Gowanda Small Town Times

[photo] Gowanda wrestler, Michael Horth, got his 100th career win on January 3 at home against Franklinville. The event was celebrated during the meet with posters, balloons and applause.

The 2024 part of the Gowanda/Pine Valley Varsity wrestling season went off in style on January 3. The team not only secured a huge, 58-18 win, but also got to celebrate a career milestone with one of their own. Michael Horth reached the 100 wins mark on the night.

The meet opened with Gowanda/Pine Valley taking a loss by pin at 285. Things evened up quickly as Zach Stark (101) got a win by forfeit to even the score at 6-6. Franklinville earned another 6 points with a quick pin in the 108 class. At 116, Nakotah Jackson answered for Gowanda/Pine Valley After building a 10-0 point advantage, Jackson secured a win by pin with 17 seconds left in the 1st period. That tied the match at 12-12. Gowanda/Pine Valley went on a run with the next five wrestlers all gaining wins by pin. They included Owen Pfaffenbach (124, 3:08) over Derek Ossont, Greg Reid (131, 5:54) over Tyrnan Farrington, Faolon Quinn (138, 1:55) over Gunner Jochen, Nathan Warrior (145, 1:17) over Dakota Miller and Maddox Hudson (152, 0:50) over Nathan Nicholas.

With Gowanda/Pine Valley now in front 42-12 it was time for the highlight match of the night as Gowanda’s Michael Horth (160) set out to win for the 100th time in his career. Things started out slow with Horth only up 2-0 after the 1st period. He managed to build up a 7-0 point advantage through the 2nd period. While Horth failed to get a pin in the match, he did secure a 9-0 Major Decision for win #100. The match was paused at that point in order to recognize the milestone accomplishment.

Once the applause and photos were over the match resumed with Franklinville gaining one final win by pin at 170. With the match out of reach 46-18 there were still two more matches to be decided. At 190, Gowanda/Pine Valley’s Matthew Grill was in a tight battle with Franklinville’s Trent Borden. A slim 5-4 1st period advantage for Grill went unchanged for most of the next period. With 30 seconds left min the 2nd period, Grill managed to lock down a win by pin. The final match turn out to be a very exciting finale. It was Gowanda/Pine Valley’s Brody Mescall against Franklinville’s Levi Jennings. After scoring an initial takedown, Jennings seemed to be completely in control of the match for most of the 1st period. From a position on top, Jennings appeared to miss on an attempted move causing him to side off. Mescall quickly took advantage of the opening to gain control of the match and change a 0-2 point deficit to a 4-2 advantage. It was all Mescall in the 2nd period. He battled into a 14-4 point advantage before gaining a pin with just under 8 seconds left in the 2nd period. Gowanda/Pine Valley had secured a 58-18 win in their 2024 opener.

[photo] Pictured is Gowanda’s Autumn Pupo (#15) racing up court with the ball early in the January 2 home game against North Collins.

Now that 2024 has arrived and the school’s Winter Break is over it’s time to get back to Varsity sports. The first game in 2024 for Gowanda was played by the Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team. They hosted North Collins for a non-league game on January 2. Despite a blistering pace in the 1st Quarter, it turned out to be a low-scoring affair.

After giving up the first four points of the game to North Collins, Gowanda rallied back. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Layla Gamble and Corrina John separated by a single North Collins foul shot, saw Gowanda move in front 6-5. Things remained close with Gowanda still up by a point at 11-10 when John landed a second 3-point shot with 1:30 left in the quarter. A final North Collins score ended the opening quarter with Gowanda ahead 14-12.

Gamble and John would not land another 3-pointer the rest of the way and Gowanda’s scoring pace dropped to just over 7.5 points per quarter the rest of the way. Gowanda still kept North Collins under control for most of the 2nd quarter. Although the game was tied twice in the period, North Collins never saw a lead. It took a North Collins score with 0:32 left in the half to cut Gowanda’s lead back to 21-20 at halftime.

Gowanda came out strong in the 3rd Quarter outscoring North Collins 9-3. Gowanda had their biggest lead of the game, 30-23, going into the final period. Back-to-back North Collins 3-pointers to open the 4th Quarter dropped Gowanda’s lead back to a single point again, 30-29. At this point, there was a strange turn of events. Gowanda ended the North Collins burst as Devan Giambrone scored from the right side of the basket seemingly just outside of the 3-point ring. [see below] That score did not immediately appear on the scoreboard. A following quick North Collins score from under the basket saw the scoreboard showing 30-33. The game was stopped at that point and the score was adjusted to 32-31. A foul shot added to the North Collins basket had the game tied at 32. North Collins outscored Gowanda 17-7 in the final quarter to win the game 40-37.

Despite being held scoreless in the final period, Corrina John still led the scoring for Gowanda with 16 points. Right behind were Lauren Kelly (7 points) and Layla Gamble (5 points). Also scoring for Gowanda were Karice John (3 points), Jules Hageman (3 points), Devan Giambrone 2 points (should have been 3?) and Christina Wilder (1 point)

Pictured above is Devan Giambrone scoring from what appears to be 3-point range. She was only credited 2 points for the 4th Quarter shot. Screenshot from the Gowanda live stream of the game.

