H.S. WRESTLING: McKEE, DUNCANSON CLAIM TITLES — THREE OTHERS MEDAL; TIOGA PLACES 10TH AT SOUTHERN TIER MEMORIAL (20 PHOTOS) (2025-01-11)
Valley Sports ReportELMIRA — Sophomore Declan McKee and junior Jayden Duncanson both won titles, and three of their teammates also made the podium here Saturday at the Southern Tier Memorial Boys Wrestling Tournament at the LeCom Events Center.
Junior Logan Bellis finished second, while freshman Drayke Ulrich was fourth, and freshman Mark McCane was eighth.
Chambersburg (Pa.) won the team title with 193 points, edging runner-up Bellefonte Area (Pa.) by 3.5 points. Penns Valley (Pa.) was third with 167 points, St. Anthony's was fourth with 137.5 points, and Waverly was fifth with 135 points. Tioga finished 10th in the 38-team field with 103.5 points, and Athens was 11th with 100 points.
McKee, the top seed, won both his matches to claim the 101-pound title. He was 4-0 for the weekend, with two first-period falls, and two technical falls.
In the semifinals, McKee decked South Williamsport's Garrett Bacorn in 1:34.
In the finals, McKee reeled off six takedowns in the first period, and led third-seeded Lucas Maneri, 18-6. He scored an escape and a takedown in the opening moments of the second period to finish off a 22-6 technical fall in 2:19.
Ulrich, the seventh seed at 101, dropped a 16-0 technical fall to Maneri in the semifinals, but bounced back in the consolation semifinals with a 6-4 win over U-E's Caiden Hwalek.
In the third-place match, Ulrich lost via fall at the first-period buzzer to Bacorn.
Duncanson, the top seed, won both his matches via 11-5 decisions to win the 138-pound title. He was 6-0 on the weekend.
In the semifinals, Duncanson built an 11-0 lead midway through the second period, but gave up a takedown and a two-point tilt in the third period of an 11-5 win over fourth-seeded Mike Boyhan of Auburn.
In the finals, Duncanson squared off with second-seeded Ashton Romberger of Chambersburg. Romberger registered five consecutive falls to reach the finals.
Duncanson scored a takedown midway through the first two minutes to take a 3-0 lead. After a quick escape in the second period, Duncanson scored another takedown to take a 7-0 lead.
Romberger got on the board with a reversal with just 4 seconds remaining in the second period to close the gap to 7-2.
Romberger was banged with a stalling point to give Duncanson 8-1 lead, then scored an escape moments later to make it 8-2.
Duncanson iced the decision with a takedown with 36 seconds remaining to make it 11-2, but Romberger avoided the major decision with a late reversal.
Bellis won his only bout of the day, but tweaked his kneed in the closing seconds of semifinals, and issued a medical forfeit in the finals.
In the semis, Bellis ran into old foe Lucas Hoffman of Schuyler. He built a 7-2 lead with a pair of first-period takedown. After a scoreless second period that Hoffman spent on the top, Bellis scored four near-fall points midway through the third period to take an 11-2 lead.
Hoffman picked up an escape with 29 seconds remaining, and a penalty point for a stall with 12 seconds remaining to make it 11-4, before scoring a takedown in the closing seconds to provide the final 11-7 margin.
McCane opened the day with a 6-0 win over his teammate, senior Tate MaCauley, in the blood round to guarantee himself a medal.
McCane lost his next two bouts via fall to finish eighth.
Tioga returns to action Tuesday at Horseheads, then travels to Trumansburg Wednesday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Declan McKee. IN TOP PHOTO: Tioga's Jayden Duncanson. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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