Valley Sports ReportDEPOSIT — Tioga’s Mark McCane made short work of all of his opponents to win the 285-pound title at the Stan Elinsky Lumberjack Tournament here Saturday.
His first three victims fell via first-period pin. He decked Sidney’s Nathan Strauss in 44 seconds, then added a fall over teammate Maxwell Paugh in 1:02 before dispatching Donte Wrench of Oxford/Greene in 1:50. McCane picked up an injury default win over another Oxford/Greene opponent, Colten Button, in the semifinals, then added a second injury default win when he was slated for a rematch with Wrench in the championship bout.
The Tigers’ Drayke Ulrich went 4-1 on the day to place second at 101. He blanked Riley Whitmore from Maine-Endwell, 7-0, then pinned Newark Valley’s Andrew Lelik in 1:16 and Bryan Brazinski of Johnson City in 1:39. Rondout Valley’s Matteo Walsh handed Ulrich his lone loss of the day with a fall in one minute, then Ulrich bounced back to nip teammate Harold Corby, 9-8.
Parker Jackson snagged the bronze at 108 for Tioga. He won by fall over Ben Shew from Deposit/Hancock in 48 seconds before suffering a pin against M-E’s Larry Tull in 2:20 and a 15-0 technical fall setback against Caden Higley of Sidney. Jackson wrapped up his day by decking Mason Reed of Oxford/Greene in 3:28 and taking an injury default win over Landon Boccasini from Owego.
Bailey Rugh and Paugh chipped in for the Tigers with fifth-place efforts at 215 and 285, respectively.
Rugh scored an 11-3 major decision over Keith Wilkerson of Johnson City to begin his tournament, but lost by fall to Justin Stewart of Pine Bush in 1:54 in his next match, He bounced back to outpoint Owego’s Jaydin Brained, 13-8, then nipped the River Hawks’ Trevor Monell, 2-0, for fifth.
Paugh lost to Donte Wrench of Oxford/Greene by pin in 55 before his loss to McCane. He then shut out Nathan Strauss of Sidney, 7-0, then squeaked past Owego’s Anthony Neumuth, 4-3. Paugh closed out his tourney by pinning Justin Burgos from Sullivan West in 1:18.
Corby added a sixth-place showing for the Tigers, He dropped his first three matches by fall, before losing a pair of one-point heartbreakers to NV’s Andrew Lelik, 10-9, and Ulrich.
Also six Tioga wrestlers contributed points to Tioga’s ninth-place finish in the 13-team field. The Tigers scored 74.5 points. M-E won the team title with 247.5.
Tioga (2-0, 1-0 IAC Division I) returns to dual meet action Wednesday night at rival Newark Valley (3-0, 1-0 IAC Division I).
