Those that have been following Lancaster wrestling all winter know of the immense ability of Mitch Larkin. For wrestling fans around Western New York that weren’t aware of him, this past weekend’s ECIC Championships served as a bit of a coming out party for the senior.

Larkin was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships held Saturday at Clarence High School. Larkin wrestled his way to the title in the 138-pound bracket as he scored pinfalls in four of the five rounds, including a pin of top-seeded Dylan Cohen during the finals at 5:34.

Some might think Larkin’s impressive victory over Cohen is a huge upset. Lancaster head coach Ron Lorenz is not one of them. He’s been impressed with the way Larkin’s wrestled all season long.

“All year, Mitch has been tough,” Lorenz said. “Cohen was a sectional rep at states last year. You’d think Mitch beating him was an upset, but Mitch is tough. He’s really tough.”

Lorenz also said that Larkin benefited from Cohen stepping up a weight class to face him. That set Larkin up to have success against Cohen.

Larkin entered the 138-pound division as the No. 3 seed. He faced Holland’s Dylan Lodowski in the opening round and scored a pinfall in 1:41. After pinning 14th-seeded Mike Shul of Orchard Park in the second round at 3:28, he moved on to face sixth-seeded Russ Pusateri, from Williamsville North, and picked up another win with a pin at 3:10.

The semifinals saw Larkin face West Seneca West’s Carmen O’Donnell, who upset second-seeded James McLean one round earlier. Larkin would not get a pinfall against O’Donnell, but he still emerged victorious, 10-1. That sent Larkin on to his final matchup against Cohen.

Lancaster’s other champion was freshman Tyler Hartinger at 106 pounds. Hartinger made a bit of an unexpected run in the bracket, winning five matches to claim the title. He began with a defeat of sixth-seeded Lucas Tomilo, of West Seneca West, with a pin at 3:50 in the opening round. He scored another pinfall against Holland’s Corey Winter in the next round to move on to face third-seeded Russell Gattusso of Alden. Gattusso took Hartinger to overtime, but he prevailed in the extra session by a 6-4 score.

Up next was No. 2 seed Ryan Burns of Clarence in the semifinals. It was another impressive performance for Hartinger as he won a 14-6 decision to move on to the finals.

Standing in Hartinger’s way of a title was top-seeded Jared Price of Pioneer. In a close, hard-fought match, Hartinger won a 4-2 decision to claim the title. Hartinger had exceeded most expectations and claimed another title for Lancaster.

“Tyler’s performance was not unexpected, but it was a bit of a nice surprise,” Lorenz said. “It was a surprise because he moved up from 99 pounds (to 106). Those guys gave him good matches. To beat Burns and Price after moving up a weight class is amazing.”

Also impressing for Lancaster was Eric Lewandowski at 132 pounds. He took second place in the bracket, losing only to Eden’s Tom Page, the No. 1 seed. Page won a 2-1 decision. The final was a top-notch contest between the top-two seeds in the bracket.

Lewandowski started his run to the finals with a pin at 1:50 against Amherst’s Steve Qian. He earned another pinfall one round later against Orchard Park’s Seamus Bermingham. Lewandowski was victorious in 2:47.

The semifinals saw Lewandowski defeat third-seeded Tyler Weidemann of Pioneer in a 14-6 decision. That sent him to his showdown against Page, who is ranked third in the state at 132 pounds. Lorenz said Lewandowski was solid again on Saturday and has definitely improved since the start of the season.

“Eric Lewandowski was his usual self,” Lorenz said. “He’s getting better, but he still has a ways to go. He’s been tough.”

Lorenz was also impressed with the way Tommy Michel wrestled at 99 pounds. Michel lost his opening-round match to second seeded Tristan Almeter, from Iroquois, but went on a run in the consolation bracket. Michel defeated Akron’s Michael Munn, Holland’s Vince Tripi, Eden’s Cole Simmons and Lake Shore’s Lawrence Jenkins to advance to the consolation semifinals.

Michel again had to wrestle Almeter and again was defeated. Michel came back strong, though, to defeat West Seneca West’s Mike Wisniewski to claim fifth place.

Lancaster as a team finished sixth overall out of 27 teams at ECICs with 137.5 points. Host Clarence was the top school with 181.5 points, barely edging out second place Iroquois at 180.5 points.

The Redskins still have work left to do in league play as they visited Jamestown on Wednesday. The results of that match were unavailable before The Bee went to press. Lancaster next hosts Hamburg on Friday for Senior Night before participating in the Lew-Port Tournament on Saturday. That ends regular season play as Lancaster prepares for the ECIC Class AAAA tournament on Feb. 3. email: mmigliore@beenews.com