Eleven wrestlers on teams from the CCAA claimed individual titles at the Section VI Division II State Qualifier at the Allegany Community Center and earned trips to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Wrestling Championships in Albany on Feb. 24-25.

Falconer’s Dylan Ingrao (145 pounds) was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler while fellow Golden Falcons Dan Torres (152 pounds) and Cameron Page (160 pounds) came through with impressive wins in the finals.

In addition, Hector Colom (132 pounds) and Dalton Gardner (113 pounds), both from Fredonia, claimed the top spot in their weight brackets; Maple Grove’s Trevor Micek (170 pounds) and Zak Trim (182 pounds) were able to come away with championship wins; Dunkirk/Silver Creek’s Billy Seiders (138 pounds) claimed a sectional title; and Gowanda’s David Poff (120 pounds), Portville’s Nick Kozlowski (126 pounds) and Olean’s Jordan McLaughlin (220 pounds) all won championships to punch their tickets to the Times Union Center.

Ingrao, who competed at the state tournament last year, began his state qualifier by pinning Cheektowaga’s Huy Dang in just 58 seconds. He later recorded a 4-3 decision over Akron’s Johnathan Fiebelkorn in the semifinals and added a convincing 10-2 major decision over Cheektowaga’s Katrell Jackson in the finals to walk away the winner.

Photo by Alex Shipherd Dunkirk’s Billy Seiders, top, wrestles Depew’s Phil Calandra during the 138-pound final at the Section VI, Division II wrestling tournament, which was held on Saturday in Salamanca at the Allegany Community Center.

“I’m extremely excited for Dylan,” Falconer head coach Drew Wilcox said. “He kind of went through a rough patch in the middle of the season (and) really wasn’t wrestling too well. Then he just decided enough is enough and started working his butt off every day with Dan Torres. I’ve just been watching those two get better and better every single day. I didn’t want to jinx them. But I truly knew that both of their finals matches were going to look like that (because of) the way they’ve been training and the way they’ve been practicing.”

Torres’ final match that Wilcox referred to was a 13-3 major decision over Southwestern’s Giuseppe Hoose, who entered the state qualifier as the top seed. Torres, a junior, pinned Gowanda’s Dominik Rodriguez in 1:54 and recorded a 7-1 decision over Albion’s Blake Aina to reach the finals.

Page, a senior, came away with a 6-0 decision over Eden’s Swayer Overhoff in the title match at 160 pounds. He defeated Akron’s Robbie PeQueen and Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama’s Tommie Adolph to earn a berth in the finals.

“Cameron has been second, second and third here,” Wilcox said, “so he’s been close. His goal has been to be a state champion and to finally get there, I’m just really excited for him and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do when he gets there.”

Fredonia’s Colom and Gardner looked to be in postseason form.

Colom, who has competed at the state tourney multiple times and only has one loss this season, pinned Newfane’s Zach Brown in 2:35 in the finals and picked up wins over Gowanda’s Ryan Gernatt and Albion’s Preston Flugel.

Gardner, who worked his way to the state tourney in 2016, made sure he would be back again when he came away with a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Maple Grove’s Shane Hetrick. He took down Southwestern’s Michael Carnes and Medina’s Colby Petrie earlier in the day.

“(Colom) was much more focused this weekend as opposed to last weekend (at the Class C Tournament),” Fredonia coach Joe Santilli said when asked about what impressed him the most about Colom. “This weekend, he calmed down, relaxed and went back to (being) him. He’s a difficult guy to wrestle. He wrestles from bad positions well and that’s what works for him. I was extremely pleased for him. … Shane Hetrick is an outstanding wrestler. He’s solid, he’s been (to the state tournament). To beat Shane is quite a testament to Dalton (Gardner). And Dalton’s young. He’s still finding his way in the sport as well.”

The Maple Grove Red Dragons were another team which had two champions: Micek and Trim.

