WNY wrestling news and notes for events during the Christmas & New Years break.
**Wednesday, 12/28 – Thursday, 12/29**
**Dick Vincent Invitational Duals** @ Letchworth (V)
The annual two-day Dick Vincent Duals provided the regular amount of highly intriguing and important dual meet results for both Section V and Section VI small school teams that could and should have a number of implications on Dual Meet Championships seedings in both sections as well as the NYSPHSAA Duals.
For Section VI reasons, Wednesday’s #1 Chautauqua Lake vs. #2 Falconer showdown setup a rematch in next weekend’s sectional dual tournament. The Thunderbirds were victorious in this one, 39-28, and helped their own case for the 1-seed next weekend. Regardless of what happens at the Duals, the 1/18 league showdown could be for the outright league title where the Golden Cougars will have a 12th straight CCAA I title on the line.
While the CL/Falconer result was huge for each team and the section, the squads tangled with some very strong Section V teams – including last year’s Div. II state duals runner-up – to perhaps give us an early look at four state ranked teams, any of whom could very well end up in Syracuse in exactly a month. Take note of these other scores:
Canisteo-Greenwood (V) 48 – Chautauqua Lake 21
C-G 40 – Falconer 27
Falconer 37 – Palmyra-Macedon (V) 27
C-G 48 – P-M 21
CL 36 – P-M 20
The final standings:
1. Canisteo-Greenwood 9-0 2. Chautauqua Lake 8-1 3. Falconer 7-2 4. Palmyra-Macedon 6-3 5. Alexander (V) 5-4 6. Dansville (V) 4-5 7. Letchworth (V) 4-5 8. Le Roy (V) 2-7 9. Avon/Geneseo (V) 2-7 10. Perry (V) 1-8 11. Red Jacket (V) 0-9
**Spc. Kenneth Haines Memorial Tournament** @ SUNY Oswego
Niagara Wheatfield made the annual journey to the eastern shore of Lake Ontario to mix it up with a primarily Section III field of twenty-four teams. The Falcons advanced five wrestlers to the Thursday morning semifinal with a lone wrestler in junior Te’Shaun Mathews advancing to the championship round. ‘Juicy’ appeared at 138-pounds for the first time this season and dominated the field with two pins and a tech fall on the way to the final, including a 0:36 second first period pin in the semi. In the final, Te’Shaun was a second period winner by pin over APW/Pulaski’s (III) Ethan Purdy for the 138-pound title. So far this season, Juicy is 20-1 with the one loss coming to a returning NYS 3rd place winner by a slight 1-0 decision. Tremell Mathews, Muntathar Abbas, Joe Cicco, and Casey Robinson all reached the semis for the Falcons.
Niagara Wheatfield place winners:
1st – Te’Shaun Mathews
3rd – Tremell Mathews
5th – Muntathar Abbas, Joe Cicco
6th – Dylan Pringle, John Fike, Casey Robinson
7th – Gabby Barone, Iain O’Donnell
Top 5 team scores:
1. Cicero-North Syracuse (III) 183 2. Camden (III) 180.5 3. Fulton (III) 177 4. Niagara Wheatfield 156.5 5. Webster Thomas (V) 134.5
**65th Annual Windsor Christmas Tournament** @ Windsor HS (IV)
NYS’s oldest and longest consecutively held invitational was once again jam packed with high level talent from 39 teams from across NYS, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Starpoint and Newfane were the only Buffalo area teams representing this time. Starpoint was led by one individual champion in sophomore **Jaron Barrientos** at 102-pounds. Barrientos was one of five place winners for the Spartans who landed in 3rd place overall with 107-points despite not benefiting from the presence of Griffin and Gage LaPlante.
Barrientos was the 8-seed in the weight class and took down the 5-seed in the quarterfinal and top seeded Will Russell from Manhasset, a retuning Section VIII 4th place winner, 9-4, in the semifinal. In the final, Barrientos met a familiar foe in Newfane’s 3-seed **Brayden Kellison-Neglia**. The two Niagara County stars recently met in the Linda Knuutila Memorial final with Kellison-Neglia winning by decision, 7-1. In the Windsor final, Barrientos was a 2-1 winner by decision to add an impressive Windsor title to his resume.
Elsewhere for the Spartans, senior CJ Uptegrove (152), freshman Zach Caldwell (160), and senior Matt Caldwell (215) all reached the semifinals to guarantee critical podium finishes.
As the 2-seed in the weight class, **CJ Uptegrove** cruised to the final with two early round pins and a semifinals major decision over CBA/Jamesville-Dewitt’s (III) 3-seeded Gerald Vielhauer. In the championship match, CJ fell to Gouverneuer’s (X) returning NYS 4th place winner Vandavian Way in the second period. Nonetheless, a runner-up Windsor finish may have huge implications for Uptegrove in the postseason.
At 160, the 6-seeded **Zach Caldwell** earned a pin in the opening round before taking down the 5-seed to advance to the quarters. Caldwell scored a huge win for his resume when he earned a late 3rd period pin over Windsor’s returning NYS place winner Mason McCombs in the semifinal. In the final, Caldwell held retuning NYS Div. II champion junior Ousmane Duncanson (Tioga-IV) to a 16-7 major decision.
Finally, at 215, **Matt Caldwell** reached the semis but fell to defending NYS small school champion Sam Sorenson (Homer-III) by major, 16-3, for Sorenson’s only non-pin of the tournament. After a consolation semi win by pin, Caldwell fell by a 5-1 decision to Waverly’s (IV) returning state tournament qualifier Ty Beeman in the 3rd place bout. Starpoint’s **Caden Barrientos** also wrestled to a 4th place finish in his first appearance at 118-pounds this season. Caden met BGAH’s (IV) 2020 NYS place winner Joey Florence in the round of 16 but fell, 9-4, to drop to the consolation bracket. Barrientos gutted out three straight decisions on the way to the 3rd place match but fell by a very close decision, 4-2, to returning NYS 3rd place winner Jayden Duncanson from Tioga. Overall, the 118-pound bracket had **FIVE** returning NYS tournament placers and six total returning qualifiers.
Newfane sophomore **Aidan Gillings** experienced one of the toughest brackets in the tournament at 132-pounds. ‘Gilly’ was one of five returning NYS place winners, including state champion Tyler Ferrara from Section IV Chenango Forks who is a top-20 ranked wrestler in the nation. As the 3-seed, Gilly started with two straight major decisions to land in the semifinal. Aidan faced returning Div. I NYS 4th place winner Liam Carlin from Burnt Hills/Ballston Lake (II) but dropped a close decision, 4-3. Gilly earned a crucial win over another returning NYS small school placer in Tioga’s Tyler Roe in the consolation semis with a first period pin before locking up 3rd place with a 3-2 decision over Blue Ridge’s (PA) Jackson Maby in the consolation final.
Newfane’s **JJ Lucinski** and **Ayden Buttery** grabbed 5th place finishes for the Panthers who finished at 8th overall in the team standings. After falling early in the round of 16 in the 110-pound bracket, Lucinski earned four decision wins in his next five matches in the consolations to capture a hard fought 5th place Windsor finish. Buttery went 5-2 overall at 138-pounds with four pins, including a late 2nd period pin in the 5th place match. Buttery’s only two losses came to BH/BL’s returning NYS Div. I place winner Gabe Goss by decision in both matches.
Top 10 team scores:
1. Tioga 166.5 2. Towanda (PA) 111.5 3. Starpoint 107 4. Manhasset 98 5. Honeoye Falls-Lima (V) 97.5 6. Fairport (V) 93 7. Saratoga Springs (II) 91 8. Newfane 90 9. Burnt Hills/Ballston Lake 89.5 10. Windsor 88.5
**56th Annual Teike/Bernabi Wrestling Tournament** @ Spencerport HS (V)
WNY individual stars shined in Spencerport as nearly half of the thirteen weight class champions represented either St. Joe’s or Lancaster high schools. The Legends wrestled to a 3rd place finish as a team with only eight wrestlers entered in the tournament, six of whom placed. Lancaster went 4-for-4 in the title matches as Carter Tadusz (145), Michael Schaefer (172), Evan Stencel (189), and Tommy Carlsen (285) all captured gold in their respective brackets. Tadusz cruised through both the round robin portion of the tournament on day one and followed up with three straight pins in the bracket portion on day two. Both Schaefer and Stencel dominated the fields as well, as Schaefer earned four pins and a finals major decision at 172 while Stencel racked up four pins, a tech, and a finals major on the way to the 189-pound title. At 285, senior Tommy Carlsen continued his strong first half of the season with three pins on day one followed by two more to start day two. The semifinal match saw Carlsen get revenge for an earlier season loss to a returning NYS tournament place winner, winning by decision this time 1-0. Carlsen captured the tournament title with a late 3rd period pin in the finals match for his sixth pin in seven wins at the tournament and was named the tournament’s Heavyweight Most Outstanding Wrestler.
St. Joe’s crowned to champions in Austin Zimmerman at 110-pounds and Nik Massaro at 126 to help lead the team to a top five finish in the final team scoring. The two-time returning CHSAA champion Zimmerman dominated on the way to the final with four first period pins. In the title match, Zimmerman was a 3-0 decision winner over a returning NYS tournament qualifier from Spencerport for a valuable head to head victory. Zimmerman was also named the Lightweight MOW. Classmate Nik Massaro cruised to the 126-pound Teike title earning two first period pins on day one followed by three consecutive second period pins, including the title match.
