Six Niagara-Orleans League wrestlers have earned top 8 seeds for the Division 2 state championships which will be held this Friday and Saturday at Albany.

Medina has senior Reece Senske seeded fifth at 116 and senior Brody Fry seeded seventh at 190.

Wilson senior Jacob Stephenson is the No. 1 seed at 160.

Newfane’s senior duo of Ayden Buttery and Aidan Gillings are seeded third and fourth respectively at 145.

Wilson senior Hamza Merrick is seeded third at 285.

The N-O league will also be represented at the championships by Albion eighth grader Stryker Sanders at 108, Roy-Hart senior Ronan Klug at 170 and Newfane sophomore Jake Morello at 160.

Section VI basketball tournament competition will get underway on Tuesday with a pair of games involving Niagara-Orleans League teams.

The No. 9 seed Albion girls (5-13) will visit No. 8 Olean (4-14) at 7 p.m. in a Class A2 game. The winner will visit top seeded Depew (17-3) on Thursday.

The No. 11 seeded Barker boys (5-13) will host No. 14 Maple Grove (3-16) at 7 p.m. in a Class C contest. The winner will visit No. 6 Ellicottville (13-7) on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Albion boys (12-8) will host a Class A2 pre-quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s opening round contest between No. 12 City Honors (4-16) and No. 13 Tonawanda (1-17). The victor will visit No. 4 Buffalo Science on Friday.

In 7 p.m. girls sectional games on Wednesday, No. 8 Medina will host No. 9 Tonawanda in Class B1; No. 7 Roy-Hart will entertain No. 10 Falconer in Class B2 and No. 13 Barker will visit No. 4 Ellicottville in Class C. The Medina vs. Tonawanda winner will visit No. 1 Southwestern on Saturday. The Roy-Hart vs. Falconer winner will visit No. 2 Salamanca also on Saturday.

Two boys games are on top for Thursday at 7 p.m. as No. 10 Newfane visits No. 7 Bennett in Class B1 and No. 12 Roy-Hart visits Riverside Academy in Class B2. The Roy-Hart vs. Riverside winner will visit No. 4 Wilson on Saturday.

The No. 5 seeded Medina boys will visit No. 4 Alden for a Class B1 quarterfinal game at 12 p.m. on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, top seeded Niagara-Orleans League champion Akron (19-1) will host a Class B1 quarterfinal against the winner of the No. 8 East Community vs. No. 9 Southwestern contest.

Contributed Photo – Zach Johnson

Lyndonville High graduate and Tiffin University graduate student Zach Johnson has been named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference North Division Pitcher of the Week.

Johnson pitched two innings of scoreless ball in relief to get the win in Tiffin’s season opening 17-8 victory over Saginaw Valley.

He allowed no hits and struck out one over the two innings.

Over his three year career at Tiffin to date he has posted a 7-3 record on the mound with 3 saves and has registered 82 strikeouts in 63.1 innings of work on the mound.

Before attending Tiffin he pitched for SUNY Niagara (formerly NCCC).

Home games for the Holley and Kendall girls teams will highlight this coming week’s opening round of the Section V basketball playoffs.

No. 7 seed Holley will host No. 10 North Rose-Wolcott at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the opening round of the Class B2 sectionals.

Holley brings a 5-13 record into the postseason while North Rose-Wolcott is 2-18.

The winner will visit No. 2 Marcus Whitman at 6 p.m. Friday.

Kendall, which is also the No. 7 seed. will host No. 10 Letchworth at 6 p.m. Wednesday to open the Class C1 playoffs.

Kendall posted a 10-8 regular season record while Letchworh is 11-9.

The victor will face the winner of the No. 15 EHSC vs. No. 2 Byron-Bergen game at 2 p.m. Saturday.

In Class D, the No. 6 seed Lyndonville girls will face No. 11 Friendship-Scio at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Byron-Bergen.

Lyndonville brings an 11-8 record into the sectionals while Friendship-Scio is 3-16.

The winner will visit No. 3 CG Finney at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The No. 10 seed Lyndonville boys squad will visit No. 7 Houghton Academy at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The two teams split a pair of regular season meets. Houghton won the first 46-40 and Lyndonville the second 53-41.

