By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Waverly won the first five bouts to take a 29-0 lead, and cruised to a 58-22 win over Newark Valley and a 2-0 record here Friday night at the "Take Down Cancer Duals."
"Other than the Horseheads Duals, we haven't had many duals, so it's nice to be in front of our home crowd," said Waverly coach Devan Witman.
"It's nice to wrestle Newark Valley again," noted Witman. "It's been a couple years since we wrestled them, since we've left the IAC, but that's always been a big rivalry for us.
"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-graders Triton Floyd and Mason Phillips got the Wolverines off a fast start and an 11-0 lead.
"Those two have been huge impact wrestlers for us all year," said Witman.
"The ceiling is so big for both of them," he noted. "They're so athletic, and every time they're in the room, they're learning a little bit more and they're correcting the things that we were seeing from the previous match.
"Those two are going to be big for us coming down the stretch," added Witman. "I'm looking forward to see what they can do."
Floyd, at 103 pounds, started off the match in dominant fashion with a 21-5 technical fall over Adam June in 5:35, and Phillips followed that up with a pin of Avery Davis in 3:07 at 110 pounds.
Freshman Avery Bowman upped the Waverly lead to 17-0 at 118 pounds with a pin of Andrew Lelik in 2:17, and junior Rhylee Stotler decked Jacob Shipman in 1:39 in the 126-pound match-up.
At 132 pounds, senior Hudson Sink capped Waverly's early run with a pin of Kenny Slater in 2:40 to make it 29-0.
After a Wolverine forfeit at 138 pounds put the Cardinals on the board, 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 to make it 34-6.
After wins by Newark Valley standouts Marcos Escalante (a pin) and Logan Woodlin (a tech fall) closed the gap to 34-18, freshman Jax Myers pinned Shane Davey in 1:23 to get the Wolverines back on track and up their lead to 40-18.
Junior Joey Mack notched his second fall of the night, pinning Elijah Williams on 1:39 to make it 46-18 and clinch the victory for the Wolverines.
"Joey Mack was a youth wrestler for a long time and that's where he kind of got his base and his feel for where his body is on the mat," said Witman.
"This is only his second year of varsity wrestling," noted Witman. "I always say the biggest growth of a wrestler is from year one year to year two ... and we're seeing that growth for him from last year to this year.
"He's put a ton of weight in the time in the weight room and he's so strong.
"We might see him down a little bit," added Witman. "We had him up at 175 and the weight itself is no problem because he is so so damn strong, but we might see him at a lower weight after Christmas."
Newark Valley's unbeaten Titus Callahan put Newark Valley final points on the board at 190, and junior Matthias Welles and senior Troy Beeman finished off the match with pins.
Welles pinned Wyatt Dillon in 1:30 at 215 pounds, and Beeman registered the fastest fall of the match, decking Jack Blomberg in 79 seconds in the 285-pound bout.
With the two wins, Waverly improves to 9-1, and is considered one of the favorites for next month's Section IV Duals.
"It's going to be interesting," said Witman.
"Coming down the stretch, our eyes are obviously on Tioga," he noted. "We're going to see that match in January, before we get to get to the Duals.
"I think the top two teams, probably in the entire state, are right here in Section IV," added Witman. "And it's going to be a fun one."
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Triton Floyd. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Mason Phillips. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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WAVERLY 58, NEWARK VALLEY 22
103: Triton Floyd (W) tech. fall Adam Kunze (NV), 21-5 @ 5:35;
110: Mason Phillips (W) by fall over Avery Davis (NV), 3:07;
118: Avery Bowman (W) by fall over Andrew Lelik (NV), 2:17;
126: Rhylee Stotler (W) by fall over Jacob Shipman (NV), 1:39;
132: Hudson Sink (W) by fall over Kenny Slater (NV), 2:40;
138: Logan Davis (NV) by forfeit;
144: Daltton Davis (W) tech. fall Logan Rhodes (NV), 18-1 @ 5:17;
150: Marcos Escalante (NV) by fall over Nico Rae (W), 4:39;
157: Logan Woodlin (NV) tech. fall Parker Larson (W), 15-0 @ 4:00;
165: Jax Myers (W) by fall over Shane Davey (NV), 1:23;
175: Joey Mack (W) by fall over Elijah Williams (NV), 1:39;
190: Titus Callahan (NV) by fall over Brooks Lathrop (W), 1:30;
215: Matthias Welles (W) by fall over Wyatt Dillow (NV), 1:30;
285: Troy Beeman (W) by fall over Jack Blomberg (NV), 1:19.
(NV uniform straps -1.0)
