BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Starpoint became the first Section VI team to win a Division I title at the NYSPHSAA Wrestling Dual Meet Championships on Saturday in Syracuse.

Starpoint was the No. 2 seed in Division I after winning the Section VI duals and ECIC championship earlier this month, and defeated No. 1 Minisink Valley (Section IX) 35-27 in the title match at SRC Arena on the Onondaga Community College campus. It was a rematch of last year’s semifinal that Starpoint lost as a wild-card in the tournament.

“It means everything to this team,” Starpoint coach Steve Hart said. “Wrestling has been known as such an individualized sport for so long, when you bring the Dual Meet Championship into it, it gives those kids that may not have the individual success, that are a huge part of the program and team, it brings them that success as well, which is so important to the sport.”

This was the Spartans’ second trip to the state duals, and first as an automatic qualifier. Starpoint defeated unseeded Cicero-North Syracuse (III) 54-18 and No. 7 Fairport (V) 36-35 in the preliminary rounds, and won 36-26 against No. 3 Wantagh (VIII) in the semifinals.

Starpoint was the only semifinalist among three teams from Western New York that qualified for the tournament. Wild-card entrant Niagara Wheatfield was seeded eighth in Division I. Sectional champion Chautauqua Lake was the eighth seed in Division II. Niagara Wheatfield won its first dual match 60-5 over unseeded Fox Lane (I) before losing 42-13 to Minisink, while Chautauqua Lake defeated Cobleskill-Richmondville (II) 49-18, before losing 33-24 in a competitive match with top-seeded champion Tioga (IV).

At the sixth Section VI Duals held Jan. 9 at Lancaster, Starpoint defeated Niagara Wheatfield in the finals 45-18, while Chautauqua Lake won 40-31 against defending champion Newfane.

This was the fifth NYSPHSAA Duals. Falconer was the first Section VI wrestling team to win a Division II championship in 2020.