By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
GREENE — Highlighted by first-place finishes from sophomore Drew Macumber and 8th-grader Jayden Duncanson, Tioga crowned seven champs, four runners-up, and advanced all 14 of their grapplers from Saturday’s Division 2 ‘Qualifier A’ to next weekend’s Section IV Championships.
"It’s great," said Tioga coach Kris Harrington, "I think it speaks to the depth of our program.
"I’m happy about it," he needed. "We need to finish matches, but other than that it was a good weekend.
"Unfortunately, I think we left two kids at home who would be at Sectionals as well," added Harrington, interference to sophomore Deakon Bailey, who is ranked fifth in the State at 110 pounds, and sophomore Levi Bellis, who is honorable mention at 118.
Tioga won the team title with 306 points, while runner-up Walton-Delhi tallied 139.5. (Full team standings not released.)
Macumber knocked off state-ranked Nate Merwin, ranked 11th, in the 138-pound title match, 9-8, after trailing 8-2 early in the second period.
"Drew (Macumber) was excellent," said Harrington. "Again, talk about depth. Drew didn’t get to wrestle many duals this year because we’re so deep, but he comes out and beats a state-ranked kid.
"He was down 8-2, but grinds the kid out," added Harrington. "He’ll be the No. 1 seed next week at Sectionals."
Duncanson, ranked fourth in the state at 110 pounds, handed Unadilla Valley-Unatego ace Caleb Cole, ranked sixth, his first loss of the season with an 8-4 decision in the 110-pound finale.
"Jayden (Duncanson) wrestled really well," said Harrington, "Like I said, though, you have to finish matches.
"You can’t take a break in the second period, and give up back points to let the guy right back in, but to his credit, he dominated the third period and finished strong.
"He’s an 8th-grader," added Harrington. "We’ll make some adjustments for next week."
Sophomore Gianni Silvestri, ranked first in the state, won the 118-pound title, while sophomore Tyler Roe, ranked third, and senior Mason Walsh, ranked second, finished 1-2 at 126 pounds, sophomore Caden Bellis, ranked third, won the 132 pound title, junior Donovan Smith, ranked third, won the 145-pound title, and sophomore Ousmane Duncanson, ranked fifth, won the 152-pound title.
"Leader leads, and winners win," said Harrington. "That’s where we’re at with those guys.
"Five days of good practice, and we’re at the Arena," he added. "I’m happy about that."
Senior Emmett Wood (160), 8th-grader Logan Bellis (102), and sophomore Trent Browne (172) earned third-place finishes, while freshman Tate Macauley (285) finished third, and junior Thomas Hurd (189), and senior Josh Snell (215) were fourth-place finishers.
At 102 pounds, Logan Bellis, the second seed, pinned Oneonta’s Tanner Tubia in 52 seconds in the quarterfinals, then decked UV-U’s Gavin Nordberg in 1:56 in the semis.
In the finals, Logan Bellis dropped an 11-0 major decision to the state’s top-ranked Darren Florance of BGAH.
At 110 pounds, Jayden Duncanson, the second seed, scored a 15-0 technical fall in 2:39 against Moravia’s Hunter Boynton, then cinched in a cradle to pin Groton’s Aidan Shufelt of Groton in 3:37.
In the finals, Duncanson scored the first takedown, and then clamped a cradle on Cole, who entered the match at 35-0 on the heels of two first-period pins earlier in the day, to take a 5-0 lead
Duncanson chose bottom to start the second period, but Cole was able to turn him for three near-fall points late in the period to close the gap to 5-3.
Cole chose bottom in the third period, and suffered the same fate as Duncanson locked in a cradle for three more near-fall points to take an 8-3 lead. Cole escaped with 36 seconds remaining, but Duncanson fought off several shots to preserve the 8-4 decision.
At 118 pounds, Silvestri, the top seed, decked Walton-Delhi’s Garrett Copeland in 55 seconds in the quarter, then pinned Groton’s Kris Willard in 2:56 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Silvestri faced BGAH’s Joey Florance, who is ranked 10th in the state. He scored a takedown in the first period, an escape in the second, and a takedown in the third period for a 5-0 win.
At 126 pounds, Roe, the second seed, decked UV-U’s Henry Barnes in 54 seconds in the quarterfinals, then pinned BGAH’s Jose Bivar in 2:41 in the semifinals.
Welch advanced to the finals with a pin of Oneonta’s Israel Nadal in 1:44 in the quarterfinals, and BGAH’s Ryan Blackmon in 3:30 in the semifinals.
Roe won the title via a medical forfeit.
At 132 pounds, Caden Bellis, the top seed, scored a 15-0 technical fall in 2:32 over BGAH’s Cameron Eggleston in the quarterfinals, then decked Walton-Delhi’s Noah Sovocool in 60 seconds in the semifinals.
