With a lot on the line, the Golden Cougars took three of the first four matches by decisions, jump-starting what would ultimately be a 38-21 victory.

“This was like a match that I’ve never been part of. I thought there was 10 toss-up matches,” Facloner/Cassadaga Valley head coach Brad Wilcox said. “It was about winning the close ones. If we get a pin, it’s like winning two and we found a couple of those.”

The first three matches were the closest with all of them being decided by two points. The Golden Cougars took the first two, with Karsen DePasquale defeating Jack Bourgeois 7-5 in the 132-pound class and Austin Chase held on to a 2-0 win over Carson Fairbank at 138-pounds.

In the third match, the Thunderbirds finally got on the board with Trent Burchanowski defeating Jacob Clark 8-6 at 145-pounds. Burchanowski was leading 6-3 heading into the final period, but at the start gave Clark a free point in hopes to get a takedown in a two-for-one.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama’s Martin Ohlsson (top) is in control of his match against Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Vinnie Bloomberg. Photo by Michelle Gilbert | Charming Artistry

That decision put the match in jeopardy when Clark was able to get the takedown to tie things up at 6-6 with little time remaining. In that little time, however, Burchanowski dug deep and found the strength to pull off a late reversal, giving him two points and the 8-6 victory.

“It could have been the exact other way had a couple things changed,” said Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama head coach Brad Rowe. “A lot of close matches that didn’t go our way and we lost a couple matches big that I didn’t expect. (Falconer/Cassadaga Valley is) always prepared and that’s why they keep winning.”

After the Thunderbirds first win, the Golden Cougars went on their long run. It started with a regular decision from Dalton Caldwell, who defeated Brad Smith 7-4 in the 152-pound class.

Following Caldwell’s win, were four dominant performances from the Golden Cougars. First, was Brodie Little against Jayden Malecki at 160 pounds. Little controlled the entirety of the match as he picked up the first major decision, winning 8-3. Then came the most dominant performance of the evening from Kyle Keefe of the Golden Cougars. In Keefe’s bout with John Watson at 172 pounds he did everything but get the pin as he dominated all three periods en route to an 18-3 technical fall.

After Keefe, came the first pin of the night from Devyn Morrison against Mason Maring at 182 pounds in 1:56. Following the Morrison pin, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama got back on the board as Ison Shirley earned the forfeit victory at 215 pounds, making the score 23-9.

In the first five matches there were no pins and then in the final five there were four pins, two from each team. David Stein at 285 pounds and Karsen Lundgren at 189 pounds picked up pins for the Golden Cougars.

“At 189, we got that one, (which) was huge,” Wilcox said about his team’s victories by pin. “That kid pinned him last time. Devyn has been working harder in the room and doing the right things and he got out there and got after it. At 289 we got the matchup we wanted with the Segovia kid. Stein, he is a worker, he went out and he wasn’t going to lose that match. He got the key pin for the team.”

Then Jordan Joslyn at 118-pounds and Martin Ohlsson at 128-pounds ended the night for the Thunderbirds with two pins.

“To pin anyone on this team … they’re hammers, they brawl the entire time,” Rowe said about the difficulty of any pin against Falconer/Cassadaga Valley. “It was nice to get a couple pins. Those two are pretty high-level kids and I would hope that’s how they finish, but against this team you never know.”

The last regular decision fell in favor of Dylan Newman of the Golden Cougars at 102 pounds.

“This win was all Coach Delahoy,” stated Wilcox. “He had these guys prepared for this match. He scouted that team, this is 100% Coach Delahoy’s win.”

132: Karsen DePasquale (FCV) d. Jack Bourgeois, 7-5

138: Austin Chase (FCV) d. Carson Fairbank, 2-0

145: Trent Burchanowski (CLWP) d. Jacob Clark, 8-6

152: Dalton Caldwell (FCV) d. Brad Smith, 7-4

160: Brodie Little (FCV) md. Jayden Malecki, 8-3

172: Kyle Keefe (FCV) technical fall over John Watson, 18-3

182: Devyn Morrison (FCV) p. Mason Maring, 1:56

215: Ison Shirley (CLWP) won via forfeit

285: David Stein (FCV) p. Gavin Segovia, 1:07

102: Dylan Newman (FCV) d. Gavin Burchanowski, 10-7

110: Karsen Lundgren (FCV) p. Thandon Bensink, 3:15

118: Jordan Joslyn (CLWP) p. Hunter Paulisick, 1:32

126: Martin Ohlsson (CLWP) p. Vinnie Bloomberg, 1:18