2024
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Jaimen Wright & Peyton Abbott - April 2024
Jaimen Wright and Peyton Abbott, both seniors at Grand Island High School, travelled to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to participate in the USA hockey 18U National tournament. They played a round robin in the beginning of the tourament with 3 teams from around the country. They advanced into the quarter finals on Friday where they faced the Reston Raiders from VIrginia and won in an overtime victory. They then faced the Cleveland Crusaders on Saturday and won that battle as well. That brought them to the National championship on Sunday. Their opponent was the St Clair Shores from Michigan. Sadly the Grand Island boys and their Cheektowaga team lost in the last 36 seconds of the game. But they still came away from the weekend #2 in the national. That's a great accomplishment for the Western New York area.
Jaimen Wright & Peyton Abbott - April 2024
Grand Island High School seniors Jaimen Wright and Peyton Abbott recently participated in the 18U State Hockey Championships at the Northtown Center and came out on top! Their team, the Cheektowaga Warriors, played the Wheatfield Blades in the quarterfinals, the Mid Hudson Polar Bears in the semis and the Rochester Coalition in the finals. Next up is a trip to Pittsburgh for the national tournament this month. Congratulations!
Aiden Daghestani - March 2024
Aiden Daghestani in #1 position. Click photo for larger view.
Grand Island second grader Aiden Daghestani, student at Huth Road Elementary school, won NY State Wrestling Championship in the 57-pound weight category, held at the Exposition Center in Syracuse, NY on Saturday, March 9th. This annual event is organized by New York Wrestling Association for Youth (NYWAY) and over 2,600 wrestlers from all over New York, spanning multiple age groups and weight classes, took part in this wrestling event over the past weekend.To qualify for a chance to compete at the State Championship, Aiden had to place among top 6 at one of 6 Regional Championship qualifying events that are spread out across the state. Aiden qualified by taking first place in the Far Western Regional Championship on March 3rd, which was held in Gowanda, before heading to Syracuse the following week and winning State Championship by going 5-0 in an elimination bracket that pitted the best wrestlers in the state against each other. The level of talent at the tournament is quite impressive considering the wrestlers that made it there are not only the best in the state, but also some are nationally ranked among the best in the country. Worth noting is Aiden did not give up a single point during any of his wrestling bouts at the State Championship. Grand Island does not offer youth wrestling programs. Therefore, Aiden practices at the Niagara Wheatfield program under coach Tony Kuhn.
