STAC GIRLS WRESTLING: WAVERLY'S HOLMES REACHES SEMIFINALS; FIVE TEAMMATES ALIVE IN WRESTLEBACKS AT SOUTHERN TIER MEMORIAL (24 PHOTOS) (January 9, 2026)

Valley Sports Report
ELMIRA — Senior Elona Holmes reached the semifinals and five of her Waverly teammates will still be alive in wrestlebacks when action resumes Saturday morning at the third annual Southern Tier Memorial Tournament.

Seventh-grader Amelia Weight, senior Emma Vanderhoof, freshmen Gianna Rylott and Gianna Zieniuk, and junior Kennadie Cochrane are all alive in the consolation bracket for the Wolverines.

Waverly is in ninth place in the 47-team field with 68.5 points, well off the pace set by front-running Niagara-Wheatfield with 124.5 points. Lockport is in second 90.5 points, Fulton is in third with 82, Homer is in fourth with 78.5 points, and U-E is in fifth with 75.5 points. Tioga is in 13th place with 56 points.

Holmes, the third seed, was 3-0 — all via first-period falls — on the day to each the semifinals of the 165-pound bracket.

Holmes opened with a 19-second pin of Windsor's Josslyn Litchko, and followed it up with a 53-second fall of Wyoming Area's Giovanna Chapman in the round-of-16.

Wright will face second-seeded Molly Sorenson of Homer in the semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, Holmes had her longest match of the Dady, posting a fall of Chenango Forks' Emily Sullivan in 1:17.

Wright, the ninth seed, was 3-1 in the 132-pound bracket. She opened the day with a 10-0 technical fall of Hornell's Adrian Swift, and followed it up with a pin of Oneonta's Isabella Barnes in 1:19.

Wright decked Elmira's eighth-seeded Atlantis Cherry in 30 seconds in the round-of-16, before losing via first-period fall to top-seeded Carmen Bishop in the quarterfinals.

Vanderhoof, the third seed, was 2-1 in the 126-pound bracket. She opened her day with a 20-second pin of Hornell's Madisyn Kohls, then decked SVEC's Madalyn Jayne in 22 seconds in the round-of-16.

In the quarterfinals, Vanderhoof lost via fall to sixth-seeded Jezell Allen of Niagara-Wheatfield.

Zieniuk was 2-1 in the 152-pound bracket. After losing via tech fall in the opening round, Zieniuk pinned Tioga's Marcy Moniz in 1:39, wiping out a 6-4 deficit.

In her next bout, Zieniuk was locked in a 12-12 battle with Lackawanna Trail's Payton Laytos when she scored a fall at 4:35. 

Cochrane, the seventh seed, was 2-1 in the 114-pound bracket. She opened the day with a pin of Harpursville-BGA-CV's Amber Tyler in 1:28, and a pin of Sidney's Madelyn Finch in 1:34.

Cochrane was knocked into the consolation with a loss to second-seeded Sonia Muentz of Phoenix in the quarterfinals.

Rylott, the sixth seed, was 1-1 in the 100-pound bracket. After an 11-second pin of Hornell's  Blair Hill in the opening round, Rylott lost via fall in 3:35 to thirSd-seeded Brooklyn Henry of Homer in the quarterfinals.

Eighth-grader Jillianna Presher was 2-2 in the 145-poud bracket. After a 5-0 loss to Groton's Emily Cotterill in the opening round, Presher pinned Harpursville-BGA-CV's Maria Genovesi in 1:27, and Sherburne-Earlville's Isabella Smith in 69 seconds.

Presher's day ended with a technical fall loss to Ka'Leah Johnson of Canandaigua Academy.

Sophomore Faith Hyjek was 1-2 in 132-pound bracket, with her lone win a pin of Susquehanna Valley's Keelin McCrory in 4:12. Hyjek led 9-8 at the time the fall.

Eighth-grader Gabbi Sinsabaugh was 1-2 in the 120-pound bracket, with her lone win a 36-second pin of Sidney's Isabelle Joseph in the first round of wrestlebacks.

Junior Abby Sickler was 0-2 at 120 pounds, and 7th-grader Aniyah Rought was 0-2 at 94 pounds.



Print Friendly Version