Division I wrestling state qualifiers moved to North Tonawanda with time change

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, N.Y.
·1 min read

Feb. 8—In an email sent to all Section VI athletic directors Wednesday morning, Section VI Executive Director Mark DiFilippo announced the Division I state qualifier will be held at North Tonawanda High School this upcoming Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

The semi-finals will begin at approximately 10:45 a.m. followed by the overall finals at approximately 2:30 p.m., per DiFilippo's announcement.

The 2023 Division state qualifier was set to be held at Starpoint High School, who had hosted last February and in 2020. DiFilippo described Saturday's rescheduling as a "last-minute site and time change."

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state qualifying round was canceled in 2021 but the Section VI Championships were still held at Williamsville North High School (Division I) and Pioneer High School (Division II) that June.

40 wrestlers from six Greater Niagara region high schools (Niagara Falls, Lockport, Starpoint, Niagara Wheatfield, Grand Island, North Tonawanda) are competing in Division I on Saturday, which is composed of Class AA and A schools in Section VI. The top two finalists from each weight class will then advance to the NYSPHSAA championships on Feb. 24-25 inside MVP Arena in Albany.

This is now the first year North Tonawanda is hosting the Division I state qualifier since 2018.

The inaugural state qualifier for Section VI wrestling was held on Feb. 29, 1964 inside the Erie Tech Sports Arena in Williamsville. Out of the thirteen Section VI winners that advanced to Long Island on March 7, six represented Niagara County wrestling. The six were Niagara Wheatfield's Jim Printup, Jim Hunt and Franklin Patterson; Niagara Falls' Mel Cunningham; North Tonawana's Al Costanzo and Starpoint's Roger Preisch.