Falconer’s Joey Pillittieri, far left, finished seventh at the Journeyman Wrestling Club’s New York State Wresting Championships over the weekend in the 132-pound weight class. Submitted photo

Joey Pillittieri of Falconer was up to the challenge over the weekend.

Competing in the Journeyman Wrestling Club’s New York State Championships, Pillittieri finished seventh in the 132-pound weight class to be the lone place winner among Chautauqua County participants.

“They ran one division and did not split it up into Division 1 and Division 2 like our normal states,” said Falconer wrestling coach Drew Wilcox. “It was equally as tough as any state tournament I’ve been to.”

How difficult was it? Well, Pillittieri, who posted a 5-2 record for the weekend, had 11 returning state place winners in his weight class. Among his victories were against Casper Stewart of Batavia via an 8-3 decision; and a 9-7 decision in overtime over Mike Catanzaro of Williamsville North. Stewart finished third at the 2020 New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships, and Catanzaro is a two-time Section VI champion, who placed eighth at the NYSPHSAA Championships in 2020.

Other locals in the tournament were Brayden Newman of Falconer, 0-2 at 120 pounds; Martin Ohlsson of Chautauqua Lake, 0-2 at 132 pounds; Hunter Harris of Chautauqua Lake, 1-2 at 132 pounds (he beat Tavyn Macdonell of Bolivar-Richburg, 7-0); Brandon Ramsey of Chautauqua Lake, 1-2 at 138 pounds (pinned Cael Owen of Horseheads at 3:07); Luke Tomlinson of Maple Grove, 1-2 (defeated Dominic Vinci of Spencerport, 9-7); Brock Johnson of Falconer, 2-2 (he defeated Mason Cooper of Cobleskill, 9-7, in overtime and won by injury default over Logan Marissal of Journeyman Wrestling Club); and Collin Beichner of Falconer, 1-2 (pinned Michael Frele of Tottenville at 1:34.

The wrestlers qualifed for the event based on previous successes on the mat.