12/6/25
 
SANBORN, NY – Falcon wrestler Brodie Daugherty finished first at 285 lbs. and the Falcons placed three wrestlers on the medal stand at Saturday's Thunderwolves Open, held at SUNY Niagara in western New York.
 
Daugherty (Manheim, PA) earned the victory at 285 lbs., while Richard Leslie (Peckville, PA) finished second at 165 lbs. and Matt Gashi-Brito (Fairfax, VA) earned third-place at 149 lbs., helping the Falcons earn three hard-won spots in an event that featured eleven schools and hundreds of wrestlers across the Great Lakes and northeast.
 
At heavyweight, Daugherty won three straight matches by fall to get to the championship bout with SUNY Brockport's Mike Welsh. Welsh sprung a takedown on Daugherty in the first period, but the Falcon grappler, 5-0 coming into the weekend, scored on an escape, then took his opponent down and had a two-point nearfall to go ahead 6-3. Daugherty added points on an escape and a stall to get ahead at 8-3 after one period. Both wrestlers didn't do much in the second period, as Welsh scored a point to get within 8-4 heading into the final period. In the third, Daugherty finally managed to get his opponent with a nearfall for two points and make it 10-4, then let his opponent escape for a point towards the end, securing the 10-5 decision and the championship at 285 lbs.
 
At 165 lbs., Leslie had two quick tech fall victories in his first two matches, then won the semi-final with a pin at 2:22 to earn his spot in the final against TeShaun Matthews, wrestling unattached from Niagara. Matthews led 6-2 after one, using a pair of takedowns to motor ahead. Leslie escaped control in the second period to get within 6-3, but another takedown made it 9-3, Matthews. Leslie got another escape to make it 9-4 heading into the final period. With Leslie in top position, Matthews reversed him ten seconds into the period to make it 11-4. An escape for Leslie earned a point, but another takedown at 49 seconds made it 14-5, Matthews, and put it in major decision territory. Leslie would get one more escape, but that would do it, as he fell 14-6 in a major decision. Leslie finished the day at 3-1 and is now 7-4 overall at 165 this season.
 
Gashi-Brito was a workhorse for the Falcons at 149 lbs., as he battled in six bouts to earn his third-place finish. He dropped his initial contest to Carson Gorton from Muskegon CC in the opening round in a wild 19-14 decision. Gashi-Brito led the bout 8-7 after a period that was chock-full of reversals and takedowns. In the second, with Gashi-Brito on top, a four-point nearfall almost gave him the win, but instead Gorton escaped, to make it 12-8. Gorton then hit a devastating trio of moves to net seven points and go ahead at 15-12 heading into the final period. Gashi-Brito reversed control in the third to get within 15-14, but another reversal, followed by a nearfall, helped Gorton earn the wild win in the opener.
 
Down in the consolation brackets, Gashi-Brito went on a tear, earning four-straight wins by fall to get to the third-place match against Dylan Nolan from Brockport. That bout would go just as the others did, as Gashi-Brito earned his fifth and most dominant win of the day, pinning his opponent in 38 seconds for the third-place finish at 149 lbs.
 
Elsewhere, Connor Ondek (Scranton, PA) returned from injury and very nearly made the third-place match himself at 157 lbs. Ondek fell in a major decision at 15-7 in his opener, then won three-straight matches, two by fall and one by an 11-6 decision, to get to the final consolation semi-final. Facing Darnell Mack from Muskegon, Ondek could never get a foothold, as Mack kept scoring on takedowns and Ondek's only offense came via escapes. Mack pulled away for the 15-5 major decision to end Ondek's afternoon.
 
The Falcons are back to action with a team dual on Saturday, December 13^th, at SUNY Onondaga. The wrestling is set to start at 1:00pm ET on Onondaga's campus in Syracuse.
 
