Sweet Home wrestling coach Henry Fumerelle could not have been happier with his team’s performance at the Class A Tournament Friday and Saturday at Starpoint High School.

Out of the 11 wrestlers who went, seven placed and six have advanced to Saturday’s Section VI Division I State Qualifier at Lake Shore High School.

Moving on were: seniors Nick Beresford (fourth, 145) and Jasen Starbuck (fourth, 182), juniors Noah Jones (second, 160), Mike Pantera (fifth, 145) and Joe Belluz (fifth, 285) and sophomore John Navarro (fifth, 220).

Junior Mike Kraft went 2-3 at 152 to place sixth but could still advance if one of the top finishers cannot compete.

“I could not be more proud of our team,” Fumerelle said. “I tell the kids, sectionals are like ‘the show’, it’s like going to Ralph Wilson Stadium for football. They responded and weren’t going to be denied.”

Beresford — seeded third at 145 — pinned Max Poeller of Starpoint in 1:45 and Josh Barrett of Williamsville East in 4:41 before losing Marc Muscarella of Lake Shore, 15-2, in the semifinals. In wrestlebacks, he beat Ayman Abdellatif, 13-7, and was pinned by Matt Wilhelm of Amherst in 3:22 in the third, fourth-place match.

Starbuck opened with a pin in 1:57 over Richard Duermeyer and then had to medically forfeit to Will Bickelmann of Williamsville East. In wrestlebacks, he pinned Garrett Knoll of Hamburg in 2:08 and then medically forfeited to Korey Bennett of Grand Island.

Jones — seeded second at 160 — pinned Greg Digati of Williamsville South in 41 seconds and beat Preston Smith of Kenmore East, 8-5, before getting pinned in 2:31 by Joe Catalano of Lake Shore in the final.

Pantera — unseeded at 145 — lost his first match to Ed Li of Williamsville East, 5-2, and in wrestlebacks, pinned Ryan Loops of Iroquois in 4:12 and Barrett of East in 1:27, lost to Wilhelm, 9-0, and pinned Abdellatif in 4:52 with a cradle to place fifth.

“It showed a lot of mental toughness,” Fumerelle said.

Belluz — unseeded at 285 — opened with a 2-0 win over Kameron McFarland of Grand Island and then lost to top-seed and eventual champion, Brandon Vernon of Iroquois, 5-0, in the semifinals.

In wrestlebacks, Belluz lost to Pat Faracca of Williamsville East, 6-1, and beat James Fisk of Hamburg, 4-2, in overtime.

Navarro — seeded sixth at 220 — lost his first match to Jeff Cook of West Seneca East, 6-5, and in wrestlebacks, beat Eric Wightman of Williamsville South, 10-3, was pinned in 3:34 by Bill Brady of Williamsville East and beat Tom Springer of Amherst, 3-2, in overtime for fifth place.

Sophomore Cameron Clayton went 1-2 at 160.

Fumerelle lauded the work of his coaching staff: Russ Morley, Anthony Fumerelle and Zach Fumerelle.

Sweet Home ended the regular season with a 64-12 home win over Canisius Jan. 31. Canisius forfeited eight weight classes.

Beresford (145, pin in 58 seconds), Kraft (160, pin in 1:21) and Clayton (170, 12-3) all earned wins for the Panthers.

Andrew Scime (113), Joe Catuzza (132), Kris Wallace (138), Pantera (152), Starbuck (182), Hector Vidal (195), Navarro (220) and Belluz (285) all received forfeits.

Sweet Home’s six seniors — Wallace, Beresford, Starbuck, Vidal, Melvin Potter and Billy Milbrand were recognized before the match.

email: pnagy@beenews.com