Wolverines put on display of dominance at Class B3 Finals, capture third consecutive team championship, five individual titles in their backyard

The Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines grapplers come together for a picture they have gotten used to in the past three seasons, as they celebrate their third straight team championship at the Section V, Class B3 Finals in Bolivar on Saturday. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Bolivar-Richburg’s Hudson Evingham, off-center, looks to bring down his opponent from Alexander during his championship bout at 195 pounds in Saturday’s Class B3 Championships, in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Bolivar-Richburg’s Trey Buchholz, center, looks to work his way out of a jam by his weight classmate, Tavyn MacDonell, during their championship bout at 99 pounds in Saturday’s Class B3 Championships, in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Bolivar-Richburg’s Raycee Carr, top, works against his opponent representing Gilead during his championship bout at 120 pounds in Saturday’s Class B3 Championships, in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Bolivar-Richburg’s Dawsen Yates, top, works against his opponent representing South Seneca during his championship bout at 126 pounds in Saturday’s Class B3 Championships, in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Bolivar-Richburg’s Tyler Smith, right, sizes up his opponent representing Lyndonville during his championship bout at 220 pounds in Saturday’s Class B3 Championships, in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

BOLIVAR — Across all seasons in the past 20 years at Bolivar-Richburg, the Wolverines have seen an enormous amount of success. During the fall in the early 2000’s, it was the football program making the biggest of marks on the gridiron with multiple winning seasons under then-head coach Dave Baron, including one where a State Final Four appearance was made in the 2007 season.

In the spring as of late, the baseball program, which is headed by its longtime mastermind Dustin Allen, has been responsible for creating a dynasty that has spanned across the 2010’s, winning four Sectional titles in the last seven years. Before that, a trip to the State Finals in perhaps the program’s most successful season out of them all. A trip that was made right at the turn of the decade.

But during the winter, when the temperatures dip to freezing levels and the snow begins to fall, a new dynasty has begun to take shape — in the art of wrestling.

It all started in the 2017-18 season with their first of many team championships inside their very first season hosting the Section V, Class B Finals with just one individual champion coming out on top. Last season, they made the move to Perry, where the result was no different, garnering a pair of champions this next time around to assist in delivering another championship-winning season.

Now, we fast forward to present day. The Wolverines have put on a dominate display on the mat in what has been their most successful season to date under the guidance of the Taylor family coaching regime. The 2019-20 campaign for the program alone saw first place finishes in almost every single tournament they participated in.

When the opportunity to host the Class B3 Finals arose again for Bolivar-Richburg, it was a chance to make more history.

Did they ever.

The Wolverines entered the Class B3 arena in complete command of their own destiny, garnering eight finalists who competed for Section V individual championships on their home mat. With a near-50 point lead that lasted the entire day at the top of the standings entering the grand finale, they would never lose it.

Out of eight finalists, they would witness five of them come out on top as Section V, Class B3 champions in individual competition, putting it toward what ultimately formed into yet another team championship for the hosts, as they recorded the historic three-peat in front of their crowd behind a tournament-high 221.5 total points.

“It went extremely, very well. I don’t know if you could put it any differently,” said Wolverines coach Todd Taylor, who was named Class B3’s Coach of the Year at day’s end. “Winning is a bonus. I like winning, and so does everyone else. Everything worked out very well, and we have five champions out of eight finalists. We won the team championship for the third straight year, and this was a goal that we had set right at the top of our list. It’s what we’ve been working hard for all season. It means a lot to me, and to have two really good assistant coaches in Andrew and Obert (Taylor), they make my job easier. I can let them go out there and coach, and I can take in the sights.”

Bolivar-Richburg saw five individual champions come away with medals at the end of the day, the most for the program ever. The last time such a number was recorded, was back in the 2002 season when the Wolverines saw four individual champions come out on top, including one of their current assistant coaches, Andrew Taylor.

Trey Buchholz, Raycee Carr, Dawsen Yates, Hudson Evingham and Tyler Smith all became Sectional champions in front of a packed crowd for the Wolverines, with the Finals starting right at the very beginning with Buchholz taking on his weight classmate Tavyn MacDonell a third consecutive season at 99 pounds. Three of the team’s five championship winning matches all resulted in decision victories, with Buchholz recording the first via a 7-2 decision over MacDonell.

Two matches later, Carr had the team’s second Sectional patch at 120 pounds, as he avoided a pair of near-falls from Gilead’s Andrew Caudill to reverse the course of action toward an 8-4 decision with two big points to gain much needed breathing room to end the match perfectly for the patch. Immediately following the match, Yates added his second Sectional patch inside the confines of his home school. With South Seneca’s Dylan Campbell trailing Yates by a pair of points in the waning seconds of the final period, he also picks up a pair of big points to secure the 11-5 decision for his patch.

