VALLEY SPORTS REPORT: WAVERLY'S SACKETT AND LAFOREST, TIOGA'S SINDONI NAMED GRUMPY GRIZZLY 'ATHLETES OF THE WEEK' (2023-01-29)

Valley Sports Report
THE VALLEY — Tioga senior Emily Sindoni, and Waverly junior Mackenzie LaForest have been pioneers on wrestling mats, and Waverly senior Jerrell Sackett has been on a record-breaking tear in the pool. They are the Valley Sports Report / Grumpy Grizzly “Athletes of the Week,” for the week ending Jan. 28.

TIOGA’S SINDONI, WAVERLY LAFOREST SHARE GRUMPY GRIZZLY “ATHLETE OF THE WEEK” HONORS
Last year, Sindoni and LaForest were among the first group of Section IV girls wrestling champions. Friday, they were among the first-ever girls wrestling state champions.

Sindoni, the top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 126 pounds, was 4-0 to earn the 132-pound state title.

She pinned her way into the finals, with three first-period falls. In the finals, she faced nationally-ranked Zoey Griffith of Gouverneur (13th at 132), and pinned her in 2:44, which is longer than her first three matches combined.

LaForest was also 4-0 on her way to the 235-pound title.

LaForest, who weighed in at 185 pounds, scored a 12-4 major decision, and fall to earn a trip to the semifinals, where she scored a 2-0 win over Chautauqua Lake’s 6-2 Gabbi Freeburg.

In the finals, LaForest scored a second-period fall over the second seed — Valley Stream North’s Naomi Gonzalez — to earn the 235-pound title.

Honorable Mentions: Waverly’s Elona Holmes (wrestling), Waverly’s Victoria Houseknecht (bowling), Athens’ Addy Wheeler (basketball), Athes’ Taegan Williams (swimming), and Sayre’s Lizzy Shaw (basketball).

WAVERLY’S SACKETT NAMED GRUMPY GRIZZLY “ATHLETE OF THE WEEK”
Sackett was a quad-winner in Waverly’s dual against Lansing Friday, and a quad-winner for the Wolverines Saturday at the Maine-Endwell Whiteout Invite.

On Friday, he broke the school record in the 100-yard butterfly. He followed that up Saturday, breaking his own school and IAC records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle sprints — something he’s done several times since late last season.

He is also a part of all three of Waverly’s relays, two of which have broken school records set last year by the relays, which also included Sackett.

Special honorable mention: Sayre senior Jackson Hubbard averaged 40 points in three games this week, including a school-record 55 on Thursday. We did not receive full statistics for two of three games.

Honorable Mentions: Waverly’s Oscar Williams (swimming), Waverly’s Joey Tomasso (basketball), Athens’ Ethan Hicks (swimming), Waverly’s Ryan Clark (swimming), Tioga’s Caden Bellis (wrestling), Tioga’s Tyler Roe (wrestling), Tioga’s Ousmane Duncanson (wrestling), and Tioga’s Evan Sickler (boys basketball).