By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
ELMIRA — Junior Declan McKee and senior Jayden Duncanson won titles, and sophomore Drayke Ulrich was a runner-up to lead six Tioga wrestlers to the podium here Saturday in a fourth-place team finish at the Southern Tier Memorial.
Senior Logan Bellis and Kadin Cole each registered sixth-place finishes for the Tigers and freshman Parker Jackson was a seventh-place finisher.
"I’m happy to see Declan (McKee) and Jayden (Duncanson) round into form as we hit the tail end of our tournament season," said Tioga coach Kris Harrington.
"Drayke (Ulrich) continues to improve week-in and week-out and will be a factor at 103," added Harrington.
Bellefonte won the team title with 208 points, while Penns Valley was second with 187.5 point, Waverly was third with 171.5 points, and Tioga tallied 149.5 points.
McKee, the top seed, was 5-0 with five bonus-point wins — four pins and a tech fall — on his way to the 110-pound title.
In the semifinals, McKee led 9-2 after the first period, and 15-3 when he finished off a pin of fourth-seeded Colin Harter of Bellefonte at the second-period buzzer.
McKee squared off with second-seeded Mason Vanderhoff of Edison in the finals. Vanderhoof advanced via a technical fall, two first-period falls, and a 12-3 major decision over third-seeded John Knapp of Horseheads in the semifinals.
McKee scored a takedown midway through the first period, but Vanderhoof quickly reversed him. After an escape, McKee led 4-2 heading into the second period.
After an escape to start the second period, McKee scored a pair of takedowns to extend his lead to 11-4 entering the final two minutes..
Riding top to start the third period, McKee was able to turn Vanderhoof for the fall at 4:47.
Duncanson was 6-0 with six bonus-point wins — four pins, a tech fall, and a major decision — on his to the 138-pound title.
Duncanson, the top seed, registered three first-period falls and a 10-0 major decision Friday.
Duncanson faced fourth-seeded Ty Locke of Milton in the semifinals and put together a dominating 21-1 technical performance. Locke had advanced to the semis with three falls.
Duncanson scored the only takedown of the first period, then recorded an escape to start the second period, and hit a seven-point move midway through to take an 11-0 lead into the final two minutes.
Duncanson scored a pair of takedown in the third period, turning the second into four near-fall points to end the match at 4:56.
Duncanson faced third-seeded Tripp Watson of Penns Valley in the finals. Watson advanced with four falls and a 10-4 decision over Waverly's Daltton Davis in the semifinals.
Duncanson scored a takedown midway through the first period, and rode Watson out for the final 46 seconds to take a 3-0 lead in the the second period.
Watson escaped 15 seconds into the second period, but Duncanson aded another takedown, and finished off the match 20 seconds later, at 3:10, to win the 138-pound title.
Ulrich, the fourth seed, was 1-1 Saturday to place second in the 103-pound bracket.
In the semifinals, Ulrich scored an 11-6 win over top-seeded Aiden Wright of West Genesee.
Ulrich scored a takedown midway through the first period, but Wright recorded a reversal to close the gap to 3-2. Ulrich was awarded a penalty point with 5 seconds left in the opening stanza to take a 4-2 lead into the second period.
Ulrich scored another takedown, then rode out the final 1:27 of the second period to take a 7-2 advantage into the final two minutes.
In the third period, Wright turned Ulrich for four near-fall points to close the gap to 7-6 with 1:19 remaining, but Ulrich escaped 20 seconds later, then scored a takedown at the buzzer to ice the win.
In the finals, Chenango Forks' Brady O'Hern, the second seed, led 13-2 midway through the third period, thanks to a takedown in all three periods, and four near-fall points in the second period.
With 38 seconds remaining, McKee scored an escape, and then a takedown moments later to close the gap to 13-6. Ulrich was awarded a penalty point in the closing seconds to provide the final margin.
Senior Logan Bellis was 2-2 Saturday to finish sixth in the 118-pound bracket. He was 5-3 on the weekend.
Bellis, the fifth seed, lost in the round-of-16 Friday, but bounced back to win two wrestleback matches to advance to Saturday.
Bellis scored a 15-0 technical fall wingover West Genesee's Cole Willis in the blood round, then blanked Auburn's Lucas Maneri in a 12-0 major decision.
In the consolation semifinals, Bellis dropped a 7-1 major decision to Haverling's Lukas Mills-Travis.
In the fifth-place match, Brookville's Cody Householder pinned Bellis in 1:56.
Senior Kadin Cole was 2-2 Saturday to finish sixth in the 126-pound bracket. He was 4-3 on the weekend.
Cole opened with a 17-0 technical fall win over South Williamsport's Taylor Naugle in the blood round, then scored an 11-3 major decision over St. Anthony's Adam Khan.
In the consolation semifinals, Cole dropped a 13-8 decision to Schuyler's Lucas Hoffman.
In the fifth-place match, Cole lost to Waverly's Rhylee Stotler in a 14-8 decision. Stotler also beat Cole, 12-8, in the quarterfinals Friday.
Freshman Parker Jackson was 2-1 Saturday to place seventh in the 110-pound bracket. Jackson was 4-2 on the weekend.
Jackson scored a 16-0 technical fall over Waverly's Mason Phillips in the blood round, but lost via third-period fall to West Genesee's Nico Bresadola in the consolation bracket first round-of-4.
In the seventh-place match, Jackson won a 6-3 decision over South Seneca's Harley Wilkins.
Junior Caden Bradley lost his bout in the blood round early Saturday morning, losing by fall in the closing seconds of the second period to Newark Valley's Marcos Escalante.
Sophomore Mark McCane also lost his bout in the blood round, losing via fall to Scranton Prep's Jordan Henning.
Tioga wraps up its regular duals season with home matches against Moravia and Horseheads Wednesday, and at Waverly Saturday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Declan McKee. IN TOP PHOTO: Tioga's Jayden Duncanson. ... PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES, TIM BIRNEY, CRISTINA ROSSI, and MIRANDA SZYMANSKI.
