(article is from the sports section)
2/12/2006 - By MATTHEW WAKEFIELD
RIPLEY - The Ripley wrestling team lost a few seniors to graduation after last season. But rather than take a step backward the Eagles took a step forward, winning the Section 6 Class A Tournament on Saturday after finishing second last year.
''I lost three or four seniors that all placed in this tournament and I had ninth and tenth graders replacing those guys,'' Ripley coach Brad Rowe said. ''What they did and how far they came this season is exactly why we were successful. They really stepped it up.''

With only one senior on this year's team, Ripley took first place with 166 points, followed by Frewsburg with 151 and Barker with 140. Salamanca, which won the tournament last year, was fourth with 125 points.

''Every person on the team contributed,'' Rowe said. ''They all worked hard, they all went above what my expectations were. How far they've come since the beginning of the year, it really makes me proud to work with these guys.''

Ripley will send six wrestlers to next Saturday's state qualifier at the University at Buffalo, which takes the top four finishers in each weight class from each of the three class tournaments. Frewsburg led Class A with eight wrestlers qualifying for that tournament, while Salamanca and Franklinville will send six each and Maple Grove, Pine Valley and Randolph five each.

Randolph's Tim McElwain was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler after winning at 152. McElwain, a junior, controlled his championship match against Maple Grove's Tanner Jones from the start and rolled to an 11-0 major decision.

''He's a workaholic when it comes to wrestling,'' Randolph coach Todd Conley said of McElwain. ''He'll do anything that it takes. He practices hard, everything he does he does as hard as he can. It was kind of a payoff for him tonight.''

After a scoreless first period, McElwain picked up a takedown and three back points for a 5-0 lead after the second period and a takedown and four back points for the 11-0 victory.

''That was maybe one of the best matches he's ever wrestled,'' Conley said. ''It's kind of like he shifted into another gear. For him to come out and wrestle the way he did, he took care of any question marks for me.''

Ripley had three tournament champions, all of them underclassmen: sophomores Abram Rowe at 103 and Mike Gresh at 125 and freshman Logan Collins at 125.

''Being that young and that successful is very exciting to me as coach,'' Rowe said.

Ripley also had some very positive performances from wrestlers who did not win their weight classes. Seventh-grader Justin Hunt finished second at 96 pounds, knocking off top-seeded Jerrold Roosa of Randolph before going on to get pinned by Chautauqua Lake's Craig Howard in the finals.

To his credit, Roosa, also a seventh-grader, came back to take third place at 96.

''I think the pressure of being a No. 1 seed was tough on him,'' Conley said. ''I think he nerved up a little bit and he didn't wrestle his style. But to wrestle back and get third place was outstanding. He could have shelled up but he came back with a vengeance.''

At 112, Trent Johnson was also a second place finisher for Ripley, but he put up a fight against Salamanca's Matt Metzler in the final, battling to the final buzzer before falling, 4-3, in one of the tournament's best championship matches.

''Trent and Matt have wrestled several times and Trent keeps on closing the gap,'' Rowe said. ''Matt's a class wrestler and he's as tough as they come so wrestling him that tough and getting better against him every time is a tribute to how hard Trent's been working.''

Metzler agreed that Johnson is getting tougher and tougher to beat.

''The first couple times I wrestled him I tech-falled him but it's come down every time,'' said Metzler, has beaten Johnson six times the last two seasons. ''He keeps on getting better and better. This was by far the closest match''

Johnson had a 2-1 lead over Metzler after the first period, but Metzler picked up an escape and a takedown in the second period to go up 4-2 and he held on in the third period.

''When he got that first takedown I was a little bit scared,'' said Metzler, who has only been taken down a few times this season. ''But I was pretty confident I could come back.''

Metzler, who won the championship at 96 last year, was one of four wrestlers to repeat as champion. Mike Aris of Barker won at 130 last year and was named most outstanding wrestler, and he won again at 130 this year by forfeit over Maple Grove's Dane Bush.

Vince Aris of Barker won at 135 last year and at 140 this year with a 9-4 decision over Portville's Matt Burlingame.

And Mark Herman of Pine Valley won at 152 last year and at 160 this year with a pin of Portville's Joe Holcomb at 1:00. Herman, the top-ranked wrestler at 160 in Western New York, won all three of his matches by pin and he did it quicker each time.

''I was impressed,'' Pine Valley coach Rex Brown said. ''He decreased the times on all of his pins so that was very impressive. I'm happy for him.''

Herman knows it won't be as easy next weekend, when he could meet Southwestern's Mikel Bush. Herman and Bush have split their two matches this season.

''I know the (state qualifier) will be tougher,'' said Herman, who hasn't been scored on since early January and hasn't allowed a takedown all year. ''I'm pretty confident and looking forward to it.''

Pine Valley, which finished fifth in the tournament, also got a champion at 275 when Doug Tyma pinned Randolph's Steve Sheldon. Along with Herman and Tyma, who is ranked second in Western New York at 275, Brown hopes Joe Lindquist can be a threat in the qualifier.

Lindquist, who is battling a shoulder injury, lost his first match of the tournament but battled back with four straight pins to finish third at 215.

''He came back and pinned four guys with basically one arm and I was very impressed with that,'' Brown said. ''He could have packed it in and said he was injured but he sucked it up.''

Frewsburg's Josh Benson went on to win at 215 by disqualification over Franklinville' Jesse Hanner.

Also winning championships were Josh Micek of Maple Grove at 119, Chris Sanfilippo of Silver Creek at 135, Bill Roosa of Salamanca at 171 and Randy Pike of Panama at 189.

TEAM SCORES

Ripley 166, Frewsburg 151, Barker 140, Salamanca 125, Pine Valley 121, Franklinville 116, Randolph 1141/2, Maple Grove 111, Panama 821/2, Chautauqua Lake 77, Silver Creek 63, Holland 621/2, Portville 571/2, Catt-Little Valley 56, Cassadaga Valley 44, Westfield 43.

CHAMPIONSHIPS

96: Craig Howard (Chautauqua Lake) p. Justin Hunt (Ripley), 1:40.

103: Abram Rowe (Ripley) p. Casey Billyard (Frewsburg), 1:36.

112: Matt Metzler (Salamanca) d. Trent Johnson (Ripley), 4-3.

119: Josh Micek (Maple Grove) md. Josh Becker (Salamanca), 13-3.

125: Logan Collins (Ripley) d. Mark O'Connor (Barker), 13-6.

130: Mike Aris (Barker) by forfeit Dane Bush (Maple Grove).

135: Chris Sanfilippo (Silver Creek) d. Zack Griffey (Holland), 9-3.

140: Vince Aris (Barker) d. Matt Burlingame (Portville), 9-4.

145: Mike Gresh (Ripley) p. Don Cotter (Silver Creek), 1:28.

152: Tim McElwain (Randolph) md. Tanner Jones (Maple Grove), 11-0.

160: Mark Herman (Pine Valley) p. Joe Holcomb (Portville), 1:00.

171: Bill Roosa (Salamanca) d. Alex Froman (Panama), 5-3.

189: Randy Pike (Panama) d. Andrew Apperson (Maple Grove), 12-5.

215: Josh Benson (Frewsburg) dq. over Jesse Hanner (Franklinville).

275: Doug Tyma (Pine Valley) p. Steve Sheldon (Randolph), 1:08.

CONSOLATIONS

96: Jerrold Roosa (Randolph) p. David Poyfair (Barker), 3:46.

103: Max Easton (Franklinville) d. Logan Howard (Chautauqua Lake), 2-0.

112: Dalton Scalf (Frewsburg) d. Heath Marciszewski (Barker), 1-0.

119: Kris Wright (Randolph) p. Jon Flasher (Frewsburg), 3:41.

125: Cody Johnson (Randolph) p. Papa Carmen (Salamanca), 2:53.

130: Brian Horning (Salamanca) d. Thorn Betts (Westfield), 5-4.

135: Nick Miller (Chautauqua Lake) d. Jordan Bryant (Catt.-Little Valley), 6-5.

140: Spencer Scalf (Frewsburg) d. Jeff Edsall (Panama), 8-0.

145: Matt Czerminski (Franklinville) d. J.J. Marucci (Frewsburg), 6-4.

152: Kevin Rice (Chautauqua Lake) d. Harley Silleman (Pine Valley), 7-2.

160: Cole Sanders (Maple Grove) d. Jon Strong (Frewsburg), 10-9.

171: Travis Furlow (Ripley) d. Robert Lindquist (Pine Valley), 1-0.

189: Alex Palmer (Franklinville) d. Craig Newman (Frewsburg), 12-5.

215: Joe Lindquist (Pine Valley) p. Erik Elsaesser (Holland), 2:46.

275: Joel Hall (Franklinville) p. Mart Calvin (Salamanca), 1:27.