Valley Sports ReportELMIRA — A trio of Tioga grapplers — senior Kali Bailey, sophomore Amelia Toomey, and freshman Kyah Nelson — placed second here Saturday to help the Tigers to a fifth-place finish at the Southern Tier Memorial Girls Wrestling Tournament at the LeCom Events Center.
Bailey and Nelson each went 4-1 to finish runner-up at 132 and 165 pounds, respectively, and Toomey was 2-1 for second place at 145 pounds.
Niagara-Wheatfield won the team title with 138.5 points, while Homer was second with 132, General Brown was third with 117.5 points, Oneonta was fourth with 99, and Tioga tallied 96.5 points. Waverly was 11th with 83 points, while SVEC was 14th with 67, and Owego was 28th in the 43-team field with 24.5 points.
Bailey, the top seed at 132 pounds, scored 10-0 technical falls against Bellefonte's Ella Johnsonbaugh, and Hornelle's Aireanna Leiter in the first two rounds.
In the quarterfinals, Bailey topped Niagara-Wheatfield's Emma Beckles in a 13-3 technical fall.
In the semifinals, Bailey won a 10-9 decision over Deposit-Hancock freshman Nora Bartholomew in a back-and-forth affair.
In the finals, second-seeded Noli Paddock of Chautauqua Lake scored a fall in 2:19 to claim the title. Paddock had three tech falls, and two pin falls.
Nelson, the second seed at 165, scored four falls to reach the finals.
She opened with a 34-second pin of Wyoming Area's Giavonna Chapman, and followed it up with a 21-second fall of West Genesee's Layla Meany.
In the quarterfinals, Nelson pinned Bellefonte's Bailee Scott in 1:58. In the semis, Nelson scored a fall in 3:17 against third-seeded Alana Stanton of Chambersburg.
In the finals, top-seeded Teagan McGuinness forged a 12-1 technical fall to win the 165-pound title. McGuinness scored four technical falls in her title run.
Toomey, the top seed at 145 pounds, pinned Niagara-Wheatfield's Lana DeLong in 33 seconds in the quarterfinals to start the day.
In the semis, Toomey scored a 10-0 technical fall over Chambersburg's Hadyn Fritz to advance to the finals, where she lost via fall in 2:08 to Canandaigua's JaNaiyah Simmons.
Eighth-grader Grace Howey was 2-2 at 114 pounds on the day. Both of her wins were by fall — 2:06 over Canandaigua's Zoey Baker, and 44 seconds over Elmira's Callie Comfort.
Junior RaeAnn Feeko was 2-2 at 126 pounds. After losing in the opening round, she scored a 10-0 technical fall win over Canandaigua's Charlotte Geihs, and a 57-second pin over Waverly's Faith Hyjek.
Junior Lilly Mezzatesta was 1-2 at 235 pounds. Her lone win came in the opening round, a pin of Hornell's Makayla Cullen in 2:31.
Sophomore Marcy Moniz was 1-2 at 138 pounds. Her lone win was in the opening round, a pin of Camden's Ellie Miller in 31 seconds.
Junior Mia Hall was 0-2 at 107 pounds, junior Alyson Chamberlain was 0-2 at 114 pounds, and freshman Cora Szymanski was 0-2 at 138 pounds.
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IN PHOTO 1 and TOP PHOTO: Tioga senior Kali Bailey. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY and MIRANDA SZYMANSKI.
