Backed by five pins, the Thunderbirds beat Southwestern 42-20 to improve to 4-0 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 competition.

The victory sets up a first-place showdown with Falconer/Cassadaga Valley next Wednesday night in Falconer. The Golden Cougars also improved to 4-0 in the league with a 63-11 win over Fredonia/Silver Creek/Brocton on Wednesday night in Fredonia.

“I genuinely hope that the outcome next week is the same as it was this week,” CL/W/P/C head coach Ken Rowe said. “You can absolutely never put Falconer in the rear-view (mirror), they’re always going to compete. … We just have to wrestle.”

John Watson got things started on the right foot for CL/W/P/C as he improved to 24-3 on the season with a pin of Dante Spitale in 1:24 at 152 pounds.

Trojans’ Neves Hoose battles the Thunderbirds’ Brad Smith at 160 pounds. Photo by Shelly Phillips

“I’ve seen all kinds of different things happen as far as loud crowds, obnoxious parents, loud coaches, and this team seems to keep it together and wrestle,” Rowe said. “It’s always a big boost to get a big pin right off the bat, but I haven’t seen this team shut down as far as outside circumstances.”

Neves Hoose and Tavio Hoose got Southwestern on the board in the next two matches, and actually gave the Trojans a 10-6 lead, but the Thunderbirds’ Brad Smith and Jayden Malecki staying out of pins may have been the more impressive feat.

“I thought we wrestled well,” Southwestern head coach Johnny Vogan said. “Some of our kids that we kind of expected to get 6 points from: the Hooses, Walters, the match at 285, their kids battled and didn’t get pinned.”

Neves Hoose beat Smith 10-2 at 160 pounds and Tavio Hoose earned a 5-3 decision over Malecki at 172 pounds.

“Pins are something that I despise. I realize that they happen, but it bothers me to accept that at any level,” Rowe said. ” … I think those are both winnable matches and the Hoose boys wrestled better today.”

The highlight of the night for the Trojans came at 285 pounds as Peter Conley went up 5-0 in the first period on Gavin Segovia, then gave up that lead in the third period before rallying for a 12-5 victory.

“That’s probably the biggest win Pete has had this year. He’s had a great week of practice,” Vogan said. “He’s wrestled for a long time and been on the team for a long time. It’s just great to see him have success and see him do well.”

“Gavin, 99% of the time is a hammer,” Rowe said, “but once in a while if some things go south early, he’ll struggle, and he did tonight.”

CL/W/P/C’s Gavin Burchanowski then earned a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Adrian Torres at 102 pounds.

“In a lot of cases, an official is going to start listening to the crowd and start paying attention to stalling,” Rowe said. “Gavin didn’t do that. He kept contact, he kept good movement. He kept attacking, avoided that, and he finished the way he needed to to get the win.”

“Gavin’s shot defense was on point,” Vogan said. “Hopefully, maybe we’ll see him again this weekend at the Morales Tournament. They’re two young kids … they’ll probably wrestle throughout their careers.”

Kenji Walters’ 10-0 major decision over Thandon Bensink at 110 pounds and Carmine Calimeri’s forfeit victory at 118 pounds made it 21-20, but the Thunderbirds locked up the match with a Jordan Joslyn forfeit at 126 pounds and Martin Ohlsson’s 27-second pin at 132 pounds.

“We did send out a couple of first-year guys and that definitely is an advantage to them. We’ve only got one senior. I feel like it’s just good experience,” Vogan said of the match as a whole. “We’ve gotten better each of the last two years. I’m happy with everybody’s progress at this point.”

CL/W/P/C’s Trent Burchanowski, a 2022 state qualifier, returned from an injury to defeat Ryan Chapman 7-1 at 138 pounds and the Thunderbirds’ Jack Bourgeois finished off the match with a 3:43 pin of Bo Wendel at 145 pounds.

“I think it was pretty evident that Trent’s tank isn’t full right now, but he wrestled a smart match and scored when he could,” Rowe said. “It was pretty nice to see him on the mat again. That is something that I think boosted the team a little bit, seeing their captain back on the mat.”

152: John Watson (CL/W/P/C) p. Dante Spitale, 1:24

160: Neves Hoose (S) md. Brad Smith, 10-2

172: Tavio Hoose (S) d. Jayden Malecki, 5-3

189: Mason Maring (CL/W/P/C) p. Brayden Potter, 2:40

215: Ison Shirley (CL/W/P/C) p. Will Hoden, :44

285: Peter Conley (S) d. Gavin Segovia, 12-5

102: Gavin Burchanowski (CL/W/P/C) d. Adrian Torres, 1-0

110: Kenji Walters (S) md. Thandon Bensink, 10-0

118: Carmine Calimeri (S) won via forfeit

126: Jordan Joslyn (CL/W/P/C) won via forfeit

132: Martin Ohlsson (CL/W/P/C) p. Noah Melquist, :27

138: Trent Burchanowski (CL/W/P/C) d. Ryan Chapman, 7-1

145: Jack Bourgeois (CL/W/P/C) p. Bo Wendel, 3:43