In the finals, Bellis tok on second-seed Aidan Marcin of Oxford-Green. Marcin is ranked 10th in the state at 126 pounds, but missed weight Saturday morning.
Bellis scored a pair of first-period takedowns, then added a pair of swipes late to take a 9-1 lead after the first two minutes.
After Bellis scored a reversal and two near-fall points to extend the lead to 14-1 early in the second period Marcin recorded an escape.
Bellis ended the bout at 3:54 with a four-point move for an 18-2 technical fall.
At 138 pounds, Macumber, the second seed, pinned Whitney Point’s Jesse Conklin in 3:44 in the quarterfinals, then forged a 15-0 technical fall in 2:09 over Deposit-Hancock’s Aasac Mead.
In the finals, Merwin scored a quick takedown, but Macumber countered with a reversal to tie the bout at 2-2.
After the wrestlers tumbled out-of-bounds with 6 seconds remaining, they returned to the center. Merwin was able to score a reversal and swipes to take a 6-2 lead after the first two minutes.
With Macumber on bottom to start the second period, Merwin registered a pair of swipes to make it 8-3 with 1:17 remanning. Macumber was able score an escape, and a takedown to close the gap to 8-5, then tilted Merwin for two near-fall points at the buzzer to make it 8-7.
Macumber scored a quick takedown for a 9-8 lead, then rode out Merwin for the final 1:55 to preserve the win.
At 145 pounds, Smith, the top seed, scored a 17-2 technical fall in 3:54 over Walton-Delhi’s Rowan McCarthy, then pinned Groton’s Jeter Neff in 3:00 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Smith received a forfeit from Dryden’s Josh Rowland.
At 152 pounds, Ousmane Duncanson, the top seed, scored a trio of falls, starting with a 65-second fall of Whitney Point’s Victor Turner in the quarterfinals.
Duncanson decked Walton-Delhi’s Peyton Tweedie in 3:33 in the semifinals, then flattened Groton’s Isaac Allen in 2:52 in the finals.
At 160 pounds, Wood, the top seed, pinned Walton-Delhi’s Kyler Miller in 42 seconds in the quarterfinals, then forged an 11-3 major decision over O-G’s Lyric Libbey in the semifinals.
In the finals, BGAH’s Brady Buttice, ranked third in the state, won a hard-fought, 8-5, decision over Wood.
After a scoreless first period, Wood scored a quick escape, but Buttice answered with a takedown for a 2-1 lead. Wood scored another escape and the duo went to the final two minutes tied at 2-2.
Buttice recorded an escape early in the third period, but Wood registered a takedown with 1:28 remaining to take a 4-3 lead. Moments later, Buttice escaped to tie it at 4-4.
Buttice took the lead with a takedown with 30 seconds remaining, then sealed the win with another takedown with 2 seconds remaining.
"It was a tough match," said Harrington.
"Emmett is much better if he’s on his opponent’s legs," he noted. "(Buttice) just had a little more volume on the leg attacks than we did.
"Again, it ’s just an adjustment. I think we’re in an OK spot," added Harrington. "We’ll make some adjustments and be a little bit better next week."
At 172 pounds, Browne, the second seed, pinned Whitney Point’s Grant Smith in 1:24 in the quarterfinals, then forged an impressive 18-3 technical fall in 5:19 over Gorton’s Darian Mitchell in 5:19.
In the finals, top-seeded Hunter Page of O-G scored a first-period takedown en route to a 3-1 win over Browne.
At 189 pounds, Hurd, the fifth seed, pinned fourth-seeded Seth Parker of Moravia in 4:40 in the quarterfinals, but ran into top-seeded Devin Beach of SVEC, who is ranked third in the state. Beach won by fall in 58 seconds.
In the third-place match, Hurd dropped a 9-3 decision to UV-U’s Jarrett Thayer.
At 215 pounds, Snell, the fourth seed, pinned Walton-Delhi’s Garrett Johnson in 4:49 in the quarterfinals, then lost via fall in 3:40 to top-seeded Donovan Mitchell of Groton, who is ranked 12th in the state, in the semifinals.
In the third-place match, Snell lost via first-period fall to UV-U’s Nate Ackerley.
At 285 pounds, Macauley, the third seed, pinned SVEC’s Keegan Dobell in 5:28 in the quarterfinals, but lost via fall to eventual champ Donald Garrow of Moravia via first-period fall.
In the third-place match, Macauley forged a 10-0 major decision over Walton-Delhi’s Landon Taylor.
The Section IV, Division 2 Championships will be held Saturday at the Broome Country Arena at 10 a.m.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga’s Drew Macumber. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
