OBSERVER Staff Report

LANCASTER — The Fredonia boys wrestling team came up short in Section VI Dual Meet Championship at Lancaster High School this weekend and went 1-2.

“We came up a little bit short in our goal, but we had some opportunities to win a couple of the matches we lost,” said Fredonia head coach Joe Santilli. “They battled tough, definitely represented our team well.”

The Hillbillies opened the tournament with a huge win over Lake Shore, 69-17, but then they fell in the semifinals to Iroquois, 36-33, and ended the tournament with loss to Pioneer in the wrestle back, 38-34. Both of the losses came down to just one match differential.

“Top five teams in Section VI could easily be in top 15 for New York State,” stated Coach Santilli. “Any of those guys can beat anybody any given weekend.”

The Hillbillies effort was highlighted by Hunter Larson, Ceric Kristan and Alex Kristy all going 3-0. In the 285lb division, Jake Skinner and Yanni Acevedo split time to go 3-0. Michael Ball, David Ball, Cole Golembieski, Jack Storm and Matt Lotter all went 2-1 on the weekend.

“It’s definitely a tough tournament,” stated Coach Santilli. “It’s a different feel not having Dalton Gardner, but you go with who you have.”

Fredonia has a busy week coming up, on Wednesday the Hillbillies have a home match against Franklinville at Silver Creek High School and on the weekend they travel to the Lockport Tournament.