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Albany Bound

Six Area Wrestlers Advance To State Meet

By Jay Young 10 min read

ANGOLA -- Surprising results and intriguing matchups were the letter of the day during Saturday's Section VI Division II wrestling qualifier, hosted at Lake Shore High School with grapplers from 34 teams competing for a chance to head to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships in Albany later this month.

While champions from yesterday's action are guaranteed to make it to the Times Union Center on Feb.24, four wild-card selections from around the state will also be chosen for each weight class following the conclusion of sectional meets.

The Falconer/Cassadaga Valley Golden Cougars will be guaranteed at least three visitors to Albany after championships were brought home by Robbie Penhollow, Dan Torres and Corey Keefe.

Of the three, Torres was the first to take to the mat for another match against Bryce Rowe of Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama at 160 pounds.

"He's just one of those wrestlers, he just never quits and is always coming after you. He's got a real head for the game, he knows what he is doing, he's got a feel for everything, and he's just an all-around good wrestler. Good guy," said Torres.

The Cassadaga Valley senior was content to carry the match through the first two-minute round to a stalemate, waiting for the right moment to try and pick up some points, but it was Rowe who was able to get on the board first after earning an escape early in the second period before turning Torres over in the closing seconds of the round for a takedown and a 3-0 lead.

After starting in a hole, Torres was awarded back-to-back points following violations from Rowe, and was able to even things at 3-3 with an escape of his own.

With the match all even, Torres was able to finish off a trip near the mat border for a takedown with 25 seconds remaining, riding that momentum to a 5-4 final after Rowe's last-second escape.

"Probably have to leave that one up to my coaches and my practice partners, everyone that just pushes me all the time in the wrestling room," Torres said. "It helps me keep my cardio up so I can keep wrestling those tight matches.".

While Torres was able to climb out of an early hole and earn his win in the closing seconds, it was Penhollow's win at 170 over Jacob Sarow of Akron/Alden that was even more intriguing.

After relenting to a takedown early, Penhollow earned back-to-back escapes to bring the match even at 2-2, starting off a back-and-forth battle that would next have Sarow earn an escape.

Penhollow's lead came back at 4-3 after a single-leg shot and a trip earned him a takedown, but Sarow quickly spun out of that for an escape to even the bout at 4-4 once more.

With time winding down, Penhollow and Sarow once more came together with the latter earning a head and arm lock that was initially ruled a takedown for a 6-4 win.

That ruling immediately drew Falconer/Cassadaga Valley coaches Drew Wilcox and Dan Morales from their chairs, and would eventually result in an official protest to the committee that overturned the ruling.

"I got deep in on a leg and I went to go do a finish that I've only tried once or twice and it wasn't real smart on my part. He went to go lock up a Merkel, but he had it locked on the wrong side. Luckily my coaches protested it and the protest committee overturned it," said Penhollow of the decision.

Returning to the match with everything once again tied at 4-4, Penhollow was able to ride his way to victory following an escape in the second tiebreaker.

"Coach Wilcox and Morales are so smart when it comes to the sport. They knew from the second they called that two (points) that they were going to win that call when they went to go protest it. I'm really fortunate that they would go that far and protest it as long as they did and get it overturned. After they called that two, I was thinking, if this is overturned I'm not losing this match, and I just kind of kept that mindset going into the second overtime there, and I wasn't going to let him escape when I was on top. When I was on bottom I was just really focused. I wasn't going to stop moving and just gave it everything that I had."

The final win of the night for Wilcox's squad came from Keefe's 7-2 defeat of No.1 seed Zak Trim of Maple Grove at 195 pounds.

With that win, Keefe was able to avenge last year's sectional loss to Trim and earn his second consecutive trip to the state meet after earning a wild-card selection last season.

"My coach just said to go into it like it was any other match and not to get nervous about it," said Keefe, who is happy to have several of his teammates making the trip with him. "It's good because we just have a lot of talent in the room, we all are committed, we love what we do and a lot of guys like to come and work out with us because they know we're going to give them a good practice."

The final 152-pound bout of the day saw Falconer/Cassadaga Valley's Dylan Ingrao drop a tough loss to Zach Brown of Newfane, falling victim to a pin at 1:30.

In what was certainly a contender for most exciting match of the night, Hector Colom of Fredonia was able to turn the table on history with some late-second heroics and pick up his third Section VI public school title and fourth overall after earning a 4-2 win over Matt Evans of Randolph in extra time.

It looked like Colom would be able to ride out an early escape all the way to a 1-0 victory, but Evans had other ideas, notching a reversal with less than 20 seconds of time remaining.

"Honestly it brought me back straight to the match that I lost earlier in the year to him at Catt-Little Valley where I got reversed with two seconds left on the clock and I lost it," said Colom, who now stands at 246-29 in his career and 36-2 on the year.

"I looked up right at the clock and I noticed there were about 14 seconds left, and I knew I had enough time to get that one (point) and that's what I needed to do because if we made it to overtime I was going to push myself to the end until I couldn't breathe. This is my senior year, my last chance to get another section VI title and bring it home, so I was going to give it my all right then and there."

