IAC WRESTLING: THREE CHAMPS, FOUR RUNNERS-UP, 12 MEDALISTS, AND TEAM TITLE FOR TIOGA AT BRADSHAW INVITATIONAL (2 PHOTOS) (2022-01-15)

Valley Sports Report
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Tioga crowned three champions and four runners-up, and had 12 medalists in all on its way to a dominant team championship here Saturday at the annual Robert Bradshaw Invitational.

“I feel good about where we’re at right now,” said Tioga coach Kris Harrington. “We’re actually in shape now.

“I don’t think we’re right where we need to be yet … we have to make some adjustments, but having gas who can go six minutes is changing some things — specifically, the level and the pace our guys are wrestling at.

“I think we’re coming around at the right time,” added Harrington. “This was mostly a tournament of (Class) AA programs out of Section V, which is traditionally a strong area for wrestling. I feel good about our performance.”

It’s the third consecutive team title for the Tigers, who are ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 2. They also won the Windsor Christmas Tournament, and the Saratoga Invitational.

Sophomores Gianni Silvestri and Caden Bellis, and 8th-grader Jayden Duncanson earned individual titles for the Tigers, while senior Mason Welch, junior Donovan Smith, and sophomores Deakon Bailey and Levi Bellis were second-place medalists.

Sophomores Tyler Roe and Ousmane Duncanson each won third-place medals, while senior Emmitt Wood placed fourth, senior Josh Snell was a fifth-place finisher, and freshman Tate Macauley earned a sixth-place medal.

Junior Emily Sindoni, who was 2-0 with two pins Friday, finished off the round-robin bracket in the women’s 118-129 pound weight class with a 78-second pin of Jordan-Elbridge’s Kaylee Swaglin, who was also 2-0 Friday, to win the title.

Tioga amassed 314 points in the 23-team field, while second-place finisher Pittsfield had 207 points, and third-place Victor tallied 144. Chenango Forks was fifth with 126 points, and Horseheads was sixth with 107.

At 110 pounds, Jayden Duncanson scored a takedown late in overtime to edge Bailey, 4-2, for the title.

“Jayden and Deakon have ben battling it out all year,” said Harrington.

“They both had nice wins in the semis, and that finals match was a good one  — it was fun to watch.

“It speaks to the depth of the program, and the amount of time these guys have put in,” added Harrington.

Duncanson opened Saturday with a pin of Victor’s Tony Marcano in 1:46 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he bested Pittsford’s Zack Gerby, 7-1.

Bailey forged an 8-0 major decision over Chenango Forks’ Kaeden Hubbard in the quarterfinals, then rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the semifinals to edge Victor’s Dom Attardi, 7-4.

In the finals, Duncanson scored a takedown in the finals seconds of the first period for a 2-0 lead, then rode top for the entire second period.

Duncanson was on top again in the third period, but Bailey scored a reversal with 48 seconds remaining to tie the bout.

In overtime, Duncanson was able to get the takedown with 11 seconds remaining for the win.

It was another all-Tioga final at 118 pounds, with Silvestri forging a 15-0 technical fall over Levi Bellis.

“Gianni is our leader, that’s what we expect from him,” said Harrington. “He just went out and did his work. I don’t think anyone was surprised with what he did this weekend.”

Silvestri decked PIttsford’s Jackson Ciocca in 1:45 in the quarterfinals, then pinned Horseheads’ Ryan Massengale in 1:48 in the semifinals.

Levi Bellis pinned Pittsford’s Scott Karpovich in 1:17 in the quarters, then flattened Horseheads’ Coleton Owen in 67 seconds in the semifinals.

In the finals, Silvestri scored a quick takedown, rode top the remainder of the period, and turned Bellis for three near-fall points in the final seconds for a 5-0 lead.

In the second period, Silvestri started on top and used the arm bar for three sets of near-fall points to take a 13-0 lead into the final two minutes.

Silvestri turned Bellis again at 5:19 to close out the tech fall.

“It was pretty cool to have an all-Tioga finals at 110 and 118,” said Harrington.

At 132 pounds, Caden Bellis escaped a close call in the semifinals to score a fall in the final.

Caden Bellis, ranked third in the state, opened the day with a 90-second fall over Pal-Mac’s Steven Schultz in the quarterfinals to advance to a semi-final match-up against South Seneca’s Caleb Sweet, who is ranked fifth.

In the semifinals, Bellis scored an escape 30 seconds into the third period, then 22 seconds later registered a takedown to take a 3-0 lead. Sweet reversed Bellis with 43 seconds remaining, then cut him loose to make it 4-2. Bellis fought off a takedown at the buzzer to preserve the victory.

In the finals, Bellis gave up a takedown to Webster-Schroeder’s Cosmo Lucania with 24 seconds remaining in the first period, but Bellis hooked a leg during a scramble, and leaned back into Lucania for the fall at 1:58.

“Caden had a big win in the semis, that (Sweet) is ranked fifth in the state — that was a crazy match,” said Harrington. “He beat the top-ranked kid from Section V in the final. He had a good day.”

At 126 pounds, Welch dropped a 5-1 decision to Chenango Forks’ Tyler Ferrara, who is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 1.

“He had that crazy match with Roe, then wrestled Ferrara pretty tough,” said Harrington. “I thought he wrestled pretty well.”

Welch, who was 2-0 with a pair of pins Friday, opened Saturday’s action with a 10-0 major decision over Horseheads’ Cody Dale in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Welch needed a reversal and three near-fall points in the final seconds to edge teammate Tyler Roe, 5-4.

In the finals, Ferrara scored a pair of takedowns in the first period to take a 4-1 lead. He rode top the entire second period, then recorded an escape early in the third period, and rode out the final 96 seconds to preserve the win.