Full results for the Falcons from the Thunderwolves Open are below:
 
Thunderwolves Open Results (12-6-25)
125 – Jack Guerrero (Muskegon) def. Spencer Crawley (LC) via tech. fall (16-1)
125 – Spencer Crawley (LC) def. Phillip Stone-Tyler (Muskegon) via tech. fall (21-4)
125 – Jimmy Thommen (Muskegon) def. Spencer Crawley (LC) via decision (14-10)
133 – Dekhi Church (Garrett) def. Deon Stillwell (LC) via fall (5:40)
133 – Vincenzo Falsetti (Niagara) def. Deon Stillwell (LC) via tech. fall (18-0)
133 – Collin Kuhn (Muskegon) def. Sam Vissers (LC) via fall (3:53)
133 – Jonathan Guyette (Brockport) def. Sam Vissers (LC) via fall (6:15)
141 – Ajmal Akhtari (Onondaga) def. John Almonte (LC) via fall (1:19)
141 – Tanner King (Brockport) def. John Almonte (LC) via fall (1:22)
149 – Luke Evans (LC) def. Macdeiel Marquez (Garrett) via tech. fall (15-0)
149 – Kyron Zoet (Muskegon) def. Luke Evans (LC) via tech. fall (20-4)
149 – Carson Gorton (Muskegon) def. Matt Gashi-Brito (LC) via decision (19-14)
149 – Matt Gashi-Brito (LC) def. Anthony Riley (Onondaga) via fall (1:09)
149 – Matt Gashi-Brito (LC) def. Luke Evans (LC) via fall (1:28)
149 – Matt Gashi-Brito (LC) def. Darik Soucia (Onondaga) via fall (1:16)
149 – Matt Gashi-Brito (LC) def. Jacob Gillison (Muskegon) via fall (0:59)
149 – Matt Gashi-Brito (LC) def. Dylan Nolan (Brockport) via fall (0:38)
157 – Brandon Drummond (Brockport) def. Connor Ondek (LC) via major dec. (15-7)
157 – Connor Ondek (LC) def. Nicholas Pawlak (Niagara) via fall (2:15)
157 – Connor Ondek (LC) def. Zachary Ash (UNA) via fall (1:02)
157 – Connor Ondek (LC) def. Travis Soucia (Onondaga) via decision (11-6)
157 – Darnell Mack (Muskegon) def. Connor Ondek (LC) via major dec. (15-5)
165 – Richard Leslie (LC) def. Luis Rivera (Onondaga) via tech. fall (15-0)
165 – Richard Leslie (LC) def. Abdullah Alroumi (Niagara) via tech. fall (16-0)
165 – Richard Leslie (LC) def. Joe Cicco (Niagara) via fall (2:22)
165 – TeShaun Matthews (Niagara UNA) def. Richard Leslie (LC) via major dec. (14-6)
174 – Everett Nichols (Garrett) def. Malik Nelson (LC) via fall (3:57)
174 – Jason Downer (Brockport) def. Malik Nelson (LC) via decision (13-10)
174 – Elijah Bonet (Brockport) def. Devonte Barnes (LC) via tech. fall (5:42)
174 – Brad Smith (Jamestown) def. Devonte Barnes (LC) via fall (2:16)
184 – Kiam Coleman (Brockport) def. Donovan Nunez (LC) via fall (0:27)
184 – Braeden Poorbaugh (Garrett) def. Donovan Nunez (LC) via fall (0:15)
184 – Khadom Al-Kufi (UNA) def. Erick Reyes (LC) via fall (2:45)
184 – Braeden Poorbaugh (Garrett) def. Erick Reyes (LC) via fall (1:19)
197 – Luke Herendeen (Brockport) def. Adan Salazar (LC) via decision (9-2)
197 – Bobby Ranger (Niagara) def. Adan Salazar (LC) via major dec. (20-6)
197 – Dominick Lopez (Niagara) def. Zion Adams (LC) via decision (9-7)
197 – Luke Herendeen (Brockport) def. Zion Adams (LC) via decision (1-0)
285 – Mike Welsh (Brockport) def. Jaison Borrero (LC) via fall (0:23)
285 – Luke Coffin (Brockport) def. Nick Christie (LC) via decision (5-1)
285 – Nick Christie (LC) def. Jaison Borrero (LC) via forfeit
285 – Brandon Thomas (Henry Ford) def. Nick Christie (LC) via medical forfeit
285 – Brodie Daugherty (LC) def. Jayden Charleston (Henry Ford) via fall (5:47)
285 – Brode Daugherty (LC) def. Trevon Matthews (Niagara UNA) via fall (3:56)
285 – Brodie Daugherty (LC) def. Elijah Boston (Garrett) via fall (1:56)
285 – Brodie Daugherty (LC) def. Mike Welsh (Brockport) via decision (10-5)