Wrestling
Stella continues domination on mat
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Nic Stella is on a tear, and no one has come close to stopping him.

The Sweet Home junior won his third wrestling tournament at 140 pounds this season, taking top honors at the 26th Niagara Frontier Wrestling Officials Tournament on Saturday at Niagara County Community College.

Stella, winner at the Akron and Attica tournaments, defeated Lewiston-Porter's Joe McGreevy, 8-2, in the NFWOA finals.

On Friday, Stella opened with a pin in 2:12 over Southwestern's Joe Bennett, then defeated Maryvale's Jim Litz, 10-1. On Saturday, he beat Brian Greenlee of Franklin, Pa., 4-0, in the quarterfinals and Dan Brickner of LaSalle Institute of Section II, 14-5, in the semifinals. Greenlee placed in Pennsylvania's state tournament last year.

Stella, ranked No. 1 in Section VI and fourth in New York State, is 17-0.

"He's getting better every week," said Sweet Home coach Chris Nadeau. "He goes from one thing to another and keeps pressure on other kids. He takes kids down two or three times, kind of breaks them up, then starts pounding on them. He's never in trouble, which is huge."

Stella was the only Panther wrestler who excelled in the tournament. Archie Owrey, 12-2 and seeded fifth, could not participate because of a right ankle injury. His ankle is in a cast, and he will be out two to three weeks.

Gates Bateman went 2-2 at 112. He beat East Aurora's Tanner Kennedy, 14-0, by default, then lost to Eden's Rob Broda, 5-2. The next day, he defeated Greece-Athena's Marcus Crawford, 15-0, by technical fall, but lost to Niagara-Wheatfield's Antonio Ventry, 6-0. Nadeau said Bateman trailed 2-0 against Ventry in the third period but was caught on his back with 40 seconds left.

Freshman Zach Fumerelle lost a tough first-round match at 125 to eventual champion, Kenmore West's Nathan Skiba, 9-5. In wrestlebacks, Fumerelle beat Albion's Sam Elovaris, 6-2, and lost to Williamsville North's Ansar Khan, 6-4. Fumerelle led Khan, 4-3, with 13 seconds left but gave up a cradle for three points.

Ryan Murray was two matches away from placing at 152, pinning Williamsville South's Bill Truesdell in 1:46 and Albion's Gary Tahura in 2:47. The next day, he was pinned by Salamanca's Trevor Delahoy in the second period and in wrestlebacks, fell to Niagara-Wheatfield's Chad Leadingfox, 10-9.

Earlier in the week, Sweet Home dropped to 1-4 in dual meets with a 46-16 home loss last Wednesday to Clarence.

At 119, Bateman beat John Mergenhagen, 13-2. At 130, Matt Danwin pinned Paul Lagowski in 5:24. Stella won 9-3 over Matt Cowan, who was undefeated, at 140. Murray won 8-6 over Brian Cournan at 152. At 171, Paul Fazekas lost 4-2 to Rick Walter.

Sweet Home wrestles at Frontier at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Williamsville East

The Flames improved to 2-2 in dual matches after winning at Canisius on Friday, 45-25.

Ben Mikac (96, pin in 1:11), Ryan Cravatta (112, 15-0 tech pin), Max Cohen (125, second period pin), Matt Calleri (130, beat ranked wrestler Mike Kelleher, 3-2), Garrett Roetzer (135, first-period pin), Sean Trabert (140, won 18-6), Jason Dieckman (152, won 9-2) and Ernest Jacobs (189, forfeit) picked up victories for the Flames.

It was Cravatta's first action since he suffered a hip injury at the Maple Grove Tournament in early December. Cohen improved to 7-1; six decisions have been decided by pinfall. Trabert, 8-0, is undefeated. Dieckman improved to 7-2; Jacobs is 6-2.

East hosts Iroquois at 6 p.m. Wednesday then competes in the Williamsville North Tournament on Saturday. East took third last year and won the tournament the previous two years.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com