By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Waverly registered seven falls and one technical fall, and rolled to a 56-24 win over Vestal in the first round of the "Take Down Cancer Duals" here Friday night.
"Other than the Horseheads Duals, we haven't had many duals, so it's nice to be in front of our home crowd here," said Waverly coach Devan Witman.
"Vestal has huge numbers and they're so well-coached," noted Witman. "I expect them to be a team in the future for sure.
"To come in here and perform the way we did is awesome," added Witman. "The guys wrestled really well, hit a ton of takedowns and did what they needed to do."
Seventh-grade 103-pounder Triton Floyd started the Wolverines off quickly with a pin of Brayden Rebello in 2:34, and 7th-grader Mason Phillips won a wild, 9-8, decision over Raf Haque to give the Wolverines a 9-0 lead.
Freshman Avery Bowman gave the Wolverines an additional jolt of momentum when he got off his back to pin Jim Sysen in 1:44 at 118 pounds to push the lead to 15-0.
"That's kind of been a worn-out joke in our wrestling room because that's what Avery does," said Witman. "He likes to be down three, four, seven points before he gets going.
"But, you know, he's never out of the match and we have all the faith in the world in him.
"We just need to get him flying a little bit sooner," added Witman.
Junior Rhylee Stotler kept the early roll going for Waverly with a pin of Ramon Quiles in 1:54 at 126 pounds to up the advantage to 21-0.
The Golden Bears got on the board with a fall at 132 pounds and a forfeit at 138 pounds to close the gap to 21-12.
Waverly senior Daltton Davis, who is a Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor, turned the momentum back to Waverly at 144 pounds with an 18-2 technical fall of Jacob Bestle.
After a forfeit to senior Waverly senior Nico Rae at 150 pounds, junior Parker Larson decked Braedan Moreno in 64 seconds at 157 pounds pushed the lead to 38-12.
A pin at 165 pounds by Vestal trimmed the deficit to 38-18, but junior Joey Mack clinched the win for the Wolverines at 175 pounds with a pin of Matt Hicks in 3:26.
Seth Carlton's pin at 190 was Vestal's final of the match, and falls by junior Matthias Welles (in 2:21) and by senior Troy Beeman (in 1:06) put the finishing touches on Waverly's scoring.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Rhylee Stotler. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Avery Bowman. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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WAVERLY 56, VESTAL 24
103: Triton Floyd (W) by fall over Brayden Rebello (V), 2:34;
110: Mason Phillips (W) dec. Raf Haque (V), 9-8;
118: Avery Bowman (W) by fall over Jim Sysen (V), 1:44;
126: Rhylee Stotler (W) by fall over Ramon Quiles (V), 1:54;
132: Nick Hardy (V) by fall over Hudson Sink (W), 1:25;
138: Jimmy Kaminsky (V) by forfeit;
144: Daltton Davis (W) tech. fall Jacob Bestle (V), 18-2 @ 2:46;
150: Nico Rae (W) by forfeit;
157: Parker Larson (W) by fall over Braedan Moreno (V), 1:04;
165: Connor Brubaker (V) by fall over Jax Myers (W), 0:51;
175: Joey Mack (W) by fall over Matthew Hicks (V), 3:26;
190: Seth Carlton (V) by fall over Brooks Lathrop (W), 3:03;
215: Matthias Welles (W) by fall over Tye Jashan (V), 2:21;
285: Troy Beeman (W) by fall over Mahmood Virk (V), 1:06.
