By STEFAN GESTWICKI
OBSERVER Sports Reporter
Falconer (1-0) recorded five straight pins at one point in the match and the Golden Falcons downed Dunkirk (0-1), 57-19, Wednesday, in a CCAA Division 1 wrestling contest at Dunkirk High School.
Article Photos
OBSERVER?Photos by Roger Coda
Dunkirk’s Chanz Spencer, left, looks to take control of Falconer’s Jake Youngberg, right, during Wednesday’s CCAA?Division 1 high school wrestling match.
For Falconer, it was back to business as usual.
"It's always important to start with a win," Falconer head coach Drew Wilcox said. "We're coming off a good year last year, so it's nice to keep that rolling."
In the opening match for both teams, Dunkirk scored two pins and two victories by decision, but it could have been more.
Freshman Tito Colom kicked off the match and his varsity career with a 11-2 decision over Falconer's Ricky Griffith at 106 pounds.
"I was very happy with what he did," Dunkirk head coach Joe McMurdy said of Colom. "He's a hard working kid. He's only going to get better."
The Golden Eagles responded with a pair of very similar wins in the next two bouts.
At 113 pounds, Jacob Peru pinned Dunkirk's Brandon Perry in 3:26. Then at 120 pounds, Austin Ormand recorded a pin over Troy Smith in 3:33.
The contest between Falconer's Mike Waddington and Dunkirk's Teddy Griewisch at 126 pounds proved to be a tipping point in the match.
Griewisch got out fast and looked to be in total control of the match. A pin would have gotten Dunkirk back to within 12-10, but as Griewisch closed in for the pin, he leaned back and essentially pinned himself.
"He actually hit a very nice move," McMurdy explained. "On his way to put the kid on his back, he was trying to better his position and ended up on his own back. It was considered a pin and that was a big turning point because it was a 12-point swing."
Instead of 12-10, Falconer jumped out to an 18-4 lead.
Two more pins - the fourth and fifth in a row by Falconer - by Brandon Muntz (132 pounds) and Kyle Ross (138) gave the Golden Falcons a very comfortable 30-4 lead.
McMurdy felt the run of five consecutive pins was a dangerous mix of Dunkirk's mistakes and Falconer's talent.
"Falconer is definitely one of the better teams around," he said. "We're just trying to close the gap. Last year they beat us 73-3 or something ridiculous. We definitely need to stop getting pinned. That's what we'll be working on."
The pins stopped there, but Falconer's victories kept piling up.
At 145 pounds, Jake Youngberg scored a technical fall over Dunkirk's Chanz Spencer and Cody Dustin followed that with a 11-8 decision over Phil Jones at 152 pounds.
"We had a few guys with their first time in the varsity lineup," Wilcox added. "Cameron Page, Austin Ormand, Cody Dustin, Brandon Teboe, Seth Abbey - you can't say enough about those guys coming out here for the first time in a varsity match and going after it for six minutes."
Kyle Perry was able to stop the bleeding a bit for the Marauders when he muscled his way to a pin of Brandon Teboe in the second round of their contest at 160 pounds.
Tyler Aitechson built on Dunkirk's momentum with a narrow 9-7 decision over Seth Abbey at 170 pounds. Abbey was down early, but nearly came back as he closed the gap to 8-7 at one point late in the third round.
With the score 38-13, Falconer reeled off another four consecutive victories to ensure a division win.
Jimmy Schwab got things started with a 10-3 decision over Marquis Buchanon at 183; Jake Penhallow nailed a pin with 11 seconds left on the clock to steal a win from Dunkirk's Adrian Alvarado; Dan Williamson had little trouble at 220 with a 10-1 decision against Nick Jones and Javen Newman recorded a first-round pin over Alex Jones at 285.
Hector Colom ended the match on a positive note for Dunkirk with pin of Cameron Page just over three minutes into their 99-pound bout.
McMurdy was very happy with Hector Colom - a seventh grader in his first varsity action - as well as Alvarado.
"Alvarado is brand new," he said. "He got pinned with 11 seconds to go. He wrestled hard. I was very happy with his effort.
"This group is very young this year," McMurdy continued. "They're working hard. We want to be better tomorrow than we were today. That's all we can ask."
Falconer hosts Cassadaga Valley on Tuesday while Dunkirk will wrestle in the Maple Grove tournament, Saturday.
Fredonia 67, CLV-PV 14
CATTARAUGUS - The Fredonia Hillbillies opened their Division 1 wrestling season with an impressive 67-14 victory over Cattaraugus-Little Valley-Pine Valley on Wednesday.
Things started off well for the Panthers as Logan Martin pinned Edison Velez at 2:59 of the 126-pound match to give the home team a 6-0 lead.
At 138, Fredonia's Tyler Cassidy pinned Gabe Grey at 1:43 and at 152, Jude Gardner pinned Billy Fleming at 3:58.
The Panthers' Matt Booth earned a 15-0 technical fall victory at 195 over Nick Nocek.
Fredonia's Jobany Ruiz pinned Sam Ritchie at 1:25 of the 106-pound match while teammate Pat McCarthy was victorious at 120 with a :52 pin of Adolf Zollinger.
"Fredonia is very solid again," Cattaraugus-Little Valley-Pine Valley coach Rex Brown said. "They are definitely one of the better teams in Western New York. It was a tough opener, but it gives our guys something to gage against."
Both teams will compete in the Maple Grove tournament this weekend.
