Spencerport Takes Holiday Classic Title Again
Bears' Strong Named MOW
By Mike Frank (sports@post-journal.com) , The Post-Journal
http://www.post-journal.com

There may be no place like home for the holidays. However, for the Spencerport wrestlers, Chautauqua County is pretty close.

For the seventh time in the last 10 years, and the 14th time overall, the Section 5 powerhouse captured first place in the Jamestown Holiday Classic at Jamestown Community College on Saturday night.

The Rangers finished with 216 points, with Ridgway (Pa.) finishing as the runner-up with 163. Rounding out the top five were Roy-Hart (137), Fredonia (137) and Lockport (123).

Frewsburg's Kevin Strong received the Don Wishart Most Outstanding Wrestler award. Strong took first place at 132 pounds with a 1-0 victory over Eden's Tommy Page. Strong got the point on an escape early in the third period, then held off a furious effort by Paige in the final seconds.

For the tournament, Strong had a bye in the first round. He then defeated Brett Himes of Ridgway, 12-0, Austin Leon of Seneca Valley, 1-0, and Levi Baszynski of Spencerport, 14-12, to reach the finals.

After the championship match, Strong said, "I felt pretty comfortable. I still had control of his leg. I don't feel they can break that grip."

Strong said he was very pleased to receive the MOW award, his first ever.

"I didn't expect to get it, since I was seeded first and won."

He feels Saturday's matchup will be repeated in the sectional finals and possibly the state finals.

The Bears' Nick Mitchell took first place at 170, defeating Jamestown's Jacob Gullo by pin in 4:25. Coach Robbie Waddington said "We wrestled solid. Every day they get better. We only have seven kids, so we do what we can do."

Coach Gary Gerber of Ridgway, who is retiring after this season, was recognized prior to the start of the finals. Gerber, who has coached 38 years, has more than 400 wins to his credit. Regarding his team's performance Saturday, he said, "I'm real pleased with our finishes. We were aiming for fifth or sixth, so we're ahead of schedule. We've still got a lot of work to do."

For the Elkers, Corey Bush took first at 126 pounds, defeating Ripley's Emory Rowe 7-2. It is Bush's fourth title at the Holiday Classic, which Gerber said "is a real special accomplishment."

Gerber said that the Holiday Classic "is a real class tournament. The competition level is very high. They treat us very well. It's good for the kids. They put the kids first."

Besides Fredonia, other area teams competing included Salamanca (13th), Ripley (16th), Falconer (19th), Maple Grove (21st), Cassadaga Valley (22nd), Frewsburg (23rd), Jamestown (24th), Cattaraugus-Little Valley (26th), Southwestern (27th), Panama (31st), Randolph (32nd), and Chautauqua Lake (34th).

Joining Strong and Mitchell as champions were Ben Haas of Salamanca at 160 and John Nickerson of Maple Grove at 195.

Steve Seibert of Cassadaga Valley was third at 113, and Kyle Ross of Falconer was third at 120.

Other area placewinners were Bradley Bihler of Maple Grove (fourth, 99); Brandon Muntz of Falconer (fourth, 126), Hunter Waller of Panama (fourth, 152); Dusty Lewis of Salamanca (fourth, 195); Chris Saden (fifth, 195), Zach Buckley (fifth, 160) and Tyler Cassidy of Fredonia (sixth, 132); Trevor Enterline (sixth, 220), Caleb Lawson (seveenth, 160) and Marcus Meredith of Ripley (eighth, 132); Tyler Willibey (fourth, 182) and Matt Booth of Cattaraugus-Little Valley (seventh, 170); Tom D'Angelo (eighth, 220) of Jamestown; and Dylan Lundmark (sixth, 106), Chris Vansickle (seventh, 120); Ryan Hetrick (seventh, 99), Chad Cooper (seventh, 220) and Brett Swan (eightth, 126) of Southwestern.

The finals began at 99 pounds. Kyle Kelly of Chenango Forks took on Spencerport's Jon Haas. Kelly got a takedown and six back points in the first. Haas got a takedown early in the second. Late in the second, Kelly added six more points to take a 14-2 lead. After a reversal, the match ended with 21 seconds with a takedown by Kelly for a technical fall.

