Valley Sports ReportELMIRA — Waverly advanced five wrestlers to the semifinals, and four more are alive in the consolation bracket here Friday at the Southern Tier Memorial at the LeCom Event Center.
The Wolverines are in second place in the 38-team field after Day 1 with 113 points, just off the pace of front-running Bellefonte Area which has 119.5 points. Penns Valley is third with 101.5 points, Milton is fourth with 86.5 points, and Tioga is in fifth place with 86 points
Juniors Rhylee Stotler and Matthias Welles, and seniors Troy Beeman, Daltton Davis, and Cooper Robinson each advanced to the semifinals, while freshman Avery Bowman, junior Parker Larson and Joey Mack, and 7th-grader Mason Phillips are still vying for the podium from the consolation bracket.
Stotler, the third seed, was 3-0 in the 126-pound bracket. He opened his day with a 15-0 technical fall of Vestal's Jimmy Kaminsky, then decked Brookville's Parker McKillip in 1:22 in the round-of-16.
Stotler earned a 12-8 win over Tioga's Kadin Cole in the quarterfinals, and will square off with second-seeded Conner Myers of Penns Valley in the semifinals.
Davis, the second seed, was 3-0 in the 138-pound bracket. He scored an 18-3 technical fall of U-E's Kayne Hunt in the opening round, then pinned SVEC's Brennan Zimmer in 5:55 in the round-of-16.
In the quarterfinals, Davis forged a 10-0 major decision win over Milton's Aiden Twigg.
Davis will Penns Valley's third-seeded Tripp Watson in the semifinals.
Robinson, the second seed, was 3-0 — all via technical fall — in the 157-pound bracket. He opened with an 18-1 tech fall of Haverling's Noah Schneider, then beat Bellefonte's Gavin DuFour, 17-2, in the round-of-16.
In the quarterfinals, Robinson forged a 19-2 technical fall over BGAH's Silas Greenmail.
Robinson will square off with Austin Fesinger of West Genesee in the semifinals.
Welles, the top seed, was 3-0 — two first-period falls and a technical fall — in the 215-pound bracket.
Welles needed just 39 seconds to pin Vestal's Tye Jashan in the opening round, then beat that mark with a 34-second fall of Auburn's Judah Nord in the round-of-16.
In the quarterfinals, Welles forged a 17-2 technical fall of Dundee's Caleb Bartlett.
Welles will face fourth-seeded Robert Martin of Penns Valley in the semifinals.
Beeman, the third seed, was 3-0 — all three falls — in the 285-pound bracket. He opened with a pin of Milton's Gage Nixon in 2:50, then decked SVEC's Jak Smith in 1:47 in the round-of-16.
In the quarterfinals, Beeman pinned Tioga's Mark McCane in 1:42.
Beeman will face second-seeded Frank Barrientos of Chambersburg in the semifinals.
Bowman was 3-1 in the 118-pound bracket. He opened his day with a pin of Sayre's Brian Roof in 78 seconds, but lost 5-3 to Horseheads's Tanner Knapp in the round-of-16.
Bowman bounced back with a pin of Milton's Bryson Walter in 4:26, then edged Bellefonte's Blake Glace, 9-7, to remain alive in the consolation bracket.
Larson was 3-1 in the 150-pound bracket. He opened with a wild 19-15 decision over Corning's Colton Graham, but lost via fall to Penns Valley's Sawyer Fetterof in the round-of-16.
Larson rebounded with a pin of Upper Dauphin's Jayce Reiner in 2:34, then scored a 17-0 technical fall over Scranton Prep's Jeremiah Duke.
Mack was 3-1 in the 165-pound weight class. He opened with a 50-second pin of Chenango Forks' Tyler Andrews, but lost via second-period fall to Newark Valley's Cadin Creeley in the round-of-16.
Mack needed just eight seconds to pin Upper Dauphin's Camden McGilvray in his first consolation bracket match, then followed that up with a 72-second in of Tottenville's Marcel Wadowiec.
Phillips was 2-1 in the 110-pound bracket. After losing his opening-round match via first-period falls, Phillips bounced back to pin U-E's Caiden Hwalek in 3:00.
In his second wrestleback match, Phillips forged a 22-2 technical fall of Tottenville's Russell Moran.
Senior Hudson Sink was 2-2 in the 132-pound weight class. He scored a 32-second fall over Sayre's Mason Allowed in the opening round, but lost via second-period fall to West Genesee's Brennan Kline in the round-of-16.
Sink bounced back with a pin of Penfield's Jack Michel in 2:07, but was eliminated via tech fall in his next match.
Newman was 2-2 in the 285-pound bracket. After losing his opening-round match via fall, Newman pinned South Williamsport's Oz Bird in 2:47, and Brookville's Bobby Hack in 2:33.
Newman was eliminated via second-period fall by Scranton Prep's Jordan Henning.
Myers was 1-2 in the 165-pound bracket with his lone win a 41-second pin of Auburn's Hayden Klop in his first wrestleback match.
Seventh-grader Triton Floyd was 0-2 at 103 pounds, sophomore Joey Sandfort was 0-2 at 118 pounds, sophomore Liam Arnold was 0-2 at 190 pounds, and freshman Dom Musto was 0-2 at 215 pounds.
Action resumes Saturday at 9 a.m.
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IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Daltton Davis. IN BOTTOM PHOTO: Waverly's Matthias Welles. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
