SALAMANCA — Over the early part of the 2016-17 high school wrestling season, one of the most impressive teams in the Southern Tier has undoubtedly been Falconer.

The Golden Falcons’ early-season dominance continued Saturday, as first-place finishes from Dylan Ingrao (145 pounds), Cameron Page (160 pounds) and Corey Keefe (195 pounds) helped Falconer claim the team title in convincing fashion with 259.5 points at the 2016 Southern Tier Wrestling Officials Association Holiday Classic at the Allegany Community Center.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” Falconer coach Drew Wilcox said. “Ever since I’ve been coaching at Falconer, this is a tournament everybody talks about. It’s finally getting back to where it was seven, eight or 10 years ago. It’s not all the way back, but it’s getting close. To win it by the margin we did, it’s a pretty big honor for our team.”

Jacob Payne (99 pounds) and Jake Peru (182 pounds) recorded second-place finishes for the Golden Falcons. Peru, who is the defending New York state champion at 182 pounds, lost by default in the finals after suffering a severe injury.

“We’re all crossing our fingers that Jake (Peru) is back on the mat this year,” Wilcox emphasized. “But if that’s not a possibility, he’s always been the emotional leader of our team and, you know, he’ll continue to do that.”

Jimmy Kramer (120 pounds) and Dan Torres (152 pounds) came in third-place in their respective weight classes for Falconer as well.

“This is a huge checkpoint for us,” Wilcox stated. “I thought we had a good team. … To come out here and win by the margin we did, (it) gets me pretty excited about the rest of the year.”

Niagara Wheatfield (170.5 points) was second in the team standings, Olean (168) was third, Randolph (147.5) was fourth, Warren (140.5) was fifth, Hamburg (117) was sixth, North East (112.50) was seventh, Fredonia (110) was eighth, Newfane (104) was ninth and Eisenhower (85) rounded out the top 10.

Fredonia had two champions: Giovani Russo (126 pounds) and Hector Colom (132 pounds). In addition, Dalton Gardner came in second at 120 pounds to help the Hillbillies end up eighth in the team standings.

“We’re an incredibly young team,” Fredonia coach Joe Santilli explained. “I’m hoping to bring them along somewhat slowly, but I have to move them forward as well. We’re replacing (multiple) weight classes from last year, we had a good team last year. We’re on a learning curve, we’re getting a little bit of a baptism by fire, which is not a bad thing in this sport. I mean, that’s the nature of this sport.”

Other local wrestlers to come out on top in their weight classes included Southwestern’s Giuseppe Hoose at 152 pounds, who posted a hard-fought win over Falconer’s Torres in the semifinals and a 1-0 decision over Dunkirk/Silver Creek’s Bill Seiders in the finals. Hoose has yet to lose this season.

“He’s very focused this year,” Southwestern coach Mark Arnold said of Hoose. “He’s the hardest worker in the room and he’s just trying to take that next step. … What was most impressive was just how smart he wrestled those matches. He understood the situations he was in. He understood what he had to do to score points.”

Dunkirk/Silver Creek’s Nick Jones was the winner at 285 pounds after he pinned Niagara Wheatfield’s David Runge in the finals in 2:35. As a team, Dunkirk was 13th with 70 points.

Chautauqua Lake was tied for 11th in the team standings with 80 points and was led by a fourth-place finish from Ben Szymanowski at 220 pounds.

Gowanda wound up 14th with 67 points and was led by a second-place finish from Valone (220 pounds) and third-place finishes from David Ball (99 pounds) and David Poff (126 pounds).

NOTES: Eden’s Jacob Page, who won the 138-pound bracket, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Team Standings

1. Falconer    259.50

2. Niagara Wheatfield    170.50

3. Olean    168.00

4. Randolph    147.50

5. Warren    140.50

6. Hamburg    117.00

7. North East    112.50

8. Fredonia    110.00

9. Newfane    104.00

10. Eisenhower    85.00

11. Chautauqua Lake    80.00

11. Eden    80.00

13. Dunkirk/Silver Creek    79.00

14. Gowanda    67.00

15. Wayne    64.50

16. Maple Grove    60.00

17. Tonawanda    55.50

18. Portville    53.00

19. Iroquois    46.00

20. Catt-Little Valley    45.50

20. Starpoint    45.50

22. Franklinville    42.00

23. Southwestern    37.00

24. Jamestown    36.00

25. Canisius     26. 50

26. Lew-Port    24.00

27. Salamanca    12.00

28. Falconer 2    7.00

Finals

99: Andy Lucinski (NEW) d. Jacob Payne (FALC), 9-4.

106: Marcus Evans (RAN) p. Nick Bierfeldt (OL), 1:58.

113: Justin McDougald (NW) d. Shane Hetrick (MG), 7-4.

120: Zach Braddell (TON) md. Dalton Gardner (FRED), 9-1.

126: Giovani Russo (FRED) d. Matt Evans (RAN), 3-2.

132: Hector Colom (FRED) d. Warren McDougald (NW), 9-2.

138: Jacob Page (EDEN) p. Zach Brown (NEW), 5:18.

145: Dylan Ingrao (FALC) d. Jake Engstrom (WAR), 3-2.

152: Giuseppe Hoose (SW) d. Bill Seiders (DUN), 1-0.

160: Cameron Page (FALC) md. Joe Galvin (IRO), 13-1.

170: Trevor Micek (MG) d. Jame Smeader (HAM), 5-3.

182. Matt Cicco (NW) won by injury default.

195: Corey Keefe (FALC) d. Marshall Johnson (RAN), 10-5.

220: Jordan McLaughlin (OL) d. Chuck Valone (GOW), 3-1.

285: Nick Jones (DUN) p. David Runge (NW), 2:35.