Roe, who was also 2-0 Friday night, advanced to the semifinals with a pin of Jordan-Elbridge’s Henry Smith in 3:05

After the loss to Welch, Roe trailed 5-0 to Webster-Schroeder’s Joe Berenson in the consolation semifinals, but reeled off 11 unanswered points on his way to an 11-8 decision.

In the third-place match, Roe built an 8-0 lead on Lancaster’s Myles Gronowski, before registering a fall in 2:53.

“Tyler Roe down two weights is a different guys,” said Harrington. “I thought he wrestled well.”

At 145 pounds, Smith decked Newark’s Tyler Bouwens in 1:31 in the quarterfinals, then forged a 9-0 major decision over Hilton’s Landon Lazarek in the semifinals.

In the finals, Smith dropped a 4-3 decision to Penfield’s Nolan Leiss.

After a scoreless first period, Leiss scored an escape midway through the second period, then added a takedown with 3 seconds remaining to take a 3-0 lead into the final two minutes.

In the third period, Smith scored an escape 20 seconds in, then registered a takedown 17 seconds later to tie the bout at 3-3.

Smith cut Leiss loose with 1:23 remaining, but was unable to get a takedown the remainder of the way.

At 152 pounds, Ousmane Duncanson edged teammate Emmett Wood, 3-2, in the ultimate ride-out for third place.

“It’s tough for us because they’re both really good,” said Harrington, “To be honest, it’s not my favorite thing to watch.”

“Ousmane wrestled well again this weekend.

“Again, it speaks to the depth of the program. I think they’re both top-four kids in the state,” he added. “We’re lucky to have that.”

Duncanson’s day started with a quarter-final match-up against Hilton hammer Rocco Camillaci, ranked No. 1 in Division 1. Camillaci forged a 21-6 technical fall in 2:51.

Duncanson bounced back with a pin of Brighton’s Daniel Barraclough-Tan in 2:37, then pinned Webster-Thomas’ Jonathan Schmitt in 1:24.

In the consolation semifinals. Duncanson pinned Webster-Thomas’ Owen Dalberth in 60 seconds.

Wood’s day began with a loss via fall to Victor’s Sam Ricci in 4:45. Wood led 3-2 at the time of the fall.

Wood bounced back with a 15-0 technical fall over South Seneca’s Sammy Denmark in 4:42, then forged a 9-1 major decision over Horseheads’ Liam Levantovich.

In the consolation semifinals, Wood beat state-ranked Logan Palmieri of Fairport, who is 15th in Division 1.

In the third-place match, Duncanson and Wood exchange escapes in regulation and went to overtime at 1-1. The duo spent the first 60 seconds of overtime on their feet.

With Wood on top in the first 30-second portion of sudden-victory, Duncanson registered an escape with 3 seconds remaining to take a 2-1 lead.  In the second 30-second ride-out period, Wood needed just four seconds to tie the score at 2-2, and the duo spent the final 26 seconds fending off the other’s takedown efforts.

Duncanson chose down in the 30-second ultimate ride-out period, and needed 19 seconds to free himself for the win.

At 215 pounds, Snell blanked Victor’s Dexter Ernst, 5-0, in the quarterfinals, but dripped a 2-1 decision to Fairport’s Jeff Craddock in the semifinals.

In the consolation semifinals, Snell was penalized for “locked hands” with 14 seconds remaining in the third period, then gave up a takedown in overtime in a 3-1 loss to Midlakes’ Jared Haers.

In the fifth-place match, Snell scored a first-period takedown, and a third-period reversal in a 4-3 win over Hilton’s Chris Fronczak.

At 285 pounds, Macauley received a forfeit from Newark’s Adam Hernandez in the quarterfinals, then was pinned by Midlakes’ Matt Jansen in the semifinals.

Macauley also lost his next two matches by fall, including the sixth-place match against  Pittsford’s Jackson Nixon.

Harrington was excited about Snell and Macauley bringing home medals.

“That was great wasn’t it?

“They are both coming along,” said Harrington. “They were in tough weight classes, and they are both a little under-sized at the weight. To have them both get in there and scrap like they did was impressive.

“I don’t think either one of them likes the way they finished today, but I think it’s a good building block to build on for both of them,” he added.

At 145 pounds, senior Justin Hopkins lost via a 15-0 technical fall to Liess in the quarterfinals

Hopkins bounced back with a pin of Webster-Thomas’ Chase Gottstein in 3:33, but lost via fall in the ”blood round” to Pittsford’s Ryan Sanko.

At 138 pounds, sophomore Drew Macumber, who went 1-1 Friday, opened Saturday with a 17-0 technical fall win over Newark’s Sam Moore in 3:00.

He was eliminated in the “blood round,” with a 3-1 loss to Fairport’s Zack Boyle.

Also at 138 pounds, junior Jack Woodcock, who was also 1-1 Friday, dropped his first wrestleback match, a 5-3 decision against Midlakes’ Teddy Rae.

At 172 pounds, sophomore Trent Browne, who was 1-1 Friday, dropped a 3-0 decision to Fairport’s J.T. Hohman in his only bout of the day.

At 102 pounds, 8th-grader Kaydin Cole, who was 1-1 Friday, issued a medical forfeit in his first bout.

Tioga hosts the Section IV, Division 2 Duals Wednesday. Start time is 4 p.m.

——————

IN PHOTO 1: Tioga’s champs, from left: Caden Bellis, Gianni Silvestri, and Jayden Duncanson. IN PHOTO 2: The Bradshaw Invitational champion Tioga Tigers. … PHOTOS SUBMITTED.