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Fredonia Captures Title At Ripley

By Jay Young 5 min read

RIPLEY -- After placing eight grapplers in the finals of the 26th annual Ripley Invitational Wrestling Tournament, Fredonia left the mat with four individual titles as well as 236 total team points to claim the team championship on Saturday evening.

The Hillbillies took first ahead of second-place St. Joseph's with 214.5 points while host Chautauqua Lake was third with 208.5, Maple Grove fifth with 146, Randolph seventh with 100, Frewsburg 11th with 39, Falconer 12th with 33.5 and Dunkirk 14th with 11.5.

Leading the Red Dragons in championship action was Luke Tomlinson at 120 pounds, where he finished off his day with a pin of Hunter Harris of Chautauqua Lake in 2:36 to take home Most Outstanding Wrestler honors for the weekend.

"It's always close," Tomlinson said of his matches with Harris. "He's been my practice partner for a long time. I've wrestled him so many times that we both know each other and what each other do."

After taking a 2-0 lead, Tomlinson began the second period in the bottom position, where he was able to pick up a clean reversal before fighting his way to a pin.

"I knew that I had to get (the reversal) because I was down."

One of the day's closest matches came at 145 pounds between Fredonia's Giovanni Russo and Derek Ecklund of Chautauqua Lake.

Both wrestlers traded points back and forth on the way to a 4-4 stalemate in the third period, where Russo was able to pick up an escape and ride out some strong defense on the way to a 5-4 decision.

Russo entered the day wrestling up a weight class from his recent matches below 140 pounds.

"He wrestled a solid match against Derek," said Fredonia coach Joe Santilli. "Derek is solid performer and I have a tremendous amount of respect for Derek. It was a well-wrestled match by both of them."

In the preceding match, Fredonia took home an individual title as Dalton Gardner rolled past Ben Parish of St. Joseph's for a 6-0 shutout.

"He was in great position and kept great position the whole match, worked hard … looking to score," Santilli said of Gardner.

"Dalton is working extra hard. He spends extra time after practices. He is doing everything right to create success for himself."

Fredonia also had individual finals victories come from Cole Golembieski at 152 pounds, as he was able to come away with a 15-13 win over Rashad Ahmad of Williamsville South, while Ceric Kristan was a 9-2 winner over Sullivan Walsh of St. Joseph's at 170.

Golembieski and Kristan were able to come away with wins in their first tournament finals.

"We had some success, but it is quite evident that we have quite a bit of work to do," Santilli said of his team's overall performance. "I didn't like how we were giving up points in short time. I think we gave up points nine different times in short time, I think we only scored once or twice in short time. I'm thinking about how every action and reaction is going to impact what is going to happen down the road, and I want to create an opportunity for them to be in the best position for success."

Leading the way for the hosts in finals action were Austin Bourgeois at 132 pounds, Brendon Rowe at 126 and Trent Burchanowski at 106.

Burchanowski finished off Lucas Hoffman of Fredonia with a pin in the first minute of that match while Bourgeois took care of Nick Brown of Springville Griffith with a fall in 2:43.

Rowe earned a pin of Fredonia's Brandon Wallace in 1:54.

"It was pretty good all-around," Bourgeois said after his win. "I had the bar originally, and then he was winging down on the bar so I went for the half and it was right there, just walked it around the head to finish it and got the pin."

Bourgeois was hoping to face teammate Brendon Ramsey in the finals, but he would be forced to settle for fourth place after suffering a disqualification along the way.

Maple Grove had two more chances at individual titles after Tomlinson's win, but Jake Tomlinson fell to Caprice Hall of Erie via decision at 182 while Kyle Trim suffered a technical fall to Matt Werts at 195.

Fredonia's finals losses included Jake Skinner's decision defeat to Dominic Sigler of Erie at 220 and Yaniel Acevedo's defeat at the hands of Caleb Lesswing of St. Joseph's at 285 pounds.

TEAM

1. Fredonia (236), 2. St. Joe's (214.5), 3. Chautauqua Lake (208.5), 4. Williamsville South (148), 5. Maple Grove (146), 6. Erie (101), 7. Randolph (100), 8. Springville-Griffith (51), 9. Edgewood (46), 10. Brighton (41), 11. Frewsburg (39), 12. Falconer (33.5), 13. Warsaw (28), 14. Dunkirk (11.5).

FINALS

106: Trent Burchanowski (CL) p. Lucas Hoffman (F), 0:54

113: Jaden Friel (WS) p. Wyatt Meeder (CL), 1:46

120: Luke Tomlinson (MG) p. Hunter Harris (CL), 2:36

126: Brendon Rowe (CL) p. Brandon Wallace (F), 1:54

132: Austin Bourgeois (CL) p. Nick Brown (SG), 2:43

138: Dalton Gardner (F) d. Ben Parish (SJ), 6-0

145: Giovanni Russo (F) d. Derek Ecklund, 5-4

152: Cole Golembieski (F) d. Rashad Ahmad (WS), 15-13

160: Patrick Young (E) p. Devin Hitchcock (SG), 4:25

170: Ceric Kristan (F) d. Sullivan Walsh (SJ), 9-2

182: Caprice Hall (E) d. Jake Tomlinson (MG)

195: Matt Werts (SJ) tf. Kyle Trim (MG)

220: Dominic Sigler (E) sv. Jake Skinner (F), 1-0

285: Caleb Lesswing (SJ) p. Yaniel Acevedo (F)

CONSOLATION

99: Round Robin: 1. Martin Ohlsson (CL), 2. Jayden Malik (CL), 3. Jackson Conway (WAR), 4. Hudson Dentz (WS).

106: Lucas Baer (MG) md. Brodie Little (FA), 10-1

113: Corey Hall (MG) d. Matt Trim (MG), 8-1

120: Ben French (WS) p. Pasya Kashindi (E), 2:52

126: Luqman Ahmad (WS) forfeit Joshua Paige (SJ)

132: Garrett Grenauer (SJ) forfeit Brendon Ramsey (CL)

145: Ronnie Jones (SJ) p. Taige Jones (MG), 0:23

152: Ryan Inkley (R) d. Tom Blum (SJ), 4-1

160: Clayton Teether (BR) d. Jacob Booth (F), 2-1

170: Nick Marsh (F) d. Jason Bisbey (E), 5-2

182: Ethan Tong (WS) p. Louis Perreault (SJ), 4:12

195: Alex Christy (F) forfeit Christian Andrews (R)

220: Jacob Zachar (R) d. Charles Morrison (SJ), 3-2

285: Ben Szymanowski (CL) d. Mason Pagett (R), 3-1

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