OBSERVER Staff Report

MAYVILLE — The Fredonia Hillbillies wrestling team continued their impressive start to the season on Wednesday, defeating Chautauqua Lake-Westfield-Panama 55-24 at Chautauqua Lake High School.

After Fredonia forfeited to start the match at 138, top wrestler Dalton Gardner stepped up to set the pace for the match at 145. Gardner was able to pin Thunderbirds’ Austin Bourgeois in the second period, and from there the Hillbillies took off.

“I was real pleased with our performance against a tough Chautauqua Lake squad,” said Fredonia head coach Joe Santilli. “They are always a challenge for us. We wrestled well in preparation for this weekend.”

Hunter Larson picked up a pin for Fredonia at 152, Lucas Green won an 8-4 decision at 160 and Cole Golembieski picked up a third period pin to put the Hillbillies up early in the match.

Alex Christy, Jake Skinner, Lucas Hoffman, Peter Calanni and Brandon Wallace all picked up wins for the Hillbillies to close out the match.

“Everyone stepped up well for us,” said Santilli. “We got timely pins and guys that did a good job grinding out close matches and finding ways to win.”

For Chautauqua Lake, Jack Bourgeois, Trent Burchanowski and Brendon Rowe picked up wins for the Thunderbirds.

Fredonia will wrestle again this weekend at the Pioneer-Hillcrest Duals, while Chautauqua Lake will wrestle at the Cheektowaga tournament on Saturday.