SANBORN — One day down, one to go and plenty of greater Niagara region wrestlers remain in the chase to win a championship at the fifth annual Linda C. Knuutila Memorial Tournament.
After having nine place-winners one year ago, Niagara Wheatfield leads the pack with seven wrestlers heading into Saturday’s quarterfinal round. The Falcons are second in the team standings, trailing first-place Palmyra-Macedon by two points, 90-88, while St. Francis is in third with 84 points. Amherst (82.5) is in fourth while Falconer and Williamsville North/East(76.5) are tied for fifth..
Senior Te’Shaun Mathews is the highest-seeded Falcon left, as the No. 2 ranked in the 152-pound bracket and will now take on seventh-seed Cole Bloomquist of Jamestown in the quarterfinal. In the 138, fourth-seed and junior Garrett Chase will take on fifth-seed Palmyra-Macedon’s Zach Rooks while in the 145, fourth-seed and classmate Chase Richards will face #5 Clarence’s Joey Keller. Senior Joseph Cicco (170) will now face Southwestern’s Neves Hoose.
Former Niagara Falls standout and junior Eian Peterson entered as the fifth-seed for the Falcons in the 116 and will now take on Tioga’s Kadin Cole. Senior John Fike (215) will face Lafayette’s Kahmari Cook while Iain O’Donnell (190) will take on top-seeded Tavio Hoose.
Lewiston-Porter, Newfane and Wilson all advanced three wrestlers each to the quarterfinal.
Lancers junior Jaron Barrientos entered as the top-seed in the 116 and will now face eighth-seed Mustafa Natiq of Amherst. His brother and fellow Starpoint transfer, Caden, is the second-seed in the 124 and prepares to take on Frontier’s Balin Ramelia. Senior Israel Walker also advanced for the green-and-white and, as the fourth-seed, will take on fifth-seed Levi Bellis of Tioga.
Newfane had all three of its veterans, senior Jakob Lucinski and juniors Aidan Gillings and Ayden Buttery all advance. Lucinski is the top-seed in the 108 and will now take on eighth-seed Aiden Rodriguez of Orchard Park in the quarters. Gillings, the second-seed in the 138, will take on seventh-seeded Quentin Getzin of Ithaca. Buttery, the third-seed in the 145, will next face sixth-seed Sawyer Dickinson of Ken-Ton.
Leading the way for Wilson was Hamza Merrick, who entered as the top seed in the 285 and will now face Pioneer’s Chris Howatt. Sophomore Victor Cusatis is still alive as the second-seed in the 131 and will now face seventh-seed Ryder Reichert of Alexander. Junior Jacob Stephenson, meanwhile, is the fifth-seed in the 160, and will next face North Tonawanda’s fourth-seed Dylan Gagnon.
Medina had two wrestlers advance, with juniors Brody Fry (190), who will face former Starpoint wrestler and St. Francis sophomore Zach Caldwell, the second-seed, and Reece Senske (108), the sixth-seed who will now face third-seed Chautauqua Lake’s Gavin Burchanowski.
Along with Gagnon of the Lumberjacks, four other greater Niagara region schools have one participant left in the quarterfinals. Lockport senior Liam Whalen is the sixth-seed in the 190 and will now face St. Francis’ third-seed Connor Miller.
Niagara Falls eighth-grader Cam Crumpler is the second-seed in the 101 and will now face seventh-seed Declan McKee of Tioga while Grand Island’s Dylan Castiglia (124) will take on Hamburg’s Sam Berti. Roy-Hart/Barker junior Ronan Klug is the eighth-seed in the 160 and will face the top-seed Cam Catrabone of Williamsville North/East.
Along with Caldwell, the LaPlante brothers, sophomore Griffin and senior Gage, advanced to the quarterfinal with St. Francis after helping Starpoint win the team title one year ago. Griffin, the top-seed in the 152, will now face the eighth-seed Brady Wilkinson of Iroquois. Gage, the second-seed in the 170, will square off against Hamburg’s Evan Braunscheidel.
Former Newfane standout and Williamsville North/East freshman Brayden Kellison advanced in the 116 after entering as the third-seed and will now face Eden’s Ruger Pastwik.
At the end of the first day, Palmyra-Macedon leads with 90 points, followed by Niagara Wheatfield (88) and St. Francis (84).
The Linda C. Knuutila Memorial Wrestling Tournament will conclude Saturday, starting with the third annual girls tournament at 9:30 a.m., followed by the boys quarterfinals at 10 a.m. The overall finals are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
Team Scores
Palmyra-Macedon 90; Niagara Wheatfield 88; St. Francis 84; Amherst 82.5; Falconer 76.5; Williamsville North/East 76.5; Southwestern 72; Chautauqua Lake 66.5; Clarence 64; Tioga; Ken-Ton 59.5; Jamestown 58; Hamburg 55; Niagara Falls 55; Frontier 57.5; Randolph 51; Pioneer 48; Alexander 44; Eden 43.5; Lancaster 43.5; Iroquois 42; Newfane 41.5; Medina 40; Ithaca 39.5; Roy-Hart/Barker 37; Lewiston-Porter 36.5; North Tonawanda 30; Orchard Park 30; West Seneca West/East 29; Owego 28