By Chris Brooks, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
This past weekend showcased an extension on Wellsville’s brilliant start on the mat. With two tournament championships now under their belts, including Saturday’s Arkport Duals, it was officially time for regular season action on Tuesday against the very same Arkport-Canaseraga team that hosted the annual event.
It was safe to say that the Lion’s Den was packed, and it was also safe to say that it was loud. What better atmosphere could you ask for, for your home opener?
The Lions and the visiting Wolves squared off in what was a duel right from the start. Both teams traded victories on the mat in rapid succession, left and right. The teams would eventually come together for a 12-12 tie in the early-going.
But approaching the middleweight battles, the tide began to shift in the Lions’ direction, as they picked up massive victories from David Clark, Adam Iantorno and Jack Cicirello to help pave the way, while Gabe Black helped end the night with a clutch victory at 190 pounds to further cement their 42-29 win over the Wolves.
The night would begin at 285 pounds with Arkport-Canaseraga climbing onto the board first with Aiden New collecting the team’s quickest victory via pinfall, rolling up Wellsville’s Brayden Taggert in just 24 seconds to break the ice. After a forfeit win for Easton Joyce at 101 points to even the score, the Wolves retook the lead in the next match after a lengthy battle between Jacob Kellog and Paul Giovanniello at 108 pounds.
With a 2-1 lead collected by Giovanniello going into the second period, a pair of reversals were exchanged between the two competitors, with the last being serviced by Kellog to lay the pin down in the same swing, recording the win with just 12 seconds left.
Another forfeit win for the Lions would even the score for what would be the last time in the match, as Wellsville propelled into the lead permanently with David Clark’s victory at 124 pounds after he completed a comeback to record the pinfall win over Connor Smith at the 2:45 mark of the second period.
With the Wolves gaining ground by trimming their deficit to a single point off Brock Kellog’s 17-2 technical fall win over Brock Mattison at 131 pounds, Wellsville would counter with back-to-back wins from Adam Iantorno (138 pounds) and Jack Cicirello (145 pounds) to further distance their advantage, with Iantorno pinning Thomas Moore in 23 seconds, while Cicirello took complete control and finished strong in a 14-2 major decision over John Stauring.
Taylor Pragle (152 pounds) and Matt Ritter (160 pounds) would record pinfall victories for both Arkport-Canaseraga and Wellsville respectively, which would allow the Lions to maintain sight of victory that awaited in the end, as they closed out the night with two more victories in rapid succession from Xander Outman, who claimed a 21-5 technical fall win at 170 pounds, and a brilliant performance from Gabe Black at 190 pounds.
Black trailed 2-1 to Drew Giblin for much of the battle up until the late stages of the second period, when he provided a massive near-fall to propel himself into the lead going into the last two-minute segment, where he was able to come away with a clutch escape from Giblin’s grasp to pull off the 5-2 decision win.
Arkport-Canaseraga would garner one final win from Ruben Diaz at 215 pounds, via forfeit.
The Lions are now off until next Tuesday night back on their home mat, as they now get set to renew their rivalry with the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines in a 6 p.m. start.
Results
101 – Easton Joyce (WLSV) by for.
108 – Jacob Kellog (A-C) def. Paul Giovanniello (WLSV) by pin, 3:48.
116 – Blake Geffers (WLSV) by for.
124 – David Clark (WLSV) def. Connor Smith (A-C) by pin, 2:45.
131 – Brock Kellog (A-C) def. Brock Mattison (WLSV) by tech fall, 17-2.
138 – Adam Iantorno (WLSV) def. Thomas Moore (A-C) by pin, :23.
145 – Jack Cicirello (WLSV) def. John Stauring (A-C) by major dec, 14-2.
152 – Taylor Pragle (A-C) def. Landon Stratton (WLSV) by pin, 1:05.
160 – Matt Ritter (WLSV) def. Sage Butcher (A-C) by pin, 3:23.
170 – Xander Outman (WLSV) def. Richard Flaitz (A-C) by tech fall, 21-5.
190 – Gabe Black (WLSV) def. Drew Giblin (A-C) by dec, 5-2.
215 – Ruben Diaz (A-C) by for.
*285 – Aiden New (A-C) def. Brayden Taggert (WLSV) by pin, :24.
Canisteo-Greenwood 39, Bolivar-Richburg 30
CANISTEO — After a flurry of forfeits aided in setting up shop for the area’s biggest rivalry shared between Bolivar-Richburg and Canisteo-Greenwood, it was time to get down to brass tax.
Out of the four matches that took center stage on the mat in the Canisteo Valley on Tuesday, three of them would belong to the Wolverines, as they performed a complete sweep of all three heavyweight matches to propel their ascension. But after six total forfeit wins went their way, the Chargers were able to spark a home victory over their archrivals in their first and only meeting of the campaign, as they edged their way towards what was a 39-30 triumph.
Beginning at 124 pounds to kickstart the match, the two teams would trade forfeits across the first seven matches before Bolivar-Richburg scored three straight wins on the mat. Leading off was Zack Mitchell at 190 pounds, as he pinned Canisteo-Greenwood’s Brandlee Dennis with a single second remaining in the first period to claim the victory.
Camren Wilber followed suit with a pinfall win of his own in similar fashion, rolling up Luke Zeh with two ticks left in the opening period. Caden Allen would wrap up the heavyweight victories for the Wolverines at 285 pounds, claiming his win with just under a minute remaining in the last period over Skyler Miles.