Lyndonville is 2-18 and Houghton 4-16.

The winner will visit No. 2 Andover-Whitesville at 6 p.m. Friday.

The No. 9 seeded Holley boys will visit No. 8 Williamson at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a Class B2 contest.

The winner will visit No 1 seed Avon at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The Kendall boys, which are also seeded No. 9, will visit No. 8 Clyde-Savannah at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a Class C2 game.

The winner will visit top seeded Bradford-Dundee at 6 p.m. Friday.

Holley brings a 10-10 record into the sectionals while Kendall is 8-11.

Contributed Photo – Purple Eagles Academy wrestlers shown here  include, from left, Stryker Sanders, Royce Rotthoff, Roman Allport, Lucas Rotthoff, Gavin O’Brocta, Kyle Schomske, Colton Moreland, Jace Dimatteo, Matthew Schomske, Matthew Colmenero, Mason Rotthoff and Dominick Wandersee.

The Purple Eagles Wrestling Academy had 17 wrestlers compete at the NYWAY Far Western Regional Qualifier today.

The top 6 at regionals move on to compete at the state tournament on March 8th and 9th at three Expo Center in Syracuse. Sixteen out of the 17 Purple Eagles wrestlers qualified.

Results are as followed;

1st place – Matthias Ellis, Matthew Colmenero, Roman Allport, Kyle Schomske and Jai’kiah Drisdom.

2nd Place – Colton Moreland, Lucas Rotthoff, Harrison Froman, Jace Dimatteo and Mason Rotthoff.

3rd Place – Royce Rotthoff, Gunner Jackson, Dominick Wandersee and Matthew Schomske

5th Place- Isaac Button

6th Place – Gavin O’Brocta.

The Purple Eagles Wrestling Academy will have another 7 wrestlers competing tomorrow at the NYWAY Western Regional Qualifier.

The pairings have now been announced for the Section VI girls basketball tournament which begins early next week.

Class A2
No. 9 Albion at No. 8 Olean, 7 p.m. Tuesday

Class B1
No. 9 Tonawanda at No. 8 Medina, 7 p.m. Wednesday
No. 5 Akron at No. 4 Newfane, 12 p.m. Saturday March 1

Class B2
No. 10 Falconer at No. 7 Roy-Hart. 7 p.m. Wednesday
No. 5 Allegany-Limestone at No. 4 Wilson, 1:30 p.m. Saturday March 1

Class C
No. 13 Barker at No. 4 Ellicottville, 7 p.m. Wednesday

Section VI has announced the following matchups for the boys basketball tournament which begins early next week.

Class A2
No. 5  Albion will open at home at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s opening round game between No. 13 Tonawanda vs. No. 12 City Honors.

Class B1
No. 5  Medina at No. 4 Alden at 12 p.m. Saturday March 1
No. 10  Newfane at No. 7 Bennett at 7 p.m. Thursday
No. 1  Akron will open at home at 12 p.m. Saturday March 1 against the winner of Thursday’s opening round game between No. 8 East Community and No. 8 Southwestern.

Class B2
No. 12 Roy-Hart vs. No. 5 Riverside Academy at 7 p.m. Thursday at Grabiarz School.
No. 4 Wilson will host the winner of the Roy-Hart vs. Riverside game at 12 p.m. Saturday March 1

Class C
No. 11 Barker will host No. 14 Maple Grove at 7 p.m. Tuesday

Section V has announced the opening round pairings for the boys and girls basketball tournaments which begin early next week.

Boys Sectionals
Class B2 – No. 9 Holley at No. 8 Williamson, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Class C2 – No. 9 Kendall at No. 8 Clyde-Savannah, 6 p.m. Tuesday
Class D – No. 10 Lyndonville at No. 7 Houghton Academy, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday

Girls Sectionals
Class B2 – No. 10 North Rose-Wolcott at No. 7 Holley, 6 p.m. Tuesday
Class C1 – No. 10 Letchworth at No. 7 Kendall, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Class D – No. 6 Lyndonville vs. No. 11 Friendship-Scio, 5 p.m. Wednesday at Byron-Bergen

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Vinny Golisano, who scored a career high 33 points, puts up a shot against Attica defender Blake Kines during the Hawks home court win over the Blue Devils this evening.