Just moments before the buzzer sounded, Colom notched a desperate escape to even things at 2-2 before finally breaking through Evans' defense in extra time and sealing up his victory.

"He's such a good competitor because he has such great defense. That honestly is what makes him such a challenging person to wrestle because you saw I couldn't get my takedown until overtime late in the match because of how good he is on his feet, which is a big struggle for me. If he's on his feet and can block my shots, and I'm there shooting 30 times and I can't get a takedown, I'm getting gassed out," said Colom.

After top-seeded Shane Hetrick of Maple Grove was forced to withdraw from the meet due to an injury during Class D qualifying, the door was left open at 120 pounds.

It was Brendon Ramsey of Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama who rushed into that opening and picked up his first sectional title with a 5-2 decision over Ryan Nugent of Newfane.

"I figured I would have to wrestle Shane in the finals. He only beat me by six points (earlier in the year), so I figured I would wrestle him in the finals and it would be a good match and come out on top, hopefully. It didn't work out the way I wanted this year with wrestling him, but I still got the win so I'm happy," said Ramsey.

Though just a freshman, Ramsey showed poise and patience beyond his years Saturday, biding his time before shooting for a single-leg and earning his first and most important takedown of the night.

"I just waited until he made mistakes and just had to wrestle smart," said Ramsey.

The Red Dragons suffered a difficult day on Saturday, as top-seeded Luke Tomlinson dropped a 12-2 major decision to Andrew Lucinski of Newfane at 99 pounds. Lucinski was able to shoot for single legs successfully at the start of all three periods, with no answer to be found from Tomlinson.

"Luke worked really hard this season. In the beginning of the year he lost to (Lucinski) early, lost two matches, and then I think he strung together like 35 wins," said Maple Grove coach Mark Hetrick. "He is only and eighth-grader, obviously he wanted to win this one but I think he'll still make it to states on a wild-card. He's still got a little work to do, but he's a kid who is getting better and better. Hats off to (Lucinski). They came prepared and he wrestled tough."

Rounding out the strong local performances of the day was Southwestern's Giuseppe Hoose, who was able to pick up his first Section VI title after falling last season to Torres.

Hoose was able to pick up a lead at 182 pounds on Julian Nixon of Newfane, and use his defense to seal up a 3-0 victory despite battling illness.

"I don't think that I wrestled great that match, but there is a lot more to come," said Hoose. "Today I was actually feeling kind of sick. It's been going around everywhere. But I knew I just had to get after it to chase this. I'm not letting anything get between me and Albany."

DIVISION II

FINALS

99: Andrew Lucinski (NEW) md. Luke Tomlinson (MG), 12-2.

106: Mikey Evans (SPR) p. Doug Ciszak (PIO), 1:40.

113: Mohamed Alshawi (LAK) d. Julian Martin (LS), 9-2.

120: Brendon Ramsey (CL) d. Ryan Nugent (NEW), 5-2.

126: Zach Braddell (TON) md. Owen Kissell (AA), 10-2.

132: Hector Colom (FRED) sv. Matt Evans, sv-1, 4-2.

138: Johnny Putney (EA) d. Giovani Russo (FRED), 6-2.

145: Cory Day (IRO) d. Caleb Riordan (PIO), 8-2.

152: Zach Brown (NEW) p. Dylan Ingrao (FCV), 1:30.

160: Dan Torres (FCV) d. Bryce Rowe (CL), 5-4.

170: Robbie Penhollow (FCV) tb. Jacob Sarow (AA), tb-2, 5-4.

182: Giuseppe Hoose (SW) d. Julian Nixon (NEW), 3-0.

195: Corey Keefe (FCV) d. Zak Trim (MG), 7-2.

220: Mike Rigerman (PIO) md. Ben Szymanowski (CL), 12-0.

285: Anthony Robinson (STAR) d. Kiar Parker (CW), 5-3.

3rd PLACE

99: Carson Alberti (DEP) d. David Ball (GOW), 4-3.

106: Garrett Swan (SW) md. Donovan Bukaczewski (IRO), 11-3.

113: Michael Carnes (SW) d. Ryan Sweemey (IRO), 7-4.

120: Nick Bierfeldt (OLE) d. Wyatt Sluga (RAN), 7-0.

126: Austin Bourgeois (CL) p. Tyler Le (CW), 1:37.

132: Jacob Vergien (IRO) md. Jimmy Kramer (FCV), 8-0.

138: Preston Flugel (ALB) d. Gavin Kulp (O), 2-1.

145: Giovanni Schifano (ED) d. Sam Grey (CLV), 3-0.

152: Dakota Mascho (POR) d. Austin Sliwisnki (CW), 7-3.

160: Cody Fouts (LP) d. Robbie PeQueen (AA), 7-2.

170: Devan Moore (OLE) d. Cleon Lawton (FRANK), 3-1.

182: Patrick Walsh (OLE) p. Ben Restivo (AL), 3:15.

195: Millard Young (AA) d. Jacob Zachar (R), 7-0.

220: Jayden Heers (NEW) md. Conner Walsh (OLE), 10-2.

285: Nick Becker (RAN) d. Ty Casinelli (NEW), 3-1.

Starting at /week.