Niagara Wheatfield is going to have to make room in its trophy case.
For the second consecutive season, the Falcons traversed the Division I bracket, culminating with a 33-30 win over Clarence to win the Section VI dual championship Saturday at Williamsville North High School. With the win, Niagara Wheatfield is headed to the state dual championships for the third time in as many seasons Feb.1 in Syracuse.
The Falcons notched wins over Hamburg (54-21) in the quarterfinals and Frontier (38-34) in the semifinals to set up a tilt with Clarence. The Red Devils topped Ken-Ton (48-16) and Niagara Falls (36-18) to reach the finals.
Against Frontier, Niagara Wheatfield trailed 34-22 with three matches remaining. But three of its most experienced wrestlers were due and they delivered.
Garrett Chase (145 pounds) and Chase Richards (152) scored 40-second pins over Deon Nguyen and Kyle Pirone, respectively, to tie the dual. Then Dylan Pringle closed it with a 14-5 major decision over Mason Tirado at 160 pounds to send Niagara Wheatfield into the championship.
The Falcons used a similar run in the final, only it came in the middle of the order. After being pinned in the semifinals, Jacob Sweeney responded with a first-round pin of Jacob Levin at 116, sparking a run that saw the team win six of seven matches.
Eian Peterson scored a 19-3 technical fall after winning via first-round fall in his first two matches of the day, while Muntathar Abbas scored a fall at 131 to cap a 3-0 day. At 138, Aiden Johnson bounced back from being pinned in the semis to edging Michael Torrey in a 9-7 decision.
Richards and Pringle remained unbeaten on the day to give Niagara Wheatfield an insurmountable 33-18 lead with two matches remaining.
Newfane notches runners-up finish in D2
Newfane powered into the finals but ran into a buzzsaw, falling to Chautauqua Lake, 46-23, in the Division II championship at Allegany Community Center.
The Panthers beat Eden 41-23 in the quarterfinals and then toppled Pioneer, 39-29, in the semifinals. Against Chautauqua Lake, Colin Doxey started the dual with a first-round pin at 170 pounds, but the Panthers then dropped nine of the next 10 matches, with four coming by fall.
Newfane’s Ayden Buttery won all three of his matches at 160 pounds and neither lasted 90 seconds. Buttery notched pins in 36 seconds, 1:16 and 1:21.
Doxey won all three of his matches on the day, with two first-round pins and a major decision. Aidan Gillings won his first match in a 17-1 tech fall over Eden’s Bryce DellaPenta at 145, followed it up with a 9-0 major decision over Pioneer’s Wyatt Opferbeck at 152 and then scored a fall over Chautauqua Lake’s Toby Watson in 2:27 at 152.
Look for more coverage from the tournament in Tuesday’s edition.