By JAY YOUNG

sports@observertoday.com

SALAMANCA – After two days of action inside the Seneca Allegany Community Center, Port Allegany walked away with the team title at the Southern Tier Wrestling Officials Association Holiday Classic on Saturday afternoon, finishing with 257.50 points with Fredonia (210.50) placing second.

Brady Worthing of Tioga was named Most Outstanding Wrestler after pinning his way through the 138-pound bracket, finishing things off with a win via fall over Eli Petruzzi of Port Allegany in 3:01.

Also finishing strong in the team standings was Chautauqua Lake in seventh with 149 points and Maple Grove in ninth with 96.5.

Helping Fredonia finish in second place were eight top-four finishes, including a pair of titles.

The Hillbillies were guaranteed one championship as teammates Jake Skinner and Yaniel Acevedo faced off to complete the day in the 285-pound finale. Skinner would take that match via a 9-6 decision.

At 182 pounds, Fredonia’s Ceric Kristan showed his versatility. Picking up a 2-1 lead after an early takedown, Kristan started the second period in the down position and earned another point for an escape. More takedowns down the stretch would complete a 9-5 decision win.

“He wrestled well. Ceric is a talented young man and he works hard and good things happen for him,” Fredonia head coach Joe Santilli said. “With 30 seconds left I wanted him to be able to get in a good position to be tough on top. You never know, if you are nursing one point or a tie match you need to be able to perform on top and maintain position without giving up the escapes. That is kind of what I wanted to work on from that point.”

Fredonia just missed out on another winner at 120 pounds, where David Ball lost a last-second decision to Donavan Smith of Tioga.

Entering the day at 18-0, Ball fell into a 6-3 hole after some nice scrambling and an escape by Smith.

With the final seconds ticking away, Ball made his move and picked up either two points or four, leaving the officials to decide a winner.

“He got the two and they were trying to determine whether the official had a two-count for back points within the time,” said Santilli. “He dug himself a little bit of a hole, but he came back tough, he didn’t quit. (He) tried to find a way and he came super close to making it happen. I admire that because he persevered and kept battling.”

Ultimately the officials would decide that Ball did not have enough time on the clock for back points, giving Smith a 6-5 win.

At 152 pounds, Dakota Mascho of Portville would pick up a 12-5 win over Hunter Larson of Fredonia.

Despite the strong showing on Saturday, the Hillbillies were snakebit by the loss of 145-pound leader Dalton Gardner, who suffered a shoulder injury in his third-place match against Alex Anderson of Warren.

Jake Tomlinson would lead Maple Grove with a strong performance in the finals at 195 pounds. Now sitting at 12-0 on the year, Tomlinson got a quick takedown on Derek Kallenborn of Port Allegany and nearly completed the first-period pin, instead picking up a 5-0 lead. Kallenborn would fight his way back with a reversal, but Tomlinson continued to win positions on his way to a 11-4 decision.

“We told him to stay composed and stick to the game plan of not making sloppy mistakes,” said Maple Grove coach Steve Matteson. “He stayed controlled, he saw an opportunity and capitalized on it, got him on his back twice in the first period. That gave him a good cushion. As we got down to the third period, he had enough of a lead that he finished out on top.”

Maple Grove was close to a pair of first-place medals, as Luke Tomlinson battled it out with Easton Hedman of Eisenhower for the 132-pound title. Tomlinson would win a scramble early, but did not get any points to show for it, with Hedman taking a 2-0 lead with an early takedown.

After getting on the board with an escape, Tomlinson pulled within a point and then took the lead at 6-4 with a reversal and good top control. One final takedown would make the difference as Hedman sealed an 8-6 decision.

“Started out with a throw that ended up with no points, ended up in a scramble,” said Matteson. “The other guy got two, but Luke got out really quick. It ended up 2-1 and we just told him to calm down. He was ready to get back into it. Ended up with a very tight cradle that we thought had him stuck, and unfortunately it didn’t quite end the way that we wanted. Luke wrestled a very tough match. There were a lot of good things that we saw and a couple things to work on. Overall, we are very happy with how he wrestled, even though he came up short.”

Chautauqua Lake would finish with three second-place medals, with Ken Rowe spending a good chuck of time in the coaching chair during the early finals matches.

Entering the day at 13-0 on the year, Jordan Joslyn would suffer a loss to champion Gianni Silvestri of Tioga at 99 pounds. After an early takedown, Silvestri would pick up a couple of reversals on his way to a 15-2 win.

Chautauqua Lake’s Marty Ohlsson would suffer a similar fate at 106, where Carden Bellis of Tioga was able to pick up a 10-2 major decision.

Trent Burchanowski also made a trip to the finals in the third match of the afternoon, where he was pinned by Bryent Johnson of Port Allegany in 3:32.

TEAM SCORES

1. Port Allegany (257.50), 2. Fredonia (210.50), 3. Tioga (197.5), 4. Warren (194), 5. Eisenhower (175), 6. Portville (155), 7. Chautauqua Lake (149), 8. Olean (137), 9. Maple Grove (96.5), 10. Franklinville (86), 11. Gowanda (43), 12. Northwestern (39.5), 13. Youngsville (13), 14. Randolph (34), 15. Frewsburg (33), 16. Salamanca (25), 17. Catt-Little Valley (18).

CHAMPIONSHIP

99: Gianni Silvestri (TO) md. Jordan Joslyn (CL). 15-2

106: Carden Bellis (TO) md. Marty Ohlsson (CL), 10-2

113: Bryent Johnson (PA) p. Trent Burchanowski (CL), 3:32

120: Donavan Smith (TO) d. David Ball (FRED), 6-5

126: Logan Jaquay (EIS) d. Braedon Johnson (PA), 6-0

132: Easton Hedman (EIS) d. Luke Tomlinson (MG), 8-6

138: Brady Worthing (TO) p. Eli Petruzzi (PA), 3:01

145: Josh Bortz (EIS) md. Dominik Rodriguez (GOW), 16-2

152: Dakota Mascho (PORT) d. Hunter Larson (FRED), 12-5

160: Gavin Kulp (OL) d. Joey Arnold (WAR), 7-3

170: Cleon Lawton (FR) d. Roland Thompson (POR), 6-2

182: Ceric Kristan (FRED) d. Jamo Douglos (WAR), 9-5

195: Jake Tomlinson (MG) d. Derek Kallenborn (PA), 11-4

220: Cael Black (EIS) d. Justin Young (PA), 4-2

285: Jake Skinner (FRED) d. Yaniel Acevedo (FRED), 9-6

THIRD PLACE

99: Michael Ball (FRED) p. Maxx De Yoe (PO), 0:45

106: Ethan Coleman (FR) p. Chase Weimer (PA), 3:42

113: Lucas Hoffman (FRED) p. Luke Baer (MG), 2:06

120: Scott Fuller (PA) d. Alex Cottrell (NW), 6-4

126: Jacob Welch (TO) d. Hunter Harris (CL), 1-0

132: Ryan Madigan (WAR) d. Isaiah Caden (PA), 8-4

138: Brendon Ramsey (CL) d. Donovan Fiscus (WAR), 5-0

145: Alex Anderson (WAR) inj. Dalton Gardner (FRED)

152: Ethan Fort (GOW) p. Jeremiah Crivelli (OL), 3:52

160: Jayden Lassiter (PORT) d. Emmett Wood (TIO), 3-0

170: Isaak Baumgarner (PA) md. Everett Leonard (FR), 14-5

182: Kyle Trim (MG) d. Dalton Distrola (PA), 6-2

195: Julian Morales (PORT) p. Aaron Howard (TIO), 0:30

220: Conner Walsh (OL) p. Jake Hayes (WAR), 1:58

285: Jake DiSimone (YOUNG) p. AJ Addotta (OL), 0:34