By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
ALBANY — Expectations can weigh down a team, especially a young one, but sky-high expectations for the young 2021-22 Tioga wrestling team only seemed to drive them.
It drove them to their fifth consecutive Section IV championship, its first-ever State Duals title, and to its third consecutive team title here Friday and Saturday at the New York State Division 2 Wrestling Championships at the MVP Arena.
"It doesn’t get old," said Tioga coach Kris Harrington with a smile. "We really like winning.
"I said it after the State Duals, but I’ll say it again — it’s a good year to be a Tioga Tiger," added Harrington.
Tioga, with seven place-finishers, including two champs, two runners-up, and a third-place finisher, amassed a meet-record 146 points to easily outdistance runner-up Honeoye Falls-Lima’s 89 points. Central Valley Academy was third with 88, Windsor was fourth with 74, Clarke fifth with 67, and State Duals runner-up Canisteo-Greenwood was sixth with 59 points.
Harrington got emotional about his two seniors who made the trip to Albany — seventh-place finisher Emmett Wood and Mason Welch.
"I have a great group of kids," he said. "We’re going to miss Mason (Welch), we’re going to miss Emmett (Wood). We’re going to miss all of our seniors.
"They’ve been the bedrock.
"My first first year coaching, we won Sectionals in 2017," noted Harrington. "I have the team photo on the wall in my office, and in the front row are Mason and Emmett, and they’re in 7th grade.
"I have never coached a team here that they haven’t been a part of," continued Harrington. "Next year is going to be different, and hard because they’ve been such bedrock to the program and our success, throughout the whole process.
"They’re a big part of what we’ve done here. They’ve built this culture.
"I’m going to miss those guys. Justin Hopkins, too, and Josh Snell," added Harrington. "I’m going to miss all my seniors."
This year’s state tournament also featured a video challenge (on a trial basis in the semifinals and finals), and Harrington was the first to use one, and he was successful.
"Are you surprised it was me, " laughed Harrington.
Six of Tioga’s seven place-finishers — sophomore champs Gianni Silvestri and Ousmane Duncanson, second-place finishers junior Donovan Smith and sophomore Caden Bellis, third-place finisher Jayden Duncanson, an 8th-grader, and fifth-place finisher sophomore Tyler Roe — are all under classmen.
The Tigers also had a pair of wrestlers who were state-ranked — sophomores Deakon Bailey and Levi Bellis — but couldn’t find a spot in the line-up.
I think Deakon (Bailey) and Levi (Bellis) could compete at this level," said Harrington. "And Logan (Bellis) with a little more size, too.
"If we do the work, we could do some special things again next year," noted Harrington.
"It’s hard to project right now, we don’t know where anyone is going to be," he added. "We don’t know what the weights in New York are going to be, but if we have the spring and summer we had last year this year, I think we’ll be in a good spot."
Work for next year begins soon.
"We’re going to take a week off, and enjoy the moment," said Harrington. "There was a lot of pressure on these young men — they’re kids, 16 and younger.
"We’re going to enjoy a week, and then we have to get back to work because it’s nice to be at the top, but it’s easy to fall down."
Harrington has taken the Tioga program to the next level, but he knows he hasn’t done it alone.
"We have a great administration that supports wrestling, and that’s not common," he said. "And, we have a great group of parents that support us.
"We have a ton of people here," he said motioning to the crowd at the MVP Arena. "It’s great to see familiar faces in the stands when we travel, and they travel all over the country with us.
"The student body has really gotten into it in recent years. The basketball teams really show their support, and we try to reciprocate.
"It’s a really special thing going on in Tioga," added Harrington. "Like I said, it’s a good year to be a Tioga Tiger."
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga coach Kris Harrington. IN PHOTO 2: Tioga’s state place-finishers, from left: Emmett Wood, Tyler Roe, Donovan Smith, Ousmane Duncanson, Jayden Duncanson, Gianni Silvestri, and Caden Bellis.
