By TIM TAYLORValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — The Waverly wrestling team crowned five individual champions to run away with the team title at the Section IV Division II Qualifier A tournament here Saturday.
“I'm super proud of the guys; first place is pretty special,” coach Devan Witman said. “One aspect that I'm looking at though is that everyone either wrestled two (matches) or beyond their seed, which is awesome.
“I think we're peaking at the right time, which is what you want to see as a wrestling coach. We continue to grind and get better every day in practice, and we're continually peaking when it matters most.”
The Wolverines scored 226.5 points to runner-up Deposit/Hancock’s 180 in the 13 team tournament.
The Wolverines received some impressive performances from several team members.
“There's a few wrestlers that really stood out, wrestled really well,” Witman said. “First one that comes to mind is Parker Larson. He came in as a fourth seed and then to win the tournament and the fashion that he did is just a testament to his continually getting better week in and week out. He avenged the loss in the semifinals from the STAC tournament and then to get the fall in the finals, he's just wrestling out of his mind right now. I'm super proud of him.
“Troy (Beeman) had a pretty tough opponent in the finals. He keeps in great position. We know we're not going to run the score up on Trey Parker, but to get the scores and to push the pace we did, he wrestled really well.
“And then Matt (Welles) wrestling one of the top 15 guys in the state, and go out there and get the tech. It shows just what he's capable of as we get deeper into the season and into the postseason.
“Cooper wrestled well, tech's kid, in the finals. That's what we've come to expect from Cooper, and he's just going to continue to grind. He's looking at bigger things all the way to the state tournament. He's taking it one match at a time to get there.”
Highlighting the effort was Parker Larson, who upset two higher seeds to win the 144-pound title. The 4th-seeded junior pinned No. 2 seed Gavin Canedo from D/H in 2:46 of their championship bout.
He was leading, 7-1, at the time, the same score in which he defeated top-seeded Anthony Cardinale of Windsor by in the semifinals. Larson pinned Schuyler’s Daniel Colston of Schuyler in 28 seconds in his first match of the day.
Rhylee Stotler (126) gave the Wolverines their first champ. The junior decked Dryden’s William Woodard in 1:19, then dispatched Brogon Lafever of Unatego/Unadilla Valley/Franklin in 2:35. In the finals, he posted a 7-4 decision over Windsor’s Dylan Newman.
Returning state place-winner Cooper Robinson (157) gave the Wolverines their third champion. He scored a trio of tech. falls on the day. He defeated Norwich’s Kolby Vielandi, 20-2 in 1:53, teammate Joey Mack, 21-5 in 2:50 and Windsor’s Nelson Colgan, 16-1 in 2:00.
Junior Matthias Welles, a state place-winner two years ago, grabbed top honors at 215. He pinned Caleb Larson of Bainbridge/Guilford/Afton/Harpursville in 28 seconds, then received a medical forfeit from Schuyler’s Patrick Croft. In the championship bout, he rolled to an 18-3 tech. fall over top-seeded Nolan Boyles of UVUF in 4:53.
Senior Troy Beeman, a state-runner up last season and a state champ in 2024, wrapped up the Wolverines’ parade of champions at 285. He pinned Norwich’s Ethan Shipley in 36 seconds and Schuyler’s Lucas VanSlyke in 1:11. In the finals, he battled past Susquehanna Valley standout Trey Parker, 6-4.
Avery Bowman (118) and Daltton Davis (138) captured second-place honors.
Bowman scored a fall over Windsor’s Dylan Rogers in 1:46, then posted a 15-0 tech. Fall against Colton Ryan of BGAH in 4:00. In the finals he fell to SChuyler’s Trevor Hoffman, 17-11, although he almost pinned the returning state pace-winner at pone point in their match.
Davis racked up a 17-2 tech. Fall over Dryden’s Gaven Valenti in 3:26 to start the tournament, then pinned Owego’s John Cornwell in 3:26. In the finals, he faced D/H’s Landyn Shaffer, the state’s top-ranked 138-pounder. Shaffer, named the tourney’s outstanding wrestler, registered a 17-2 tech. Fall in 2:50.
Joey Mack was third at 157. He pinned Tyler Reis of D/H in 3:35, then fell to Robinson in the semis. He received a medical forfeit from D/H’s Silas Green in the consolation finals.
Triton Floyd (103) was fourth. He pinned AJ Zimer of D/H in 4:00, then lost to eventual champion Sava Gonoplskiy by fall in 1:11 and Norwich’s Koltyn Collins by fall in 1:55.
Mason Phillips (110) was fourth also. He downed Trumansburg’s Colt Doolittle by fall in 4:46, then lost by pin in 24 seconds to eventual champion Mason Vanderhoff of Edison and by fall in 4:09 to Sus Valley’s Jaxson Polhamus.
Nico Rae was sixth at 150. He pinned BGAH’s Mason Buchanan in 2:44, then lost by fall to returning state champ Maverick Beckwith of Norwich in 32 seconds. He rebounded with a fall over Edison’s Daniel Cruz in 2:40 and won a wild 29-13 tech. Fall over Norwich’s Kolden Downey in 4:53. There was no fifth-place bout, so Rae and D/H’s Keagan Brown shared sixth place. Both will advance to the state qualifier next week.
LIam Arnold was sixth at 190. He lost to Schuyler’s Eli Kastenhuber by fall in 17 seconds, and shared sixth with Norwich’s Collin Howe. Like Rae, Arnold also advances to next week.
Hudson Sink (132) went 0-2, losing by fall to D/H’s Jason Canedo by fall in1:18, then forfeiting to Schuyler’s Dalton Smith.
Twelve Waverly wrestlers move on to next week.
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IN PHOTO 1: Parker Larson. IN TOP PHOTO: Cooper Robinson. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
