IAC WRESTLING: TIOGA CROWNS FIVE CHAMPS, FIVE RUNNERS-UP; RUNS AWAY WITH LEAGUE TITLE (48 PHOTOS) (2020-01-18)
WOOD, WELCH RECORD 100TH CAREER WINS
By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports ReportWAVERLY "” Tioga crowned five champions, and five runners-up to run away with the IAC Championships team title here Saturday afternoon.
Senior Brady Worthing, sophomore Emmett Wood, freshman Donovan Smith, and 8th-graders Gianni Silvestri and Caden Bellis earned IAC titles, while seniors Dom Wood and Jake Welch, sophomore Mason Welch, freshman Emily Sindoni, and 8th-grader Levi Bellis each earned second-place finishes.
Emmett Wood and Mason Welch each recorded their 100th career win.
Seniors Aaron Howard and Jared Lamb, and 8th-grader Deakon Bailey were fourth-place finishers for the Tigers, who tallied 218 team points, easily outdistancing runner-up Newark Valley, which had 166.5 points, and third-place Waverly, which had 149.5 points.
The Tigers missed last year's league tournament after it was re-scheduled, due to a conflict with the New York State Duals.
'It's goal one - win your dual schedule, and win your league tournament," said Tioga coach Kris Harrington. "It's a good jumping point for us.
"We didn't get to wrestle here last year, so it's great to be here and wrestle," he noted. "Some of our younger guys get to show out a little bit, so that's nice.
"It was a pretty even performance," added Harrington. "We have a couple of things to improve upon, but overall I feel pretty good about where we're at right now."
The Tigers placed in each of the first eight weight classes, including a 1-2-4 finish at 99 pounds, and a 1-2 finish at 120 pounds.
"We doubled-up (finished 1-2) at 99, and at 120," said Harrington. "Down low, we're deep.
"We brought up Levi Bellis at 99 last week, and today he beat (Dryden's Connor) Casterline, who's a tough kid with a 15-5 record," he noted. "It just shows our depth, and that kids are improving.
"We have five days before Section IV Duals," added Harrington. "I feel good about where we're at, but we need to keep grinding."
99 pounds: Silvestri went 4-0, with three falls, to finish first in the round-robin bracket, while Levi Bellis was 3-1 to finish second, and freshman Deakon Bailey was 1-3 to finish fourth.
Silvestri pinned Levi Bellis in 62 seconds in his first bout of the day, then pinned Bailey in 2:11.
Silvestri the flattened Moravia's Audriana Butts in 18 seconds in his third bout, then closed out his perfect day with a pin of Dryden's Connor Casterline in 2:47.
Levi Bellis opened his day with a 4-0 win over Bailey. After his loss to Silvestri, Levi Bellis decked Butts in 44 seconds, then finished off his day with an 8-0 major decision over Casterline.
Bailey, who dropped a 5-2 decision to Casterline, logged his only win of the day, with a fall of Butts in 41 seconds.
106 pounds: Caden Bellis went 4-0, with three pins and a technical fall, to win the round-robin bracket.
Caden Bellis opened the day with a pin of Lansing's Jacob Hall in 2:32, and then forged a 16-1 technical fall of O-M / Watkins Glen's Morgan Burnham.
Caden Bellis flattened Edison's Kaleb Bower in 54 seconds to improve to 3-0, the finished off the day with a pin of Waverly's Connor Stotler in 2:35.
113 pounds: Sindoni opened the bracket with a 21-second pin of Waverly's Madison Yeakel in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Sindoni built a 12-4 lead on Marathon's Edmond Rapp, and survived a five-point move late in the bout to win a 12-9 decision.
In the finals, Sindoni scored a reversal with 20 seconds left in the third period, but Moravia's Andrew Hatch countered with a reversal in the closing seconds for an 8-6 decision.
"Emily had a great tournament," said Harrington. "A couple of adjustments, and I think she'll be even better by the class tournament."
120 pounds: Smith and Mason Welch each pinned their way into the 120-pound final.
Smith pinned SVEC's Kamren Lehman in 2:54 in the quarterfinals, then decked Lansing's Owen Emmick in 1:35 in the semifinals.
Mason Welch pinned Groton's Sabyn Mahannah in 3:04 in the quarterfinals for his milestone 100h career win, then pinned Edison's Angelo Steinhauer in 5:35 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Smith scored an escape with 18 seconds remaining in the third period for a 1-0 win.
126 pounds: Jacob Welch was 2-1 to finish second in the bracket, while freshman John Woodcock was 2-3 to finish sixth.
Welch pinned Colin Larratt in 1:43 in the quarterfinals, then forged a 17-1 technical fall over Moravia's Nate Eberhardt in the semifinals.
In the finals, Jacob Welch scored an early takedown on state-ranked Kyle Willard, but the Groton standout countered with a five-point move in the second period to take a 6-3 lead.
