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Run ends here

Thunderbirds stop Golden Cougars’ 11-year streak

By Christian Storms 5 min read

MAYVILLE -- The Thunderbirds have finally found their way to the top.

After 11 straight years of dominance by Falconer/Cassadaga Valley in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 boys wrestling, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer snapped the Golden Cougars' streak of 46 straight league dual victories with a 40-21 in front of a packed gymnasium at Chautauqua Lake.

"It feels like a thousand pounds off my shoulders," Thunderbirds head coach Ken Rowe said about winning the league. "But I've got a long way to go before we catch up to their continued success. I think we've got a good thing going and I think we can, but this group is why this is happening. Whether it's the kids or the coaches, it's these guys that are creating this level of wrestling for us."

Despite having defeated the Golden Cougars in two tournaments earlier this season, the Thunderbirds knew it wouldn't be an easy feat to claim the league title and that's exactly what they learned in the first match of the night. Falconer/Cassadaga Valley's Austin Chase opened the night with a pin against Brad Smith at 160 pounds.

"We were hoping to win the coin flip. Our goal was to get Chase on John Watson," Falconer/Cassadaga Valley head coach Drew Wilcox said. "Austin is one of the big leaders on our team. He kind of got the momentum going in our favor."

The tone was set after Chase's victory. If the Thunderbirds wanted the league title, it wasn't going to be easy.

The next two matches were exactly that, two hard-fought decisions, one going in favor of each team. First, Jayden Malecki picked up the Thunderbirds' first victory of the night, an 8-5 decision over Brodie Little at 172 pounds. Then, Dalton Caldwell returned the favor for the Golden Cougars, defeating Mason Maring 2-0 at 189 pounds.

After the Maring loss, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer got big pins from its heavyweights, Ison Shirley at 215 pounds and Gavin Segovia at 285 pounds.

The Thunderbirds earning pins and the Golden Cougars grinding out decisions soon became the theme of the night.

Trailing 15-9, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley posted back-to-back victories to knot the score up at 15-15. Dylan Newman nabbed the Golden Cougars a close 2-1 victory over Gavin Burchanowski at 102 pounds, with Burchanowski's only point coming in the final seconds on an escape.

Then, in one of the closest matches of the night, Karsen Lundgren pulled off a late third-period reversal to win a match that he started down 4-0. In the opening period, Thandon Bensink won a takedown then got a quick near-fall to go up 4-0, but Lundgren quickly turned the tables with a reversal and a near-fall of his own. Lundgren got down before the second period, but continued to battle from behind for the win.

"I'm proud of Dalton Caldwell," Wilcox said. "He puts the team first and got a tough 2-0 win over Maring. I was very pleased with our wins 102 (Newman) and 110 (Lundgren). They're (Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer) pretty loaded, probably not going to get a lot of pins against them."

The Golden Cougars last victory came from a forfeit at 118 pounds and then from there it was the Thunderbirds' time to shine. Jordan Joslyn, Martin Ohlsson and Trent Burchanowski scored three pins in a row to give the Thunderbirds a 33-21 lead and there was no looking back from there.

"Those bonus points are huge," Rowe said about securing pins. "The match was far closer than it looks. We got a couple pins where they didn't. It's happened to us in the past when we've wrestled them and lost. It was not an easy task to get pins tonight, but fortunately we did and I think that was the difference."

After the three consecutive pins, Jack Bourgeois claimed the lone major decision of the night for the Thunderbirds in a 11-2 victory at 145 pounds and John Watson closed out the night with a 8-4 win at 152 pounds to put the final stamp on the Thunderbirds' league title and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

"It's what we wanted, I'm not sure it's what we needed," Rowe said about the atmosphere. "I wonder if it was a little too much, but it was awesome. It's been a lot years that I've heard a gym that loud and it was outstanding. I think even the guys that didn't win matches on both sides, it was exciting and a good night."

160: Austin Chase (F/CV) p. Brad Smith

172: Jayden Malecki (CL/W/P/C) d. Brodie Little, 8-5

189: Dalton Caldwell (F/CV) d. Mason Maring, 2-0

215: Ison Shirley (CL/W/P/C) p. Hunter Caldwell

285: Gavin Segovia (CL/W/P/C) p. Thi Quelle VanGuilder

102: Dylan Newman (F/CV) d. Gavin Burchanowski, 2-1

110: Karsen Lundgren (FCV) d. Thandon Bensink, 8-6

118: Gabe Lundmark (F/CV) won via forfeit

126: Jordan Joslyn (CL/W/P/C) p. Hunter Paulisick

132: Martin Ohlsson (CL/W/P/C) p. Riley Best

138: Trent Burchanowski (CL/W/P/C) p. Patrick Braley

145: Jack Bourgeois (CL/W/P/C) md. Charlie Reichenbach, 11-2

152: John Watson (CL/W/P/C) d. Jacob Clark, 8-4

Starting at /week.