Top 5 team scores:
1. Carthage (III) 236 2. Rush-Henrietta (V) 200 3. Lancaster 195.5 4. Brockport (V) 158 5. (tie) St. Joe’s 136, Hornell (IV) 136
**Wolverine Scuffle** @ Bolivar-Richburg HS (V)
Maple Grove ended up in second place posting an 8-1 record in Bolivar but tied with the host school and Lyndonville (V) all with 8-1 records. B-R would win the tiebreaker criteria of having won the greater number of matches (D) to claim first place. The Red Dragon’s lone loss came to the host Wolverines, 45-24, while MG defeated the Lyndonville Tigers, 46-30, who defeated B-R, 39-36. Olean and Franklinville also represented WNY at the Scuffle. Maple Grove had eight wrestlers with at least seven wins in the two day event. Nate Tomlinson and Matt Trim each posted 8-1 individual records while Ty and Mason Kraft were each perfect at 9-0.
Final team standings:
1. Bolivar-Richburg 8-1 2. Maple Grove 8-1 3. Lyndonville 8-1 4. Bath-Haverling 5-4 4. Fillmore/Keshequa 5-4 4. Olean 5-4 7. Alfred-Almond 2-7 7. Arkport 2-7 9. Campbell-Savona 1-8 9. Franklinville 1-8
**Thursday, 12/29**
**54th Annual Akron Holiday Tournament**
Niagara Falls captured the team title behind two individual champions, five finalists, and eight total top-3 place winners. Southwestern finished just sixteen points behind the Wolverines led by individual winners Kenji Walters, Carmine Calimeri, and Tavio Hoose. Churchville-Chili (V) rounded out the top five teams with two individual winners in brothers Cael (138) and Coy (160) Raines leading a group of eight total Saints place winners. Cael was the winner of the Aggregate Pin Award going 4-0 on the day with four pins that cumulatively was less time than a full six minute match. Coy was the tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler as the returning Section V Div. I 4th place winner earned a valuable head to head decision win over a defending Section VI champion in the final. Only one matchup of returning NYS tournament qualifiers was seen in the finals as SW’s Walters was a 3-1 decision winner over Niagara Falls’ returning sectional champion Eian Peterson, 3-1, in the 110-pound final. Amherst in 4th place had a good showing with one champion in Zak Saeed at 145-pounds while three other Tigers reached the final. Clarence rounded out the top 5 teams led by the heavy weight duo of Reilly Popa (215) and Bryce Hawes (285) who both earned first period pins in the title matches. Joey Keller was a runner-up for the Red Devils at 152, while returning sectional 4th place winner AJ Didas fell by a narrow 4-3 decision in the 132-pound final to two-time Section VI champion and NYS 7th place winner Amarfio Reynolds, Jr from Niagara Falls. Returning state qualifier Cullen Edwards from Frontier impressed with a fast pin in the quarterfinals followed by technical falls in both the semifinal and final, scoring eighteen points in each bout.
Akron Tournament individual champions:
102: Cullen Edwards – Frontier
110: Kenji Walters – Southwestern
118: Carmine Calimeri – Southwestern
126: Grady Peterson – Niagara Falls
132: Amarfio Reynolds, Jr. – Niagara Falls
138: Cael Raines – Churchville-Chili
145: Zak Saeed – Amherst
152: Dylan Gagnon – North Tonawanda
160: Coy Raines – Churchville-Chili
172: Tavio Hoose – Southwestern
189: Derek Kneeppel – Starpoint
215: Reilly Popa – Clarence
285: Bryce Hawes – Clarence
Final team standings:
1. Niagara Falls 167 2. Southwestern 151 3. Churchville-Chili 138 4. Amherst 133 5. Clarence 113 6. Starpoint 89 7. Attica/Batavia (V) 79 8. Jamestown 74 9. North Tonawanda 65 10. Frontier 55 11. Lake Shore 42 12. Barker/Royalton-Hartland 32 13. Akron 12 14. East Aurora 11 15. Albion 7 16. St. Mary’s 2
**Grand Island Duals**
Section V powerhouse Pittsford captured the team title with a 5-0 record in the tournament. Randolph captured 3rd place overall in the tournament and picked up a quality win over #6 Wilson on the day. (Full team records, results, and final standings are unavailable)
Participating teams:
1. Pittsford 5-0
Gowanda 2-3
Wilson 2-3
Grand Island
Penfield (V)
Sheffield (PA)
Randolph
**Thursday, 12/29 – Friday, 12/30**
**Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament** @ Canon-McMillan HS, PA
A trio of WNY athletes competed at Powerade 2022, one of the top high school events annually held during the regular season. Williamsville North/East’s nationally ranked Cam Catrabone wrestled to a runner-up finish at 145-pounds while Starpoint’s Gage LaPlante earned 8th overall in his first appearance at the event and as an unseeded wrestler in the 160-pound bracket. Starpoint freshman Griffin LaPlante went 2-2 and missed placing, but gained invaluable experience at the tournament in his first appearance at Powerade.
A full recap can be found at this link (article posted 12/30/22 via WNYAthletics.com):
https://wnyathletics.com/article/catrabone-laplantes-shine-at-elite-powerade-wrestling-invitational
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