On Friday, December 15, the Gowanda Varsity boys and girls bowling teams were home hosting Hinsdale. The boys had a dominant showing rolling over Hinsdale 4-0 with game scores of 980-565, 1005-545 and 818-489 for a total pins advantage of 2803-1599. Gowanda boys with series totals in the 500s were Nicholas Smuda (223-190-152/565), and Gavin Whitcher (192-195-132/519). Morgan Ruff fell just short of 500 (156-195-143/494). Also bowling solid games for the Gowanda boys were Drezden Spire (170-143-148/461), Zachary Hojnacki (119-148-141/408) and Kory Degenfelder (120-134-102/356). On the girls side, Gowanda fell victim to a very strong Hinsdale team 0-4. The game scores were 782-911, 763-787 and 771-838 making the total pins score 2316-2536. Only three girls bowled full sets for Gowanda. They were Aubrie Smuda (187-152-146/485), Bailey Shields (125-168-136/429) and Sierra Twoguns (142-1232-1589/424). Bowling two games in the match were Tayleigh Williams (116 and 120), Lila Offenbach (123 and 111), Emma Golden 96 and 112) and Makayla Kuras (109 and 93). Gowanda’s Natalia Elliott rolled a single game for a score of 98.

December 15 was also the first day of the 2-day Linda C. Knuutila Memorial Wrestling Tournament. A total of 57 schools were represented. Gowanda was only partially represented and only Michael Horth and Nathan Warrior figured into Gowanda’s score of 20. In the championship rounds Horth (160) earned a pin (0:23) over Hunter Szymkowiak (Alexander) before being pinned by Cameron Catrabone (Williamsville North-Williamsville East ). Horth went on to the consolation rounds taking a 6-0 decision over Brandon Doyle (Pioneer) before losing a 3-2 decision to Brandon Drummond (St Francis) . Gowanda’s Nathan Warrior had similar results. In the championship rounds, he pinned Matthew Taylor (Tonawanda) in 1:06 only to lose by technical fall (17-0, 4:36) to Aidan Gillings (Newfane). In the consolation rounds, Warrior, eventually, lost a 6-4 decision to Trevor Mueller (Clarence) after pinning Caleb Gagliardi (Lancaster, 1:48) and Reese Corbeil (Charter School for Applied Technologies, 1:30).

The Gowanda wrestling team’s primary weekend attention was on the Saturday, December 16th, 48th Annual Portville Invitational Wrestling Tournament. Gowanda came in 4th with a score of 132. First Place went to Portville (252 with the team from Cameron County (PA) in 11th Place. The best performance for Gowanda came from Brody Mescall (190) over Nathaniel Hahn (Randolph) by pin in 1:51 during the Championship Round for 2nd Place. Maddox Hudson (160) earned a 3rd Place finish over Devin Herman (Franklinville) by a 10-5 decision. Gowanda’s Jayson Twoguns finished 6th at 138 losing a 10-1 major decision to Drake Beckstrom (Frewsburg).

Boys Basketball (4-1)

Tuesday, December 12 ay North Collins
- non-league -
Gowanda 93, North Collins 65

Thursday, December 14 at Cassadaga Valley
Gowanda 70, Cassadaga Valley 53

Girls Basketball (1-3)

Tuesday, December 12 vs. Jamestown
Gowanda 37, Jamestown 66

Bowling boys (2-0); girls (1-1)

Friday, December 15 vs. Hinsdale
boys
Gowanda 4, Hinsdale 0
980-565/1005-545/818-489 | 2803-1599
girls
Gowanda 0, Hinsdale 4
782-911/763-787/771-838 | 2316-2536

Wresting

Friday-Saturday, December 15-16
Linda C. Knuutila Memorial Turnament
1st St. Fraancis 207
44th Gowanda 20
45th Angola 15

Saturday, December 16
Portville Invitational Tourmament
1st Portville 252
4th Gowanda 132
11th Cameron County [PA] 16

Swimming (Eden/Gowanda)

Tuesday, December 12 at Lake Shore
Eden 77, Lake Shore 32

Friday, December 15 at Maryvale
Eden 73, Maryvale 79

On Friday, December 14, the Gowanda wrestling team and the Varsity boys basketball team were the only two Varsity teams in action. Basketball was at Cassadaga Valley and wrestling was at Maple Grove.

In basketball, Gowanda got off to a slow start with Cassadaga Valley grabbing an early 7-0 lead. The last three points of that run came from 3-point range before Logan Ruff answered with a 3-pointer to open the scoring for Gowanda. Cassadaga Valley landed three more shots from long distance in the period as they secured a 22-14 advantage by the end of the opening quarter. Gowanda reversed that in the 2nd quarter. A 15-point Gowanda run sparked by a Blake Herman 3-pointer saw Gowanda go ahead 29-24. The game continued on in a very tight battle and Gowanda was up by just two points, 36-34 at halftime.

From that point, Gowanda was able to gradually expand their lead. A score by Ruff with 3 seconds left in the 3rd quarter put Gowanda up 50-42. That momentum continued into the final quarter. The Gowanda lead grew to 68-50 with 1:39 left to play. At that point, Gowanda swapped out all five players for the duration of the game. Gowanda’s total reached 70 by the end of the game while Cassadaga Valley closed out their scoring with a 3-pointer for a final score of 70-53.

Leading Gowanda were Quentin Centner (two 3-pointers; 20 points), Blake Herman (two 3-pointers; 13 points) and Trelin Warrior (one 3-pointer; 13 points). Also making single 3-pointers were Logan Ruff 7 points and Seth Geiger (5 points). Additional help came from Troy Jimerson (8 points). Everett Stevens (2 points) and Dominick Whalen (2 points).

Also on the 14th, the Gowanda wrestling was at Maple Grove. It turn out to a very tight meet with Gowanda winning 30-34. Forfeit wins at 116 and 124 turned out to be the difference in the meet. Gowanda also gave up a forfeit loss at 145. Four Gowanda wrestler earned wins by pin on the night. They were Kaleb Smith (152, 1:36) over Will Benson, Maddox Hudson (160, 0:26) over Matthew Ashbaugh, Michael (170, 1:00) over Logan Quattrone and Brody Mescall (190, 0:21) over Ezekiel Padd. Gowanda’s Nathan Warrior (138) won a 9-2 decision over Jaxon Kraft.