Valley Sports ReportELMIRA — Athens had five grapplers reach the quarterfinals, but none advanced to the semifinals here Friday night at the third annual Southern Tier Memorial Wrestling Tournament at the LeCom Center. The Wildcats will have eight wrestlers alive in the consolation bracket Saturday.
Sophomores Zaine Campbell, Lucas Persun, and Brendan Cooke, and juniors Karson Sipley and Sean Peters reached the quarterfinals and are still alive in the consolation bracket. Also alive in wrestlebacks for the Wildcats are sophomores Wyatt Clink and Connor Davidson, and freshman Treyton Barrett.
Athens is in 13th place in the 38-team field with 57 points. Chambersburg (Pa.) leads the pack with 121.5 points, Bellefonte (Pa.) is second with 111 points, and Penns Valley (Pa.) is third with 94.5 points. Horseheads is fourth with 92 points, Waverly is sixth with 80 points, and Tioga is 11th with 60 points.
At 138 pounds, Sipley won three bouts to reach the quarterfinals before falling to the second seed.
Sipley opened with a pin of Troy's Marcus Frisbie in 68 seconds, then scored a 17-1 technical fall win over St. Anthony's Lorenzo Zacarese.
Sipley then decked South Williamsport's Louis Mazzullo in 1:46 to advance to the quarterfinals, where he lost by fall in 3:09 to Chambersburg's Ashton Romberger.
At 124 pounds, Campbell reached the quarterfinals and was 2-1 on the day. He opened with an 18-3 technical fall over West Springfield's Beckett LeClair, then scored a 20-5 technical fall over U-E's Ben Ruffo in the round-of-16.
In the quarterfinals, Campbell dropped an 8-4 decision to Tioga's top-seeded Logan Bellis, who scored an escape and takedown in the final minute.
At 131 pounds, Persun won his first two bouts before falling in the quarterfinals.
Persun scored a 19-3 technical win over Horseheads' Adrian Bacon in the opening round, then registered an 18-3 technical fall over Elmira's Ben Guyette in the round-of-16.
In the quarterfinals, Person was pinned by fourth-seeded Wyatt Long of Bellefonte in 63 seconds.
Also at 131 pounds, Clink, after losing via fall in the opening round, bounced back with a trio of wins in the consolation bracket.
He pinned Williamson's Ryder Dacheux in 2:05, then decked Waverly's Nico Rae in 1:22. He finished off the day with a 31-second pin of West Springfield's Troy Silva.
At 145 pounds, Barrett was 3-1 on the day. He opened with a 21-6 technical fall win over Letchworth's Holden Blaszak in the opening round, then dropped a 9-2 decision to Elmira's Max Collins in the round-of-16.
Barrett bounced in wrestlebacks with a 16-0 technical fall win over West Springfield's Maxwell McKenzie. He followed that up with a pin of Horseheads' Jack Clate in 2:53.
Also at 145 pounds, Peters won his first two bouts before losing via second-period fall to Corning's Matt Mahon in the quarterfinals.
Peters opened with a 10-9 win over SVEC's Kaden Jameson, then pinned Tottenville's Max Eng in 3:13 in the round-of-16.
At 160 pounds, Cooke won his first two bouts before losing via technical fall to Bellefonte's Noah Weaver in the quarterfinals.
Cooke opened with a 21-5 technical fall win over Corning's Patrick Akerelrea, then followed it up with a 13-2 major decision win over Canisteo-Greenwood's Carson Turner in the round-of-16.
At 170 pounds, Connor Davidson was 3-1 on the day. He opened with a 21-6 technical fall win over Watertown's Jack Converse, then lost via fall to West Springfield's Abel Verzaes in 4:33.
Davidson bounced back in wrestlebacks with a 14-9 win over Penn Valley's Shane Rimmey, and then pinned Wyoming Area's Riley Pierce in 2:09.
Athens also had several wrestlers eliminated on Day 1.
Sophomore William Vosburgh went 1-2 at 116 pounds. His lone win was a 16-1 technical fall of Chambersburg's Brayan Gonzalez in the opening round.
Junior Connor Garrison was 1-2 at 124 pounds. His lone win was a pin of Sayre's Damion Bennett in 3:27 in the opening round.
Junior Hayden Mercer was 1-2 at 152 pounds. His lone win was a wild 16-12 decision over BGAH's Silas Greenmail in his first consolation bracket bout.
Sophomore Ayden Peterson was 0-2 at 138 pounds, while junior Carter Bombacie was 0-2 at 152 pounds, senior Ethan Elliott was 0-2 at 160 pounds, and freshman Judah Nason was 0-2 at 190 pounds.
Action resumes at 9 a.m.
—————————
PHOTOS BY LANCE LARCOM.
