OBSERVER?Staff Reports
SINCLAIRVILLE - The gym was packed for eight straight hours of wrestling at the fifth annual Cassadaga Duals tournament at Cassadaga Valley on Saturday.
Six teams battled it out for top honors with one clear champ emerging at the end. The three-school combo of Westfield-Ripley-Chautauqua Lake took home first place with a 5-0 finish with Olean edging Dunkirk-Silver Creek for second by head-to-head criteria.
Article Photos
Photo by Lisa Monacelli
Billy Sischo of Cassadaga Valley takes on Kale Gilbert of Westfield-Ripley-Chautauqua Lake in a 138-pound bout at the Cassadaga Valley Tournament, Saturday.
Teddy Griewisch was Dunkirk-Silver Creek's lone winner at 126 pounds.
Rounding out the field were Maple Grove, Cassadaga Valley and Salamanca in the last three spots.
Host Cassadaga Valley had four individual champions while Maple Grove and Westfield-Chautauqua Lake-Ripley had three each, Salamanca and Olean had two each, and Dunkirk-Silver Creek had one.
Fredonia has unprecedented
success in Webster
WEBSTER - Fredonia experienced a monumental weekend at the Matthew Marino Invitational, being held at Webster-Schroeder High School.
Coach Alex Conti has been taking his wrestling teams to this tournament for 10 years and had a total of three champions over that time. This time around, four Hillbillies were crowned champion and another five placed.
"To have nine guys place was real enjoyable," Conti said. "It was nice to be that busy that far into the tournament."
Freshman Dakota Gardner won at 126 pounds. He went 7-0 on the weekend and his pin of Zack Bendick (Union Endicott) was his 100th career win.
Jude Gardner, not to be outdone by his brother, captured the 145-pound weight class by going a staggering 10-0 with six pins and a pair of technical falls.
Zach Buckley, wrestling at 151 pounds, went a smooth 6-0 with three pins. He pinned Liam Anderson (Webster) in just 1:14 in the finals.
Fredonia's final champion was Christian Saden at 220 pounds. Saden was perhaps the most impressive wrestler at the tournament as he went 9-0 with seven pins. All seven of his pins came in the first period.
Also placing for Fredonia were Pat McCarthy (3rd place, 113 pounds, 8-1, six pins), Tyler Cassidy (4th. 132, 6-2, five pins), Zach Gloff (5th, 285, 3-3, three pins), Sean Sluberski (6th, 145, 6-3, five pins) and Julias Woma (6th place, 138, 5-3, four pins).
Fredonia racked up 302 points in the tournament, second only to Mt. Anthony's (Vermont) 421.
"I was pleased," Conti added. "This is a brutal grind. We try to get a lot of matches under our belts early. The fear is that it's so tough that you lose confidence. If you can stay positive past this tournament, the rest of the season seems to go comfortably."
Fredonia continues its CCAA Division 1 schedule Wednesday with a home meet against Southwestern.
