OBSERVER File Photo Six members of the Dunkirk Marauders will travel to Cheektowaga today to compete in the Section VI Class B high school wresting championships.

The Dunkirk Marauders will be sending a mixture of experience and youth to today’s Section VI Class B high school wrestling championships at Cheektowaga High School.

Dunkirk will join Olean, Maryvale, Cheektowaga, Albion, Alden, Depew, Pioneer and East Aurora in the competition. The Marauders are only sending six wrestlers to compete, so a team title is most likely out of the question, but they are hoping to be represented in the finals.

Leading Dunkirk will be Nick Jones and Billy Seiders. Jones, a two-time state qualifier and fourth-place state place finisher two years ago, will be competing in the Class tournament for the first time in two years, as he received a medical wild card last year recovering from a torn ACL.

This year, Jones is healthy and ready for the competition at heavyweight.

“I think it’s good he is wrestling this weekend,” Dunkirk coach Joe McMurdy said. “I think right now he is ranked No. 3 in the state. The kid who is No. 2 will be there. They wrestled a couple times in the past. It will be a good test. If he can beat him here, it will help in the seedings down the road.”

McMurdy is referring to Laith Alsous, who weighs right near the top of the 285-pound limit and stands 6-feet-4 inches.  While Jones took fourth at states two years ago, Alsous placed fourth at states last year. In head-to-head competition, Alsous holds a 2-1 record over Jones.

“We want to get out of the Class tournament healthy and get to Sectionals,” McMurdy said of Jones’ goal today. “He is looking forward to wrestling this weekend.”

Also for Dunkirk, Seiders enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed. McMurdy noted Seiders is peaking at the right time.

“We feel confident,” McMurdy said. “The last 2-3 weeks is the best Billy has ever wrestled. He went to the Ken-Ton Tournament and beat kids from WNY easily. I think he will be ready to go. It will be a good test for him. This is a deep weight class there. He was the Most Outstanding Wrestler at Ken-Ton. He wrestled very, very good.”

Rounding out Dunkirk’s team this weekend is Hunter Larson, Adam Sanchez, Brad Yochum and Kenny Pisa.

“Kenny Pisa and Brad Yochum are both No. 4 seeds,” McMurdy said “I think they are in good position. If they win a match or two, they get the No. 1 seed. A lot of teams we have not seen and I think it’s good for our kids. They go out and wrestle and not worry about things. I am expecting both of them to have good showings.

“Adam Sanchez is a freshman,” McMurdy continued. “I don’t know what to expect. As the season has gone on, he’s wrestled better and better. Hunter Larson is a seventh grader in an extremely tough weight class. For him, being only in seventh grade, getting in matches is what it is about for him. He has won 9-10 matches in that weight class which is very good. I would absolutely expect him to double that next year.”

The top four wrestlers from each weight class advance to next weekend’s state qualifier, which will be held at the Salamanca Community Center.

“It’s an exciting time because you get to see these matches really mean a lot,” McMurdy concluded. “They put forth a lot of effort for these last couple tournaments moving on. If you have someone who doesn’t move on, it’s a sad time because it’s the end of their season. Losses seem to matter a lot more than they did eight weeks ago.”