SECTION IV WRESTLING: OWEGO 7th-GRADER HEADING TO STATE TOURNAMENT (February 14, 2026)

Tioga County Sports Report
BINGHAMTON — Gavin Lovell’s high school career is in its fledgling season, but the Owego 7th-grader is making the most of it, earning a spot in the state tournament following a third-place effort at the Section IV Division II Wrestling Championships at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena here Saturday.

Lovell bounced back from a tough semifinal loss to claim the bronze at 103 pounds, qualifying him for the state championships.

To punch his ticket to state, Lovell had to win two wrestleback bouts. The first came against Norwich’s Koltuyn Collins, whom he pinned in 2:15. The second was with Andrew Valls of Chenango Valley for third and he prevailed with a pin in 4:46.

Lovell suffered a fall in 4:33 against Unatego/Unadilla Valley/Franklin’s Sava Gonopolskiy in the semis after starting his day with a pin of teammate Cael Daly in 3:41.

Gonopolskiy and Lovell are ranked 13th and 15th, respectively in the state in Division II by New York Wrestling News.

The River Hawks’ Vitaly Sirotkin just missed a trip to state after placing fourth at 110. He dropped a 7-6 heartbreaker to Tioga’s Parker Jackson in the third-place bout. Sirotkin pinned UUVF’s Tyler Goff in 53 seconds to start the day then scored a 9-2 decision over Linkin Backus of Walton/Delaware Academy.

He ran into defending state champion Declan McKee in the semis and was the victim of a 40-second fall. He recovered with an 8-1 victory over Chenango Valley’s Alexander Valls to advance to the consolation finals.

Cael Daly placed fifth at 103. He racked up a 17-0 tech. fall over Whitney Point’s Trenton Myers in 4:42, then lost to Lovell. He posted a 15-0 tech. fall in 3:11 over Marathon’s Henry Donah, but lost to CV’s Andrew Valls by pin in 2:24. In the fifth-place bout he recorded his third tech. fall of the tournament, 16-0 over Collins in 4:55.

Also competing for Owego were John Cornwell (138), Jaydin Brainard (175) and Trevor Monell (215). Monell went 1-2 with a pin to his credit and Cornwell was 1-2 with a teh. Fall.

The River Hawks finished 15th in the 24-team tourney with 54 points. Tioga won the team title with 187.

The state tournament will be held at Albany’s MVP Arena Feb. 27-28.

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PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY & TIM TAYLOR.

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