Tigers take fourth at dual tourney

Amherst Central's wrestling team earned its first dual win of the season en route to a fourth-place finish at the Grand Island Duals Tournament last Saturday.

The Tigers defeated Lackawanna, 45-30, in the first round and then lost to first place Grand Island, 69-6, second place Williamsville North, 56-9, and third place Depew, 54-27.

Senior Matt Weber went 4-0 at 152 pounds, including a 7-2 victory over Anthony Gugino of Grand Island. Freshman Max Legierski went 3-1 at 112 as did Pete Battaglia at 215. Nick Celano (130), Sean Cunningham (135) and Corey Damon (189) each went 2-2.

Last Monday, Amherst lost at Frontier, 41-27. Legierski won his first varsity match by forfeit at 112. Sophomore Nick Pantano also won his first varsity match with a 7-4 victory at 119. Sophomore Brian Rice picked up his first varsity win with a second period pin at 160. Weber recorded a first period pin at 152. Nick Hernandez also won by pin at 171.

"In all five dual meets, we wrestled hard and were aggressive," said Amherst coach Dennis Bauer. "These are good characteristics to build a team around. The team knows we can not give up as many pins as we did and win team competitions. We are making many mistakes that come with our inexperience."