The rivalry between the Niagara Falls and Niagara-Wheatfield wrestling teams highlights the opening of the Niagara Frontier League season at 5 p.m. today.

Niagara Falls came out on top last season, winning the league and Section VI Class AA titles.

For the first time in 22 years, however, Niagara Falls will open the season without coach Israel Martinez. The longtime coach left the team last summer after pleas for a dedicated wrestling room went unanswered by the district.

Former assistant D.J. Giancola takes over for the Wolverines, but those around the NFL don’t expect a letdown for Niagara Falls this year.

“Niagara Falls is going to be tough,” Niagara-Wheatfield coach Rick Sweney said. “We’re hoping to come out on top but we’ll just have to see how it comes out.”

One of the biggest losses for the Wolverines is Irvin Buck, who graduated with the most wins in school history and finished second in the 152-pound division at the state wrestling championships. Joe DiFrancesco (160) also didn’t return for his senior season.

Freshman Donny McCoy (99), Jerome Carter (113) and Andrew Shomers (106) will help the Wolverines as lightweights. Senior Henry Beaman will be tough to beat in the 120-pound class, as will junior Deasha Duckworth (170) and senior Paris Scott (220).

Niagara-Wheatfield, meanwhile, also loses a wrestler who finished second at states. Adam Donner was the runner-up in the 217-pound final, but the Falcons also return sectional champions Jake Kelly (195) and Max Antone (285). Antone will wrestle at 220 for his senior season and hopes the Falcons can rebound from a third place finish in the NFL last year.

The Falcons middleweights will be led by Marcus Cop and Derek Printup, while Sweney hopes some eighth graders and freshman can help solidify the lightweight spots in his lineup.

Sweney admitted that both the Falls and N-W have some spots to fill as the season moves on, which could make today’s match a bit of a toss-up.

“It’s going to be a close match,” Sweney said. “We both have holes in our lineups so were trying to compensate for that. It’s going to come down to who wants it bad enough. We’re pretty evenly matched throughout the while thing.”

Good coaching, of course, always helps.

“It’s the luck of the draw sometimes. You have to adjust your kids the right way,” Sweney said. “We had a tournament this past weekend and we were real close. They were like six points away from us. We tied for ninth they were tied for 11th.”

Lew-Port

Jonathan Hoover’s Lancers won their first ever Section VI Class B title in school history last winter, and this year they’re gunning for an NFL title to go with it.

Dan Reagan finished second in the Section VI tournament in the 132 pound weight class, earning a wild card trip to states and finishing sixth. Reagan returns for his junior season and will lead the Lancers, who finished second in the NFL last season with a 6-1 record.

Ryan Kromer (99), a sophomore, also made the trip to states last year after finishing second at sectionals. Senior Jason Kromer (145), sophomore D.J. Marshal and eighth grader Brandon Dallavia (113) also return for Lew-Port.

Grand Island

T.J Acker and Joe Verdi return for a Grand Island squad that went 1-6 in the NFL last season.

“We have a good core returning,” Grand Island coach Jeff Johnston said. “If we continue to work hard we should have some success.”

Dallas Taft, Dan O’Farrell, Wesley Haynie and Korey Bennett also return for Grand Island, who lose Zach Wojnar and Dallas Broady to graduation.

Niagara Catholic

The Patriots lose a number of wrestlers from the most successful wrestling squad in a decade for Niagara Catholic.

Eight wrestlers went to the State Catholic wrestling championships for coach Joe Kornitzky, who now coaches at Kenmore East. David DeVaughn (145 pounds), King Fatunmbi (160) and Brian Brantigan (140 pounds) all graduated, leaving first-year coach Chris Nadeau will about a half-dozen wrestlers this year.

Nadeau, who has previously coached at Maryvale, said Prince Fatunmbi has potential to follow in his brother Prince’s footsteps. Each qualified in the second seed of the Catholic tournament, and DeVaughn and King Fatunmbi (160 pounds) each are ranked third in the state at their respective weight classes.