BEEMAN, ROBINSON DEKAY WIN TITLES; STOTLER, BOWMAN ALSO PUNCH TICKET TO STATES
By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
BINGHAMTON — Waverly crowned three champs — juniors Troy Beeman and Cooper Robinson, and freshman Drayton DeKay, and had a runner-up in sophomore Rhylee Stotler, but it was the fifth Wolverine — 8th-grader Avery Bowman — to punch his ticket to States here Sunday at the Section IV Division 2 Wrestling Championships that provided the most excitement.
"It was a tremendous day," said Waverly coach Devan Witman. "We had five qualifiers two years ago and to get back to that this year is fantastic.
"Last year, we only had two, but Troy (Beeman) was a state champ, and Matthias Welles finished sixth. I'll take that anytime.
"This year, our goal is to get all five of our guys on the podium," added Witman. "We want all five of them to bring back hardware."
The Wolverines finished fourth in the team standings with 119.5 points. Windsor won the team title with 171.5 points, while Unatego-Unadilla Valley-Fanklin was second with 149 points, and Maine-Endwell was third with 146.5 points. Tioga was ninth with 70.5 points.
Bowman, the third seed at 108 pounds, opened with a 7-1 win over Windsor's Dom Diluzio in the quarterfinals, but lost via fall in 5:55 to second-seeded Dylan Newman of Windsor in the semifinals.
In the consolation semifinals, Bowman scored a 15-0 technical fall over BGAH's Colton Ryan.
With the top three in each weight class advancing to States, Bowman needed a win against Maine-Endwell's Larry Tull in the third-place match.
Tull started the match by locking a headlock on Bowman for a seven-point move in the first period, but Bowman fought off his back to pin Tull just 19 seconds into the second period to earn his first trip to Albany.
"I think Avery (Bowman) just wants to give his coaches a heart attack," said Witman in reference to his early 7-0 deficit in the third-place match.
"We wrestled (Tull) in the Section IV Duals, and we were pretty confident going into the match," noted Witman. "Sometimes confidence can be a killer, and we walked right into a headlock.
"Avery is a fighter though, I can't tell you how many times this year in his 32 wins he was down and came back to win," added Witman. "As long as he was able to get off his back, I was confident he would come back to win."
DeKay, the top seed at 116 pounds, decked Windsor's Cooper Axtell in 60 seconds in the quarterfinals, then pinned Walton-Delhi's Hayden Robinson in 67 seconds in the semis.
DeKay finished off his run to the 116-pound title with a 17-2 technical fall of Stotler, who was the second seed.
Stotler earned his way into the finals with a pin of Chenango Valley's Travis White in 3:34 in the quarterfinals, and a 13-3 major decision over Walton-Delhi's third-seeded Aiden Branigan in the semifinals.
"Drayton (DeKay) is wrestling well," said Witman. "It's the second time he's been down to this weight class, he's comfortable there.
"He knows what he has to do," noted Witman. "He's looking forward to training the next two weeks ... he's going to do well in Albany, I have all the faith in the world in him. He's going to accomplish his goals.
"And Rhylee had a great day," said Witman. "It's tough to wrestle your teammate ... they are always going to work to make each other better.
"It was a tough one for Rhylee, but he has goals as well," added Witman. "I think he's going to perform well in Albany, too. I know he's excited for it."
Robinson, the top seed at 152 pounds, scored a 17-0 technical fall of Edison's Jace Schiller in the quarterfinals, then decked Maine-Endwell's Jerry Harman in 2:53 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Robinson scored a 9-3 decision over Unatego-Unadilla Valley-Franklin's Abdeen Zaggout, locking the match up with a takedown at the final buzzer.
Zaggout is 44-6 on the season, but 0-5 against Robinson.
"(Zaggout) is definitely one of the top guys in the state," said Witman. "It's hard to beat a quality guy twice, let alone three times, let alone five times.
"Cooper just continues to push the pace," he added.
Witman said Robinson was fighting the flu all week.
"The day after our Qualifier, he woke with a 102-degree fever, and flu symptoms.
"He was not in a good way, so we were kind of nervous for today, but one of the few positive things for this being held on a Sunday was the extra day helped Cooper a ton," said Witman. "We were able to get him back in the room Friday and Saturday.
"For him to take the whole week off due to a sickness and come out here and perform like he did is tremendous," added Witman.
Beeman won his second Section IV title, and needed just 1:52 to do it.
He decked Oneonta's Eli Daggy in 15 seconds in the quarterfinals, then pinned Deposit-Hancock's Ryan Stoss in 1:37 in the semifinals.
Beeman beat Stoss, 2-1 in overtime, last week at the Section IV Qualifier.
Beeman received a medical forfeit from Schuyler's Dana Guild in the finals.
"We always talk about peaking at the right time, and (Troy) continues to get better," said Witman.
"He was a little disappointed he didn't get to wrestle in the finals, since he had less than two minutes on the mat the entire day," noted Witman.
Sophomore Parker Larson was 0-2 at 160 pounds, and sophomore Joey Mack was 0-2 at 138 pounds.
"Today was a good learning experience for our two sophomores," said Witman. "They were in two very good weight classes ... 138 was a stacked weight class.
"For his first time back on the mat in three or four years, for Joey (Mack) to make it here the way he did was tremendous.
"And I keep telling Parker I think he's the best wrestler at 160 pounds, but he has to the best wrestler for six straight minutes. He has to build his confidence, and he has to build his wind.
"He knows what he has to do moving forward, and I think we're going to see a different Parker Larson next year," added Witman.
The New York State Championships are set for Feb. 28 and March 1 at the MVP Arena in Albany.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Avery Bowman reacts after qualifying for States. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly coaches Devan Witman (right) and A.J. Aronstam. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
