Three-peat: Fort LeBoeuf wrestlers clinch another region crown in thriller against rival General McLane
EDINBORO — Everything is better when a championship is on the line.
That was true Wednesday for the wrestling rivalry which has become Erie County’s best.
Fort LeBoeuf and General McLane figured to be in this position, clashing in a dual meet which would decide the District 10 Region 4 champion. As was the case last season, the Bison reigned supreme.
Brady Bowers set the tone with a pin in the evening’s first match. The battle was on from there, but McLane couldn’t quite catch LeBoeuf with the Bison returning home with a 28-20 victory.
“We knew it was going to be a great dual coming in and that there would be a lot of swing matches,” LeBoeuf head coach Shane McChesney said. “(McLane) is always going to have their wrestlers prepared and we were lucky to come on top in a lot of those swing matches that we needed.”
Instant classic
Ten of Wednesday’s 13 matches lasted six minutes or more, including two which required overtime and seven which were won by decision. That was no surprise for a dual loaded with all-star wrestlers, including 11 ranked individually by Times-News Toughest.
Latest rankings: Updated District 10 individual and team wrestling rankings for 2023-24
LeBouef built a 12-0 lead after starting at 114 pounds and nursed it the rest of the evening. McLane rallied late with three consecutive victories to pull within four points, but Gage Bell’s victory at 107 sealed a hard-fought triumph for the Bison.
“This match meant a lot to us,” LeBoeuf senior Ryan Welka said. “Crosstown rivals; plus it plays a role in our standing in the district. It’s always a big match.”
Welka’s 3-2 victory over Derek Dube at 172 pounds followed a 5-0 victory by JoJo Przybycien over Hudson Spires at 160. Before that, Jackson Bowers beat Peter Sadchikov in sudden victory overtime at 145, maintaining the Bison lead while McLane’s middleweights tried to play spoiler.
“It’s like a family with all of us,” said Przybycien, a senior, of his team’s camaraderie. “I’m not better or, like, higher up than any of them. We’re all brothers and it’s awesome.”
Three-peat for LeBoeuf
LeBoeuf clinched Region 4 for the third consecutive season, moving to 4-0 in the conference and sinking McLane to 3-1. Each team will wrestle another conference dual next week, but every other team in Region 4 began Wednesday with two or more losses, allowing the Bison to celebrate early.
“This senior group is an unbelievable group and they have been since I started coaching them in fourth grade,” McChesney said. “When we came here tonight, they were focused and had the team ready. They knew they were coming into a crosstown rival in a packed gym for the cystic fibrosis match, and with a lot on the line, we won the region title.”
More: How coaches deal with matchups, lineups when parity rules
Wrestling for a cause
Wednesday’s dual doubled as McLane’s annual “Take Down Cystic Fibrosis” night, held in support of General McLane head coach Ryan Cook’s 11-year-old daughter, Charlee, who was born with the disease. The Lancers have hosted this event 12 years running and have raised nearly $150,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“Wrestling has meant a tremendous amount to myself and my family,” Ryan Cook said. “I think wrestling is changing lives — not just for the wrestlers we have, but people with cystic fibrosis.”
Full results: Find District 10 high school scores, schedules, game stats for third week of January
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Fort LeBoeuf wrestlers edge General McLane, win another region crown
