Gowanda Small Town Times

The Annual Gowanda Round Robin Wrestling Tournament was held on January 20, 2024. Hosted by the Gowanda Varsity wrestling team, schools in attendance included Falconer-Cassadaga Valley, Portville, Maple Grove, Fredonia, Niagara Wheatfield, Wellsville, North Tonawanda, Olean-Alleghany Limestone, Honeoye Falls-Lima, Randolph, Frewsburg, Dunkirk, Salamanca, Lockport, Franklinville, Alden, Alexander, Iroquois and Orchard Park. This was an individual round robin tournament which allowed a school to enter multiple wrestlers at any weights class. Team scores were based on the total performance of wrestlers from each team represented. Finishing in 1st Place was Falconer-Cassadaga Valley with 193.5 total points. Gowanda finished 6th with 152.0 points. Down in 14th Place was Salamanca with 56.5 points.

Gowanda had three wrestlers in the 131 weight class which was led by Faolan Quinn with 34 points for the team and a 4th Place finish in the class. Quinn secured four wins by pin before getting pinned by Maple Grove’s Jaxon Kraft in the 3rd Place match. Those wins by pin came against Domanik Clark (Randolph, 2:00), Jayden Fish (Gowanda, 0:18), Aiden Richardson (Portville, 1:06) and Greg Reid (Gowanda, 1:23). Fish and Reid earned 26 and 13 points, respectively, for their performances in the class.

The second largest individual point total for Gowanda came from Owen Pfaffenbach (29 points) in the 124 class with a 4th Place finish. He lost a 15-5 Decision to Gabe Lundmark in the 3rd Place match after accumulating three wins. Those wins came against Elisha Hall (Portville, 17-3 Major Decision), Mitchel Schnaufer (Salamanca, 8-7 Decision) and Connor Campion (Frewsburg, 15-2 Major Decision). The 124 class also saw Gowanda’s Brendin Diebel pick up 19 points for the team before being eliminated.

Also standing out for Gowanda was Michael Horth (160) who totaled 14 points and took a 3rd Place finish. Horth pinned Owen Stanley, (Alden, 2:46) and Brenden MacWilliams (Franklinville, 1:26). He also won a 13-0 Major Decision against Devin Herman (Frankilnville) on the way to the Championship rounds. He lost an 11-2 Major Decision to Dylan Gagnon (North Tonawanda), who finished in 1st Place, in the 1st Championship Round. In the 3rd Champion Round, Horth lost to Falconer-Cassadaga Valley’s Mason Kilmer by Medical Forfeit to finish in 3rd Place.

Also scoring for the Gowanda boys were Jayden John (215) 7 points, Nathan Warrior (138) 4 points and Maddox Hudson (152) 2 points.

Gowanda also had one girl, Kiernan Quinn, participate at the tournament in the girls 152 class. She pinned her way to a 1st Place finish in that class. Those pins came against Eva Heineman (Alexander, 5:07), Kira Huett (Alden, 1:21), Addaline Grayson (Dunkirk, 3:56) and Bella Andes (Lockport, 1:19).