At 106, Lockport's Anthony Orefice faced JoeVerdi of Grand Island. Orefice took a 2-1 lead after one period, then dominated the second period before getting the pin with 19 seconds left.

Fredonia's Pat McCarthy took on Zach Bickle of Roy Hart in the 113-pound final. Bickle scored a takedown and two back points, then allowed McCarthy up. McCarthy started the second period on the bottom, and worked his way free for one point. The third period was scoreless, with Bickle taking the 4-2 decision.

At 120, Jacob Green of Chenango Forks met Fredonia's Dakota Gardner. Green managed to avoid a single-leg takedown by Gardner, then got a takedown of his own halfway through the period. Green worked his way off the bottom in the second period for a reversal. He then added a takedown with 35 seconds left in the third to complete the 6-0 win.

Rowe and Bush faced off at 126, and battled through a scoreless first period. Bush got the board with a takedown 30 seconds into the second, but Rowe quickly rallied to tie the match. Bush started the third on the bottom, but scored a couple reversals and a late takedown for the 7-2 win.

Next up was Strong and Page. An apparent takedown in the first period was waved off as the wrestlers went out of bounds. Strong had the advantage in the second period, but was unable to put any points on the board. He began the final period in the bottom position, then broke free with 30 seconds gone by for the point. He would make that lead stand up, holding onto Page's leg and not allowing him to send the match to overtime.

At 138, Lockport's Mike Feeney dominated Chet Simoni of Grove City, scoring takedowns in the first two periods, then an escape and a takedown in the third for a 7-0 decision.

Fredonia's Jude Gardner met Drew Hull of Roy Hart in the middle of the circle at 145. Hull proved to have the upper hand, scoring a takedown in the first, a reversal in the second, and a takedown in the third for the 6-0 win.

Spencerport's Steve Maier faced Slade Horner of Ridgway at 152. An even first period was scoreless. Horner took a 1-0 lead on an escape with 42 seconds to go in the middle period. Maier broke from the bottom to start the third. The match looked to be headed to overtime, but Maier scored a takedown with just four seconds left to get the 3-1 victory.

At 160, Haas took on Kyle Caggiano of Ridgway. Haas got a takedown and two back points with about 45 seconds elapsed in the first period. The pair then battled the remainder of that period and all of the second with no scoring. Stalling cost Caggiano a point in the third, and Haas tacked on a few more at the end for a 9-0 major decision.

The match featuring two area wrestlers was next, with Gullo and Mitchell. Following a scoreless first two minutes. Mitchell started the second on the bottom. He earned one point for an escape, then added two with a takedown. The pair started the third in neutral. With 35 seconds gone by, Mitchell got a takedown. Pressing his advantage, he quickly recorded the pin.

At 182, Grove City's Wes Phipps took on Trent Egenlauf of Spencerport. Phipps dominated the match, winning by a 7-2 decision.

At 195, Nickerson took on Niagara Wheatfield's Jacob Kelly. The first points came in the second period as Nickerson got the reversal from the bottom position, then added two near-fall points with 37 seconds to go. A takedown early in the third by Nickerson was answered with a reversal by Kelly, but he would get no closer as Nickerson closed out the 6-2 win.

Niagara Wheatfield's Max Antone made short work of Harborcreek's Parris Warner, getting the pin in 50 seconds.

The final championship match of the night matched Cassadaga Valley's Derek Wise against Austsin Coleman of Spencerport. Neither grappler put up points in the first period. Coleman got a takedown with 25 seconds gone by in the second, then moved in for the pin, which came about 10 seconds later, capping off the Rangers' night on an appropirate note.

NOTES: The tournament was held at Jamestown Community College, due to a scheduling conflict with the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena. ... Brian and Sandy Howard from Chautauqua Lake were presented with the Mike Marucci Parents Award. ... Ripley's Sawyer Tessemer, a 182-pounder, received the Josephine Sisley Award for overachiever. A letter describing Tessemer's qualities was read.