Wrestling
Amherst grapplers excel at recent tournaments

Several grapplers from the Amherst Central varsity wrestling team placed at recent tournaments.

At Friday's Maryvale Varsity Invitational Wrestling Tournament, junior Matt Weber won at 145, senior Steve Devlin took second at 135 and classmate Andrew McCauley took fifth at 130.

Weber, unseeded, defeated Depew's Dave Rudroff, 4-0, in the finals. This victory avenged an earlier loss which had occurred in double overtime.

On route to the finals, Weber Matt beat Medina's Nick Joy in an exciting bout with little scoring until the third period when both wrestlers went to their backs. Neither secured a pin and Weber won 5-3.

Devlin (11-2) was pinned in 3:40 by Roy-Hart's Jeff Brigham. In the semifinals, Devlin beat Maryvale's

Nick Smith. All three wrestlers are honorable mentions in the recent Section VI 130-pound rankings.

McCauley went 3-2 at 130.

On Saturday, the Amherst JV team wrestled at the Jeremy Krencik Memorial Tournament at Eden High School.

Amherst coach Dennis Bauer said many of the wrestlers have showed progress, none as much as sophomore Kory Roche, who went 3-1 to take second place in his pool. Other wrestlers winning multiple matches were sophomores Pete Battaglia and Nick Hernandez (152), and freshman Brian Rice (160).

Amherst (1-10, 1-3) beat Williamsville South, 40-24, on Dec. 6 for its only dual win of the season.