The Wolverines would see a break in championship matches until the heavyweight classes, when Evingham fought his way through a closely-contested battle in the first two minute period with Alexander’s Ethan Heineman at 195 pounds. All he needed from the start of the second period was eight seconds to pick up a Sectional patch of his own, as he came through with a huge reverse pin-fall.

To close out the victories, Smith had the quickest call to action at 220 pounds. After Lyndonville’s Mario Fidanza appeared to have nearly taken down Smith, the Wolverines senior opted for something different — a remarkable reversal, flopping his opponent over onto his back to record the pin-fall in nearly a minute to earn his first ever Sectional patch on the mat. As for their remaining two finalists, Dominic Stone fell to a 7-0 decision in the 113 pound final to place second, while Trent Sibble was pinned in just over three minutes in the 182 pound final.

Despite the two defeats, it didn’t stop Bolivar-Richburg from seeing even more success from four more of their wrestlers in the consolation round on the opposite side of the gym, with Kadin Tompkins (138 pounds), Wayne Karnuth (152 pounds) and Brayden Day (160 pounds) all recording third place finishes, with Day grinding out for his victory in an epic 17-12 decision over Perry’s Wyatt Barrett. At 220 pounds, Sam Thorton was defeated by Danie McElwain of Caledonia-Mumford by pin-fall nearly halfway into the final period.

Along the way, the team also saw another accomplishment being recorded from Tompkins. With his victory in his third place finish in the consolation round, it gave him career victory No. 100 on the mat to become the third wrestler for the program this season to reach the century mark, joining fellow teammates Yates, and Stone.

“Kadin’s been working his tail off all year long,” Taylor said of Tompkins. “He’s the third kid to get 100 wins in their career this year, along with Dawsen and Dominic. They all came at different times in the season, but that goes to show how devoted he is to the sport, and how devoted we are to have him on the team. He’s a great sport, and even more so, a hard worker.”

Elsewhere in the Sectional wrestling circuit, the Wellsville Lions were working their way through a crowded field at the Class B2 Finals in Warsaw the same afternoon. As a result, they saw a trio of grapplers recorded top five finishes with Eagan Enke recording the highest finish of the bunch by finishing as the runner-up in his championship match at 285 pounds.

Also in the heavyweights, Evin Rought placed fifth overall in the 220 pound weight class, while Hunter Brandes led the middleweights by placing third at 170 pounds for Wellsville.

Now after having one of their most successful postseasons in the Sectional circuit, the stage is now set for next weekend’s State Qualifiers at SUNY Brockport. All eight finalists, as well as the four consolation round winners have officially made the cut with a chance to earn their way to the New York State meet at the Times Union Center in Albany at the end of the month. Joining the 12 Wolverines will be Wellsville’s Enke and Brandes after their high finishes at the Class B2 Championships.

For Taylor, it puts his Wolverines in a prime position to make a run at a much bigger prize.

“That’s the goal,” he said. “We’re going to be starting that line of work after the weekend on Monday. I’d really like to get everyone to States. I’m looking forward to next weekend, and I’m really hoping we can at least send someone to Albany. They all want it, and we want it just as bad.”

Team Scores: 1. Bolivar-Richburg 221.5, 2. Perry 189, 3. South Seneca 156, 4. Alexander 149.5, 5. Alfred-Almond 146, 6. Caledonia-Mumford 104, 7. Lyndonville 96, 8. Red Creek 64, 9. Arkport/Canaseraga 53.5, 10. Dundee 53.

Championship Results:

99 – Trey Buchholz (B-R) def. Tavyn MacDonell (B-R) by dec, 7-2.

106 – Caleb Sweet (SS) def. Benjamin Merrill (ALEX) by major dec, 14-4.

113 – Connor Bell (LYN) def. Dominic Stone (B-R) by dec, 7-0.

120 – Raycee Carr (B-R) def. Andrew Caudill (GIL) by dec, 8-4.

126 – Dawsen Yates (B-R) def. Dylan Campbell (SS) by dec, 11-5.

132 – Mitchell Gaiser (ALEX) def. Isaac Crane (C-M) by pin, 1:59.

138 – Cole Leitten (PER) def. Josh Maslyn (SS) by dec, 4-1.

145 – Silas Guesno (GIL) def. Caleb Dailey (A-A) by pin, 2:33.

152 – Josh Wilkins (SS) def. Colton Cook (A-A) by pin, 2:12.

160 – Luke Dendis (SS) def. Laertes Cushing (A-A) by pin, 5:22.

170 – Rodney Davis (LYN) def. Adam Sibley (SS) by major dec, 15-1.

182 – Brock Conaway (PER) def. Trent Sibble (B-R) by pin, 3:18.

195 – Hudson Evingham (B-R) def. Ethan Heineman (ALEX) by pin, 2:08.

220 – Tyler Smith (B-R) def. Mario Fidanza (LYN) by pin, :50.

285 – Chris Williams (RC) def. Lucas Sears (PER) by pin, 1:19.