Completing an unusual home and home series sweep on back-to-back nights, Holley downed visiting Attica 63-50 this evening to close out the Genesee Region League boys basketball season.

Holley, which posted a 60-51 win at Attica on Thursday evening, finishes the G-R season in second place in Division 1 with a 9-6 record and a 10-10 overall mark.

Holley’s Josh Silpoch puts up a shot as Timothy Lamparelli defends for Attica.

Vinny Golisano poured in a career high 33 points to spearhead the Holley offense. Destin Kuyal added 9, Josh Silpoch 8, Chris Mosier 7 and Avante Walker 6 for the Hawks.

Carter Gorski and Blake Kines both scored 17 to lead Attica. Justin Stockweather added 9, Timothy Lamparelli 5 and Anas Alqattus 2 for the Blue Devils.

Trailing 31-30 at the half, Holley regained the lead for good by outscoring Attica 22-8 in the third period to move out to a 52-39 advantage.

Golisano scored 8 for the Hawks during that key stretch as Kuyal had a two and a three, Mosier a pair of baskets, Silpoch a three and Walker a basket.

Attica could get no closer than 10 in the final period as two baskets by Golisano and one by Silpoch helped the Hawks lock up the win.

Holley held a narrow 14-13 lead at the end of the opening period as Golisano tallied 10, including a pair of threes during that stretch.

The Blue Devils emerged on top by a narrow 31-30 margin at the end of a sea-saw second quarter which saw five lead changes. Gorski, who had a late basket off a turnover to give the Blue Devils the narrow half-time lead, scored 11 in the period, including a three.

Golisano scored nine, including a pair of threes, and Kuyal hit a three in the second period for the Hawks.

That set the stage for the decisive third period which saw the Hawks use a 22-8 scoring edge to turn a one point half-time deficit into a 13 point, 52-39, advantage heading into the final quarter.

Holley’s Destin Kuyal drives between Attica defenders Blake Kines and Justin Stockweather for a layup.

Kendall romped past visiting Byron-Bergen 70-34 and Holley downed host Attica 60-51 in Genesee Region League boys basketball games this evening.

Kendall 70, Byron-Bergen 34
Jonas Rhodes and Vinnie D’Agostino both scored 14 points to lead a parade of nine point getters for Kendall. Jonny Conte and Sammy Conte both added 9, William Kludt 7, Noah Morehouse 6, CJ D’Agostino 5, Michael Hallowell 4 and Joshua Leicht 2 for the Eagles.

Setting the tone for the evening, Kendall jumped out to a 17-3 first quarter lead as six players contributed to the point production including threes by Rhodes and Vinnie D’Agostino.

The Eagles went on to hold leads of 33-20 at the half and 44-27 at the end of the third quarter. Sammy Conte tallied 9 in the second quarter including a three.

Kendall capped off the win with a big 26-7 fourth quarter scoring burst as Rhodes scored 7, Jonny Conte 6 and Vinnie D’Agostino 4 in the third period.

Kendall finishes the regular season at 7-8 in G-R competition and 8-11 overall.

Holley 60, Attica 51
Holley took the first half of a regular season ending home and home series by downing Attica 60-51.

Destin Kuyal scored 22, Josh Silpoch 14 and Vinny Golisano 13 to lead the Holley offense as Chris Mosier added 8 and Mason Moyer 3.

The Hawks took a 30-23 half-time lead and maintained a seven point, 40-33, advantage at the end of the third period.

Kuyal scored 13 in the opening half, including three threes, as Golisano had 11, including three threes, and Silpoch chipped in with a pair of threes.

Mosier had 7, including a three, and Silpoch a three-point play in the final period to help the Hawks lock up the win.

Holley is now 8-6 in G-R contests and 9-10 overall.

The Hawks will now host Attica in the rematch at 5:30 p.m. Friday to close out the regular season.

Girls Basketball
Byron-Bergen 70, Roy-Hart 40
Byron-Bergen downed visiting Roy-Hart 70-40 in a non league game this evening as Janessa Amesbury poured in 41 points.

Millie Owens had 14, Kaitlin Mettler 9 and Adella Dukes 8 to lead Roy-Hart.