**Friday 1/20 – Saturday, 1/21**
Starpoint ran away with the ECIC tournament team title on Friday and Saturday at Sweet Home crowning six league champions and placing fifteen wrestlers 1st – 5th place. Nine Spartans reached the final, three more than the number of Starpoint wrestlers who placed 3rd, 4th, or 5th. Second place Pioneer placed ten wrestlers and crowned two champions as they pushed into the 2-spot after a strong Saturday showing. Amherst and Hamburg/Eden tied for third each crowning one league champion.
As the individual postseason is coming up quickly, some wrestlers moved around to different weight classes at ECIC’s based on matchups since for many teams this will be the last time they see one another before the class and sectional championships.
In some cases, where teams align for class and sectional tournaments made a number of the Saturday afternoon finals that much more impactful, in addition to classic individual rivalries. At 102-pounds, the season long rivalry between Starpoint’s Jaron Barrientos and Frontier’s Cullen Edwards reached the third chapter where Barrientos avenged two previous losses this season with a 13-8 finals victory. At 118, Starpoint’s JR Leuer and Hamburg’s Kenny Schmitz continued their rivalry that goes all the way back to peewee wrestling. This time, Leuer was a 3-2 decision winner for the ECIC title. Keep a close eye on the sectional 118-pound race through the rest of the season. At 152, another Spartan in impressive freshman Zach Caldwell captured 1st in the weight class with a 4-2 overtime decision over Lancaster senior Carter Tadusz. At 189, Hamburg’s Luke Smeader earned an impressive pin over a returning state tournament qualifier and was awarded the tournament MOW. A matchup of returning NYS tournament qualifiers at 215 saw Iroquois junior Trevor Barry impress with a second period pin over Orchard Park’s Jack MacDonald in an inter-division bout.
**2023 ECIC Champions**:
102: Jaron Barrientos (Starpoint)
110: Kole Haseley (Starpoint)
118: JR Leuer (Starpoint)
126: Blake Hageman (Lake Shore)
132: Xander Kirsch (Pioneer)
138: Griffin LaPlante (Starpoint)
145: Zak Saeed (Amherst)
152: Zach Caldwell (Starpoint)
160: Gage LaPlante (Starpoint)
172: Brady Heckathorn (Pioneer)
189: Luke Smeader (Hamburg/Eden) **MOW**
215: Trevor Barry (Iroquois)
285: Tommy Carlsen (Lancaster)
**ECIC girl’s division champions**:
114: Marissa Tara (Orchard Park)
120: Georgia Zorich (Sweet Home)
126: Sophia Guadagna (Orchard Park)
138: Alexiya Thuman (Lake Shore)
152: Michaela Thomas (Iroquois)
185: Ryann Berner (Clarence)
ECIC Championships top ten team scores:
1. Starpoint 328.5 2. Pioneer 183 3. Amherst 158.5 3. Hamburg/Eden 158.5 5. Lancaster 143.5 6. Iroquois 124 7. Williamsville North/East 87 8. Lake Shore 73 9. Jamestown 72.5 10. Orchard Park 68
**Saturday, 1/21**
**53rd Niagara-Orleans All-League Wrestling Championships**
Newfane captured the N-O league tournament title for the 9th consecutive time on Saturday in Akron. Five Panthers claimed individual titles while fourteen total Newfane wrestlers placed to tally 193 team points. Team runner-up Wilson scored 148.5 points behind three champions and eleven place winners while 3rd place Medina crowned three champions and eight placers.
**Niagara-Orleans tournament champions**:
102: JJ Lucinski (Newfane)
110: Dom Callara (Medina)
118: Aiden Harris (Newfane)
126: Luke Fay (Barker/Royalton-Hartland)
132: Ayden Buttery (Newfane)
138: Miguel Salas (Newfane)
145: Aiden Gillings (Newfane)
152: Quinn Brown (BRH)
160: Jacob Stephenson (Wilson)
172: Ben Wortkoetter (Wilson)
189: Conor Crandall (Medina)
215: Sawyer Kingsbury (Medina)
285: William Wortkoetter (Wilson) **MOW**
Team scores:
1. Newfane 193 2. Wilson 148.5 3. Medina 131.5 4. Barker/Royalton-Hartland 122.5 5. Akron 64 6. Albion 54
**Gowanda Invitational Wrestling Tournament**
Five individual champions and seventeen place winners led Falconer to the Gowanda team title as the Golden Cougars scored nearly 400 team points in the fourteen team field. St. Francis captured second place with eight placers but were held to no individual champions. The host Panthers rounded out the top three teams with twelve place winners. Given next weekend will be lite on big tournaments around the area, Gowanda provided one last regular season Saturday for most of the teams in attendance before the postseason begins on Feb. 4.
**Gowanda Invite champions**:
102: Dylan Newman (Falconer)
110: Karsen Lundgren (Falconer)
118: Lucas Hoffman (Fredonia)
126: Konner Spring (Salamanca)
132: Ty Kraft (Maple Grove)
138: Maxximus DeYoe (Portville)
145: Austin Chase (Falconer)
152: Jacob Clark (Falconer)
160: Evan Leonard (Franklinville)
172: Dalton Caldwell (Falconer)
189: Matt Trim (Maple Grove)
215: Christian Hernandez (Dunkirk)
285: Ian Breazeale (Salamanca)
**Gowanda Invite girl’s champions**:
107: Brenna McCarley (North Tonawanda)
126: Emma Schindler (Gowanda)
138: Ke’ya Stevens (Gowanda)
152: Eva Colon-DeJesus (Dunkirk)
185: Doris Baker (North Tonawanda)
Top 5 team scores:
1. Falconer/Cassadaga Valley 396.5 2. St. Francis 248.5 3. Gowanda 218 4. North Tonawanda 213.5 5. Dunkirk 211
**King and Queen Bison Invitational** @ Shaker HS (II)
The Chautauqua Lake Lady Thunderbirds travelled east to the Capital Region to Shaker High School in Latham for the King and Queen Invite over the weekend against a field primarily made up of Section II teams. CL entered twelve athletes and placed eight wrestlers in the top-5 of their weights. Chautauqua Lake accumulated 121 team points for a 2nd place team finish only behind the host school’s 171.5 points.
**Chautauqua Lake place winners**:
126: Gabbi Testa – 2nd place
132: Mia Smith – 2nd place
138: Leanne Licsiandro – 2nd place
145: Caroline Apthorpe – 3rd place
132: Sophia Gervasio – 3rd place
114: Lilly Snyder – 5th place
120: Alex Siliano – 5th place
235: Gabi Freeburg – 5th place
**Battle in the ‘Ville Duals** @ Lyndonville HS (V)
Charter School for Applied Technologies and St. Mary’s represented WNY in Lyndonville on Saturday against four Section V squads. In their head to head matchup, CSAT was victorious over the Lancers, 54-24. The Eagles entered a wrestler at every weight but the teams split with four head to head winners each, all by way of pin.
Final team standings:
1. Pittsford (V) 5-0 2. Webster Schroeder (V) 4-1 3. Lyndonville (V) 3-2 4. Rush-Henrietta (V) 2-3 5. CSAT 1-4 6. St. Mary’s 0-5
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