The Fredonia Hillbillies (4-0) wrestling team played its Section VI CCAA Division 1 wrestling duals against Franklinville (1-2) at Silver Creek High School for the Silver Creek and Forestville athletes. The last time Silver Creek High School hosted a league wrestling match was in 2011. The home crowd had been waiting quite a while to see some CCAA Division 1 wrestling action and the Hillbillies delivered, as they took down the Franklinville Panthers 50-25.

“It’s pretty special,” Silver Creek senior Cole Golembieski said about wrestling on his home mat at Silver Creek High School. “I hear my dad and uncles talk about it all the time when they used to wrestle here. It’s pretty cool that Fredonia got us a chance to wrestle here.”

Perhaps the match of the night for the Hillbillies was in the 152-pound class, as Silver Creek’s Golembieski took on Franklinville’s John Tinelli and made quick work of him. If you blinked, you might have missed Golembieski take Tinelli down to the mat,. Short thereafter, Golembieski managed to get the pinfall victory on Tinelli in just 32 seconds.

“I don’t really think about it beforehand,” Golembieski said about his strategy going into the match. “You’ve got to just use what you feel and just wrestle. Wrestling is a lot of feel and you’ve got to just go with it.”

Fredonia’s Cole Golembieski, a senior of Silver Creek, (top) wrestles Franklinville’s John Tinelli on Wednesday. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms.

Golembieski’s match followed fellow Black Knights’ Dawson Russo and Hunter Larson, who opened the duals. Russo lost a hard-fought match against Tyler Learn in the 138-pound class and Larson won via forfeit at 145. Jacob Myers also represented the Black Knights in the Fredonia uniform, as he won the 160-pound class by forfeit.

“Definitely a change of environment being over here in Silver Creek,” Fredonia head coach Joe Santilli said about the match venue. “It’s a good opportunity for the kids that are in our program that are representing Silver Creek and Forestville. It was good, and had a real nice turnout, so I am happy.”

One of the most dominant matches of the night was wrestled by Fredonia’s Ceric Kristan (of Brocton) at 182 pounds against Everett Leonard of Franklinville. Kristan dominated the entire match, doing everything but land a pin on Leonard. Kristan ended up defeating Leonard by a majority decision of 16-5.

“Ceric, we’re trying to raise the bar for him in preparation for the end of the season,” stated Coach Santilli. “The goal is to get him back to Albany, and when he gets to Albany, get him on the podium. We’re trying to get him out of his comfort zone and work on some different positions that have room for improvement.”

Kristan’s match was followed up by a very close match in the 195-pound class. Fredonia’s first year varsity wrestler Matt Lotter took on Franklinville’s Kyle Wittenrich. The two were even after two periods of wrestling at 2-2. In the third period, Wittenrich nabbed a quick four points to go up, 6-2, but after that neither could gain the upper hand, giving Wittenrich the 6-2 victory.

Fredonia’s Ceric Kristan, of Brocton, (top) battles with his opponent, Everett Leonard of Franklinville, during Wednesday’s wrestling match at Silver Creek High School. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms.

“I was real happy with Matt Lotter at 195,” stated Coach Santilli. “He’s a first-year wrestler. He wrestled a young man who has been in the varsity line for about four years. He held his own and he battled tough. He’s really starting to come along, really developing and it’s exciting to watch somebody new to the sport start to get that feel.”

Similar to Kristan, Mike Ball did everything he could to his opponent, but land a pin. Ball dominated his entire match in the 99-pound class against Jewel Wozniak, and eventually got the 12-1 majority decision.

Fredonia also received victories from Alex Christy via pinfall, Yanni Acevedo via forfeit, David Ball via pinfall and Lucas Hoffman via pinfall en route to the 50-25 league win.

“Overall, I wasn’t satisfied with our attacking and looking to engage and score,” Coach Santilli said about the night. “I felt we were flat… a number of the guys came out flat. I’m hoping that we regroup and come out and battle tough this weekend.”

The Hillbillies are back in action this weekend when they head to the Lockport Invitational. Then in league play next Wednesday, the Hillbillies host the visiting Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds for Senior Night in Fredonia.

Fredonia's Matt Lotter, left, receives instruction. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms.

Fredonia's Matt Lotter escapes his opponent's grasp. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms.

Fredonia's Mike Ball battles with an opponent. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms.

Fredonia's Lucas Hoffman battles with an opponent. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms.