and Luke Coppola won by major decision and decision, respectively, and John Maher picked up a forfeit to take the 43-30 lead. Tigers wrestlers collected four pins on the night. South is 5-3 going into the break.