Sweet Home wrestling heading in right direction
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

It hasn't shown on the scoreboard but the Sweet Home wrestling team is improving.

The Panthers had three place finishers at last weekend's Joe Shifflet Sweet Home Invitational Tournament. Last year, only Nic Stella placed, winning at 140 pounds.

Stella also led the Sweet Home contingent this year with a second place finish at 135 pounds. Sophomore Daiquann Burney took fourth at 103. Freshman Anthony Mineo placed sixth at 96. It was Mineo's first varsity tournament of his career.

Despite taking second, Stella had a great tournament. He went 3-1 in a weight class that featured four of the top five wrestlers in the state at 135, fifth-ranked Mark Lewandowski of Lancaster, who Stella dominated 5-1 in a semifinal match, top-ranked Palmyra Macedon's Alex Ekstrom, who beat Stella, 12-5, in the final, and third-ranked Mike Nevinger of Letchworth, who was beaten by Ekstrom, 6-1, in the other semifinal match.

Stella, ranked first in the state at 135 going into the tournament, fell to second. He is still ranked first in Section VI.

Eckstrom and Nevinger are the defending Division II state champions at 125 and 130, respectively.

Sweet Home coach Jeff Hess said Stella's finals match was closer than the score looked.

"Nic got behind by two or three points halfway through the third period and was trying to do anything he could to get himself back in the match," said Hess. "He was putting himself in situations which he normally wouldn't put himself in."

"It was hard to have two tough matches like that (Lewandowski and Ekstrom)," he added. "The Lewandowski match could be a final at most tournaments."

Stella won his first two matches in the tournament after pinning Albion's Matt Hilobuck in 1:24 and Cheektowaga's Russ Wojtusiak in 1:17.

Burney, unseeded going into the tournament, beat fourth-seed David Ciaramella of Newfane, 4-3, and fifth-seed Jesse Brennan of LeRoy, 6-2, before falling to top-seed Joey Malvestuto of Niagara Wheatfield, 15-5. Malvestuto is ranked second in the section.

In wrestlebacks, Burney beat Lancaster's Mitch Larkin, 9-2, and was pinned in 1:26 by Geneva's Miles Nelson.

Mineo opened the tournament by pinning sixth-seed Jason Jolly of Newfane in 46 seconds and was pinned by Tonawanda's Jordan McGregor in 5:05.

In wrestlebacks, Mineo beat Pioneer's Brandon Price, 8-6 and pinned Ripley's Logan Miller in 3:55, before getting pinned by Iroquois' Nike Roberts in 2:01 in the consolation semifinals. He then fell to East Aurora's Dave Stoner, 10-8, in the fifth-sixth match.

Zach Fumerelle and Matt Danwin each went 2-2 and lost in the consolation semifinals by one point.

Fumerelle, wrestling at 125, beat fifth-seed Justin Hunt of Ripley, 2-1, and lost to Pal-Mac's Matt Hasbrouk, 5-3. In wrestlebacks, Fumerelle defeated Geneva's Nick Raplee, 9-6, and lost to Niagara Wheatfield's Ysean Ali, 4-3.

Danwin, seeded seventh at 130, traveled the same kind of route as Fumerelle. He opened with a 13-9 win over tenth-seed Brandon Blancke of Geneva and lost to second-seed Trent Johnson of Ripley, 6-1, in the second round.

In wrestlebacks, Danwin knocked off East Aurora's Phil Czapla, 4-2, and lost to Niagara-Wheatfield's Antonio Ventry, 3-2.

Sweet Home finished 16th out of 19 teams with 51 points. Hess only brought eight wrestlers.

Sweet Home wrestled at St. Francis last Tuesday and lost 49-16.

Stella won by major decision at 140. Fumerelle and Danwin won by decision at 130 and 135. Hess said he was missing a ton of wrestlers in the lineup, including Mineo, sophomore Gage Bateman (130), Dave Rhodes (215), and Joe Hirtreiter (145).

Sweet Home wrestles at West Seneca West at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, hosts Hamburg at 6 p.m. on Friday and competes on Saturday in the Salamanca Tournament.