Bartoszek Honored for 2023 Title

Football Weekly 170

Salamanca coach Chad Bartoszek was named the Buffalo Bills Coach of the Year after leading the Warriors to an 10-3 record and the Section 6 Class C championship.

“It was a reflection of the great year we had,” Bartoszek said. “It was a special year for a lot of reasons, I appreciated the recognition, but it really should go to the kids.

”Salamanca beat Medina 36-23 at the Stadium to win the Section 6 title for the first time since 1999.

Salamanca trailed 16-14 at the half. “It was a great game,” Bartoszek said. “It all came down to the fourth quarter.”

The Warriors opened the second half with a FG to take the lead and led 30-23 in the fourth quarter.  “Late in the game, our defense stuffed them on a 4th down play,” Bartoszek said. “We scored on the next play. It gave us a twoscore lead. It was huge.”

Bartoszek, who won a Class D title with Franklinville-Ellicottville, said that winning the title with the team he played for was incredible.

 “Doing it in Salamanca,” he said, “brought back my high school days and my high school coaches. Each year we had a lot of pressure and expectations to get to the Stadium and to win there.” Salamanca was an almost-annual visitor to the Stadium all through the 1980s and 90s but the Warriors suffered some hard years since 1999.

“It’s been a long climb to get back to the Stadium,” Bartoszek said. “When we won it, it led to some reflection of my own high school playing days.” Bartoszek won the Section 6 championship as a Salamanca player in 1996 and again in 1998. His coach was the legendary George Whitcher, who died in 2021. “There were a lot of years in the 80s and 90s that George was at the Stadium,” Bartoszek said. “It was nice to finally get back. When we got back to Salamanca, they had the fire engines meet us. Someone had fireworks going off downtown. It was really cool.”

Bartoszek is in his fifth season with the Warriors. “Everyone is excited,” he said. “Our kids are ready, we are anxious to play someone in a different colored jersey.”

Salamanca will be led by two seniors that were named first-team All-NYS players in 2023. Warrick Kyler (6-6, 290) will start on the OL and the DL. “He’s a big boy,” Bartoszek said. “He is one of the biggest kids in Class C across the state.” Kyler is a dominating linemen on both offense and defense. He is also a pre-season Trench trophy candidate. “He is a D-1 prospect,” Bartoszek said. “He has tons more in terms of development but he’s a good athlete. He can move. He’ll be a great catch for somebody at the college level.”

Zach Trietley returns to start at MLB after making 110 tackles to lead the defense in 2023. “He’s a football guy,” Bartoszek said. “He loves the game and is committed to it. His strength and conditioning is elite at this point.” Trietley recorded 68 solo tackles last fall. “We put him in the middle and ask him to run the defense,” Bartoszek said. Trietley is also a top student who is ranked among the top 5 students in his class. “He’ll have a great career in college as well,” Bartoszek said.

Bartoszek played for Salamanca graduating in 1999.He helped Salamanca win the Section 6 title his senior year but the Warriors lost to LeRoy in the Far West regionals. He then played 4 seasons at UB, starting his last three years. During his junior year in college, Bartoszek started his teaching career. “I would come home on my college breaks and I would sub here in Salamanca,” Bartoszek said. “I always wanted to use school to be a part of sports. I got my first Phys Ed job in Portville.”

Bartoszek later moved to Ellicottville, where he coached the combined F-E team. He won a Section 6 championship and lost the title games three other times. He left Ellicottville to come home to Salamanca in 2019 and was named the Athletic Director and football coach.