Micek locked up a spot in the his first state tournament after he made his way past Cheektowaga’s Erik Bartnik in the finals via a tight 5-4 decision. He also beat Randolph’s Cody Wright and Akron’s Jacob Sarow. The senior will enter states still with only one loss on his record

“That was the one loss was against Bartnik,” Maple Grove coach Tim Shrout said. “We were really looking forward to that rematch and I think he proved that it was a one-time thing. He’s got a real sort of match-control ability, you know? He knows the score and you can tell that he’s planning what he wants to do and he’s timing it, too, when he wants to do it.”

Trim, the third seed at 182 pounds, defeated Falconer’s Corey Keefe in the final match of that bracket via a 2-1 decision. He recorded pinfall victories over the likes of Olean’s Connor Walsh and Springville’s Ian Baker as well.

“We thought he could be right there,” Shrout said of Trim’s superb effort. “It was Zak’s night and we’re pretty happy for that. He got a late start to the season with football … and didn’t find the right weight right away, but I think we ended up there in the end. … (Micek and Trim) have been working together all year now, for a couple years actually, both football and wrestling. It’s pretty fitting that they are going (to states) together.”

Seiders, who was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the recent Class B Tournament, continued his stellar season, when he downed Depew’s Phil Calandra in the 138-pound championship following a 3-2 decision. The win allowed Seiders, a senior, to advance to his first state tournament.

“Billy has wrestled varsity six years with us,” Dunkirk/Silver Creek head coach Joe McMurdy said. “Nothing breaks the kid. He’s a great kid, great student, he’s a high-character kid. … He doesn’t get too high or too low, he doesn’t get upset. He’s just a tough, tough kid, mentally and physically. … He’s walking on cloud nine now.”

In one of the toughest matches of the evening, Gowanda’s Poff decisioned Tonawanda’s Zach Braddell, 5-3. Poff made his way to the finals following wins over Fredonia’s Brandon Wallace and Maple Grove’s AJ Putt.

“He’s patient, he had to wait until the very, very last match (of the tournament),” Gowanda coach Mark Leous stated. “He’s calm. … He took a couple losses early in the season, but since he went to 120 (pounds), he’s been on fire. He really has. … He’s just been wrestling great.”

Portville’s Kozlowski came away with an 11-6 decision over East Aurora’s Johnny Putney and Olean’s McLaughlin pinned Gowanda’s Charlie Valone in the 220-pound final.

Other individual winners were Laith Alsous of Lewiston Porter at 285 pounds, Mike Evans of Springville at 99 pounds, Doug Ciszak of Pioneer at 106 pounds and Tyler Smith of Pioneer at 195 pounds.

Finals

99: Mike Evans (SPRING) d. Carson Alberti (DEPEW), 4-1.

106: Doug Ciszak (PIO d. Ryan Nugent (NEW), 8-5.

113: Dalton Gardner (FRED) d. Shane Hetrick (MG), 1-0.

120: David Poff (GOW) d. Zach Braddell (TON), 5-3.

126: Nick Kozlowski (PORT) d. Johnny Putney (EA), 11-6.

132: Hector Colom (FRED) p. Zach Brown (NEW), 2:35.

138: Billy Seiders (D/SC) d. Phil Calandra (DEPEW), 3-2.

145: Dylan Ingrao (FALC) md. Katrell Jackson (CHEEK), 10-2.

152: Dan Torres (FALC) md. Giuseppe Hoose (SW), 13-3.

160: Cameron Page (FALC) d. Sawyer Overhoff (EDEN), 6-0.

170: Trevor Micek (MG) d. Eric Bartnik (CHEEK), 5-4.

182: Zak Trim (MG) d. Corey Keefe (FALC), 2-1.

195: Tyler Smith (PIO) d. Michael Rigerman (PIO), 5-3.

220: Jordan McLaughlin (O) p. Charlie Valone (GOW), 5:33.

285: Laith Alsous (LP) p. Nick Jones (D/SC), 4:09.