Eric Keppeler '85
Sports Writer
The St. Joe’s wrestling team finished second at last weekend’s 60th Monsignor Martin High School Athletic Association All-Catholic Tournament and saw 21 Marauders qualify individually for this weekend’s Catholic state tournament.
Host St. Francis dominated the event with 485 points, followed by St. Joe’s (297.5), St. Mary’s (74) and Canisius (47).
The Red Raiders, who are ranked No. 1 in New York State and 47th nationally, won every weight class at All-Catholics.
The top four finishes in each class qualified for Sunday’s Catholic High School Athletic Association Championship, to be held this year at St. Mary’s in Lancaster.
That means that the Marauders will get another crack at a championship, and St. Joe’s coach Pete Kennedy believes that his guys may fare better in the rematch.
“We know who we’ve got to beat and we know which weight classes we’ve got a legitimate chance to win,” Kennedy said. “I think we’re going to see a couple of rematches from this past Saturday that were close and we’re going to try and turn them around.”
Placing second for St. Joe’s at the All-Catholic tournament were Owen Cassata (132), Balin Ramella (144), Dylan Forant (150), Diary Lay (165), Jacob Moser (190) and Wyatt Giarla (285).
Finishing third were Ben Hickman (103), Darell Bagby (110), Alessandro Mancini (126), Owen Kathke (132), Owen Vorburger (138), Colton Eiser-Martinez (150), Owen Long (157), Logan Swisher (215) and Malcolm Ranson (285).
Placing fourth were James Gambino (110), Ehsoe Htoo (118), Billy Kennedy (126), Jayvion Hicklen-Brown (132), Grayson Saldana (175) and Kamryn Flores (215).
St. Joe’s and St. Francis have been the top two wrestling teams in the Monsignor Martin league for the last 15 years. The Marauders have had an edge in the rivalry, winning eight regular season championships, 14 All-Catholic titles and crowning 24 individual CHSAA state champions.
This year, they went 3-1 in the league and 9-6 overall, coupled with some challenging tournament dates; they’re currently ranked sixth in Western New York.
While St. Francis is obviously loaded with talent, Kennedy says his wrestlers aren’t intimidated and will face their opponents as they would any other.
“I think that if you really, truly want to be the best, in the state, it doesn’t matter when you wrestle them,” Kennedy said. “You have to beat them anyway, whether it’s in your league tournament, or at the CHSAA Tournament – it really doesn’t matter. You’ve still got to go out and win.”