Welch trimmed the deficit to 8-7 with a pair of third-period takedown, but as he was attempting to cut Willard loose in the final seconds, Willard scored a reversal to seal the 10-7 win.
Woodcock dropped a 17-1 technical fall to Willard in his opening bout, but bounced back with a 20-second pin of Marathon's Maddox Hoy, and a 45-second pin of O-M / Watkins Glen's Gabe Williams in his first two consolation bracket matches.
Woodcock lost via fall to Eberhardt in the consolation finals, then lost a 6-2 decision to Dryden's RJ Belanger in the fifth-place match.
132 pounds: MacWhinnie posted a 3-1 record to finish second, and junior Justin Hopkins was 3-3 to finish sixth.
MacWhinnie opened the tournament with a pin of O-M / Watkins Glen's Jayden Smith in 1:55, then pinned Lansing's Anthony McMiller in 3:42 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, MacWhinnie worked out a hard-fought, 7-3, decision over Dryden's Sam Dow.
In the finals, Newark Valley's Josh Post scored a five-point move to up his lead to 7-0, en route to a 7-2 win over MacWhinnie.
Hopkins pinned Groton's Brennan Brockway in 3:16 in the opening round, but was pinned in the quarterfinals by SVEC's Osumane Duncanson.
Hopkins bounced back with a 16-0 technical fall of SVEC's Tyler Knickerbocker, then topped Whitney Point's Kristian Nilsen in a 5-1 decision.
In the consolation semifinals, Hopkins dropped a 4-2 decision to Dryden's Sam Dow. Hopkins finished sixth by virtue of a no contest against Waverly's Garrett Skeens in the fifth-place match.
138 pounds: Worthing pinned his way to the 138-pound title, while freshman Trevor Shedden was 0-2.
Worthing opened with a 34-second pin of Whitney Point's Grant Smith, then decked Lansing's Logan Kohlenberg in 35 seconds in the quarterfinals.
In the semis, Worthing pinned Dominick Fazzary of O-M / Watkins Glen in 1:26.
Worthing won the 138-pound title with a pin of Dryden's Bobby Brotherton in 5:09. Worthing scored a takedown in the final seconds of the first period for a 2-0 lead. He "pancaked' Brotherton for a five-point move in the second period on his way to a 14-2 lead before securing the pin.
"Brady is a returning state champion, but that third period in the finals was a great third period," said Harrington. "To pour it on at the end, and finish that match; that's a nice job there."
Worthing is 30-0 with 25 pins on the season. Brotherton was just the fifth wrestler this season to reach the third period.
152 pounds: Emmett Wood went 3-0, including a pair of first-period pins, to win the 152-pound title.
He pinned Moravia's Carter Lucas in 1:23 in the quarterfinals, then decked Waverly's Austin Kimble in 1:52 in the semifinals for his milestone 100th career win.
In the finals, Emmett Wood forged an 11-3 major decision over Groton's Anthony Rotunda.
160 pounds: Junior Ethan Agan was 0-2 on the day.
170 pounds: Senior Mason Booser and sophomore Josh Snell were both 0-2 on the day.
182 pounds: Senior Ryleigh Shedden was 0-2 on the day.
195 pounds: Howard was 2-2 on the day to finish fourth in the 195-pound bracket, and freshman Bradley Guiles was 0-2.
Howard opened the 195-pound bracket with a pin Marathon's Chris Barned in 4:11, then dropped a 4-1 decision to eventual champion Joey Woodmansee of Newark Valley in the semifinals.
Howard scored a fall over SVEC's Anthony Speer in 2:40 in the consolation semifinals.
In the third-place mach, Moravia's Tryston Morris pinned Howard in 1:42.
220 pounds: Dom Wood was 1-1 on the day to finish second, and senior Jared Lamb went 2-2 to finish fourth.
In the semifinals, Wood pinned Lamb in 41 seconds.
In the finals, Newark Valley's Josh Duke pinned Wood in 1:20.
"Dominic needs to clean a couple of things up, but he was right there in the (finals)," said Harrington. That's the second time we've wrestled him where one little piece was costly."
Lamb opened the day with a pin of Edison's Jonathan Shirley in 1:13. After his loss to Dom Wood, Lamb forged a 12-1 major decision over O-M / Watkins Glen's Tristan Harrington in the consolation semifinals.
In the third-place match, Lamb dropped an 11-5 decision to Moravia's Wyatt Matijas.
"Jared (Lamb) getting to the consolation finals was nice to see," said Harrington.
285 pounds: Junior Cole Williams was 0-2 on the day.
Tioga returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Whitney Point, then travels to Dryden Thursday for its final regular-season dual.
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CLICK HERE for 24 more photos from Saturday's IAC Championships.)
IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Brady Worthing. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY
