OBSERVER Staff Report

LOCKPORT — The Fredonia Hillbillies wrestling team measured itself against some of the toughest competition in the state this weekend at the Lockport Invitational on Saturday. When the day was done, the Hillbillies finished second overall out of 24 schools with 183 points, and boasted a pair of tournament champions, Alex Christy and Ceric Kristan.

“We responded well this weekend,” said Fredonia coach Joe Santilli. “It’s a very challenging tournament.”

In addition to Christy and Kristan’s championships, Fredonia had one runner-up, three third-place finishers, a fourth-place finisher and two fifth-place finishers. David Ball was a second-place finisher for Fredonia, while Antonio Pagan, Cole Golembieski and Jake Skinner all finished third in their class. Michael Ball finished fourth for Fredonia while he was unable to wrestle in his third-place match because of a one-day match limit. Hunter Larson and Jack Storm both took fifth-place for Fredonia.

There was also a JV portion of the tournament on Friday, where Fredonia had a champion and four runner-ups. Bryson LeGrano won his weight class at the JV level, while Sebastian Puglisi, Brycen Davis, Matt Lotter and Michael Holt all took second in their class. Dawson Russo and Gabe Metzger each took third in their class at the JV level.

Next up for the Hillbillies is their Senior Night match on Wednesday against Chautauqua Lake, at 6 p.m. at Fredonia High School.