STAC WRESTLING: FORKS DOMINATES UPPER WEIGHTS TO DEFEAT OWEGO (January 8, 2026)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Chenango Forks won the final six weights to break a tie and defeat Owego, 56-21, in STAC Central Division wrestling action here Thursday.

The River Hawks rallied from a 15-3 deficit to tie the match at 15 and again at 21, but Forks swept the six bouts from 165 to 285 to improve to 2-0 in dual meets.

“We were heavily inexperienced out there,” coach Mike Daly said. “We had two of our kids that were in the finals from the weekend sick today. And I'm not saying that would have changed the outcome, but I think it would have had a pretty different effect on the score.”

Missing from the lineup were Vitaly Sirotkin, who won the 110-pound title at the Stan Elinsky Memorial Tournament and Robert Curley, the runner-up at 118. Curley and Forks’ Maddox Hubbard met twice last season, each winning once.

“Not having those kids made a difference tonight, but it wouldn't have made a difference in the match as far as a win or a loss,” Daly said.

One of the highlights of the evening for Owego was Jace Saulsbury’s victory at 150. Trailing, 3-0, he wrapped Chase Tuttle in a headlock for a reversal and pin in 1:32, tying the match at 21 all.

Also impressive for the River Hawks were back-to-back falls by Mamas Gehring at 132 and John Cornwell at 138. Gehring ran up a quick 8-1 advantage against Connor Williams before decking him in 1:30 while Cornwell was leading Brayden Baer, 3-1, prior to pinning him in 1:50.

Those two victories turned a 15-3 deficit into a 15-15 deadlock. Owego’s three points prior to that came from Gabriel Zervos’ 4-3 squeaker over Keaton Macrabie at 126.

Macrabie took a 1-0 edge with a second period escape. Zervos went ahead, 3-1, with a takedown, only to have Macrabie tie the score with a reversal. Macrabie was dinged with a technical violation in the third period for applying a full nelson, giving Zervos the lead and he held on for the win.

The Blue Devils opened the match with Brody OHern’s 6-0 win over Gavin Lovell. OHern, a Division I honorable mention in the rankings, scored his points with takedowns in the first and second periods, then withstood Lovell’s attempts to score points on top over the final two minutes of the bout.

Forks made it 9-0 with a forfeit at 110 and Aiden Greene’s fall over Lucas Stephens pushed the visitors’ lead to 15-0.

Following the win by Zervos, Gehring and Cornwell, the Devils went back ahead on Brady Livermore’s fall over Finnegan Morgan at 144.

After Saulsbury tied the score a second time, Tyler Ritter pinned Omari Washington at 150, giving Forks the lead for good at 27-21.

Jacob Andrews followed with a pin over Kaleb Buzzell at 165 to make it 34-21, then Braden Wildey pinned Jadin Brainard at 175 to extend the lead to 40-21.

Bryson Fry received a forfeit at 190 and Talon Ritter recorded a 20-5 tech fall over Trevor Monell in 4:45 to make it 51-21.

Cason Caiati recorded a fall over Anthony Neumuth at 285 to close out the match.

“I think most of our kids battled, and there's a couple that are just shutting down, worried, and we try to teach a little more open style,” Daly said. “We need to get them to be willing to take chances and take a little bit of risk, and understand that the reward will be there eventually.”

EXHIBITION
The River Hawks won all four exhibition matches.

Joe Monell scored a 15-0 tech fall over Kam Henyan in 4:24 and Cael Daly pinned Henyan in 1:44.

Sully Morgan pinned Zach Tobias in 52 seconds and Carson Desmond recorded a 17-0 tech fall over Carson Pearce in 3:02.

There were also five Modified bouts with Owego winning three for a 15-12 victory.

Owego will host the River Hawk Round Robin tournament Saturday.

CHENANGO FORKS 56, OWEGO 21
103: Brody OHern (CF) dec. Gavin Lovell (O), 6-0
11: Aiden Greene (CF) by forfeit
118:Maddox Hubbard (CF) pin Lucas Stephens (O), :49
126: Gabriel Zervos (O) dec. Keaton Macrabie (CF), 4-3
132: Mamas Gehring (O) pin Connor Williams (CF), 1:30
138: John Cornwell (O) pin Brayden Baer (CF), 1:05
144: Brody Livermore (CF) pin Finnigan Morgan (O), 1:05
15: Jayce Saulsbury (O) pin Chase Tuttle (CF), 1:34
157: Tyler Ritter (CF) pin Omari Washington (O), :36
165: Jacob Andrews (CF) pin Kaleb Buzzell (O), 1:22
175: Brayden Wildey (CF) pin Jaydin Brainard (O), 2:20
19: Brysen Fry (CF) by forfeit
215: Talon Ritter (CF) tech fall Trevor Monell (O), 20-5 (4:35)
285: Cason Caiati (CF) pin Anthony Neumuth (O), 1:15

——————

PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

Print Friendly Version