The Chargers garnered their lone win at 116 pounds from Connor McCaffery, as he edged out Teegan Sibble for a close 7-2 decision win. The hosts also garnered forfeit wins from Garrett Hall (101 pounds), Ziah Sharp (124 pounds), Mathias Sharp (138 pounds), Austin Hall (145 pounds), Gavin Bob (152 pounds) and Carson Turner (160 pounds).
Bolivar-Richburg gained two forfeit wins from Cayden Gaines and Tavyn MacDonell at 131 and 170 pounds, respectively.
Next week, the Wolverines will return to action with a 6 p.m. visit to Wellsville.
Results
101 – Garrett Hall (C-G) by for.
108 – Double for.
116 – Connor McCaffery (C-G) def. Teegan Sibble (B-R) by dec, 7-2.
*124 – Ziah Sharp (C-G) by for.
131 – Cayden Gaines (B-R) by for.
138 – Mathias Sharp (C-G) by for.
145 – Austin Hall (C-G) by for.
152 – Gavin Bob (C-G) by for.
160 – Carson Turner (C-G) by for.
170 – Tavyn MacDonell (B-R) by for.
190 – Zack Mitchell (B-R) def. Brandlee Dennis (C-G) by pin, 1:59.
215 – Camren Wilber (B-R) def. Luke Zeh (C-G) by pin, 1:58.
285 – Caden Allen (B-R) def. Skyler Miles (C-G) by pin, 5:01.
Livonia 41, Canisteo-Greenwood 25
CANISTEO — The Lady Chargers of Canisteo-Greenwood were tagging right alongside Livonia across the first half of play, despite an early first quarter lead transforming into a halftime deadlock.
But when the second half arrived, a rapid and game-changing alteration of pace settled in when the Lady Bulldogs found their rhythm and struck every chord, coasting off on a big third quarter run to pull away from their opposition with a 41-25 road win in Canisteo, Tuesday night.
Five different Lady Chargers (2-2) all found their way to the rim to begin the first eight minute stanza of the battle, capitalizing on what was a speedy 11-6 lead of Livonia when the frame reached its conclusion.
The Lady Bulldogs in turn, came up with a response themselves, holding Canisteo-Greenwood to just four points on the defensive end to trim their deficit down to a 15-15 halftime tie going into the locker room.
That same momentum that was established by the visitors in blue and orange was reconnected once more in the third quarter. This time, on all facets, as they conducted an 18-4 run of the Lady Chargers to officially pull away for good towards victory.
Despite the defeat, Bailey Mullen recorded a strong night on offense for the hosts in white and red, netting 10 team-high points. Paris May had five points to add in, while Kora Button scored four points.
The Lady Chargers will now head for Cuba-Rushford on Thursday to partake in tournament action, beginning with a 6 p.m. contest against Section VI-rep Pioneer. The winner will face either Olean or the host Lady Rebels in the Championship game on Saturday.
Livonia 6 9 18 8 – 41
Canisteo-Greenwood 11 4 4 6 – 25
LIVONIA: Mary Kwak 4 5-9 13, KJ Einhiple 2 1-2 6, Emma King 2 0-0 5, Libby Kwak 5 1-4 13, Molly Hitchcock 1 0-0 2, Morgan Meys 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 7-15 41.
CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Kora Button 2 0-0 4, Bailey Mullen 4 2-2 10, McKenna Ferris 1 0-0 2, Harlie McCaffery 1 0-0 2, Sidney Drouin 1 0-0 2, Paris May 2 0-0 5. Totals: 11 2-2 25.
3-point goals: Livonia 4 (L. Kwak 2, Einhiple, King), C-G 1 (May).
Total Fouls: Livonia 8, C-G 15. Fouled out: None.
BOYS SWIMMING
Wellsville 78, Canisteo-Greenwood 69
WELLSVILLE — In what was originally slated as a road trip to the Canisteo Valley on Tuesday, the Chargers and the Lions of Wellsville reversed course and settled the score in the Lion’s Den.
Right from the start, the Lions garnered their winning edge behind nine straight first place finishes to open the battle with Canisteo-Greenwood, seven of them from seven different individual swimmers to assemble a 78-69 victory to keep their hot start to the season afloat.
“For the fourth meet of the year, the team is posting some fast times,” said Lions coach Steve Hand. “They are getting into the rhythm of the season, and adjusting to more yards. Landon (Cinque) got a good win, Sean (Driscoll) had a good drop in his 50 freestyle, Eli (Brophy) looked solid in the fly, Brayden (Ketchner) picked up another Sectional cut in the 500 and Tyler (Rahr) keeps improving on the board.”
It was a perfect first half of the meet that Wellsville fired on all cylinders with, as they used wins from Landon Cinque (200 freestyle, 2:30.52), Ben Jordan (200 individual medley, 2:15.81), Sean Driscoll (50 freestyle, 26.30) and Tyler Rahr (Diving, 173.40) to go with a lead-off 200 medley relay win (2:01.35).
The winning momentum carried into the next half of action against the Chargers with four more first place medals, including a 200 freestyle relay triumph, with Brayden Ketchner (500 freestyle, 6:15.57), Eli Brophy (100 butterfly, 1:07.22) and Ethan Crandell (100 freestyle, 59.85) rounding off the victories in the water.
The Lions will mark their return to their home waters Thursday night with a 5:30 p.m. visit from Cuba-Rushford.
