STAC WRESTLING: OWEGO BATTLES TOUGH COMPETITION AT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT (24 PHOTOS) (2020-01-17)
BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
JOHNSON CITY — It may not have been Owego's best effort, but the Indians did post several impressive performances within their overall performance at the STAC Wrestling Championships here Friday night.
"This is a really tough tournament," Owego coach Nick Rodgers said. "We've got some top schools from Division I, Section IV, and some top schools from Division II
"Overall, I don't think we wrestled as well as we could have, or as well as we have been wrestling. The event got changed to one day. It's late at night. It could be a lot of that. I'm hoping we'll bounce back. I'm thinking we will, but overall it's just a tough tournament, a tough format."
For the second year in a row, tournament organizers opted to turn the two-day tournament into a one-day affair and the event, which began about 5 p.m., didn't conclude until after midnight.
The tourney became a one-and-done format for first-round losers. Wrestlers who lost in the quarterfinals were allowed one wrestleback match to have a chance to compete for fifth place and semifinal losers wrestled for third.
Among the Indians' more impressive bouts were were Cam Bundy's revenge win, a pair of first-period falls from Matt Laubach, pins by Jacob Morris, Zach Miner, Mason Pratt, and Logan Bailey and a hard-fought decision from Mike Bridge.
Bundy took a more aggressive approach in his rematch with Windsor's Langdon Sibley, whom he lost to, 2-0, at thew Windsor Christmas Tournament. Bundy's tactic resulted in three takedown as he dominated the majority of their semifinal bout en route to a 6-2 victory. Sibley was ranked 11th in the state in Division II by the New York Wrestling News and Bundy was ranked 13th.
The defending champ at 170 pounds, Bundy racked up a 15-0 technical fall over Oneonta's Mateo Goodhue, but would lose to Norwich's Mikey Squires, ranked No. 1 in the state, by a 10-0 major decision.
Bundy successfully defended Squires' vaunted single leg takedown and the two battled through a scoreless opening period despite Bundy hyperextending an elbow. Up, 2-0, in the final minute of the second period, Squires worked a tilt for a 5-0 lead. A takedown and another tilt with 40 seconds remaining in the match secured the title for Squires.
"Bundy had a great match. He avenged a loss against Sibley. He wrestled very well in that match," Rodgers said. "He wrestled well against Squires. When Squires got on top he got those two tilts. You take that away, it's a much closer match. He wrestled real tough."
Laubach pinned Windsor's Noah Taylor in 52 seconds and Chenango Valley's Ethan Randis in 1:14 to set up a clash with Chenango Forks standout Tyler Ferrara, the seventh-ranked 106-pounder in Division I. Ferrara, who dispatched his first two opponents almost as quickly as Laubach did, would register a fall in 1:51 to win the championship.
Morris (132) pinned Patrick Zara in 5:14, improving on the 6-0 win he scored over the Johnson City grappler during their dual meet. He would fall to Horseheads' Calum Houper, 17-2, and Norwich's Mason Edwards by fall to place fourth.
Miner (145) rebounded from a loss by fall to Norwich's Zander Arnold to pin Horseheads' Liam Levantovich in 4:07. Levantovich led early in the match, but Miner countered a throw, then used a throw of his own to put Levantovich to his back for the fall.
In the fifth-place match, Miner surrendered a late takedown in a heartbreaking loss to Elmira's Ty King.
Mason Pratt (182) was one of three Owego wrestlers to draw a first-round match. With the tournament changed to a one-day format due to an impending winter storm, first-round losers were eliminated from the tournament.
As the No. 10 seed, Pratt wasn't expected to survive, but instead he decked M-E's seventh-seeded Eddie Mancini in 1:41. He drew Windsor's seventh-ranked Gabe Monroe in the next round and lost by fall, then was eliminated by teammate Tyler Benjamin, 16-0.
Bailey opened the tournament with a 52-second pin over Forks' Tyler Hayes at 285, but lost by pin to Norwich's Tyler Rice, the state's top-ranked Division II heavyweight. He lost by fall to Oneonta's Jeremiah Morris in the third-place match.
Bridge (220) dropped his opener to Horseheads' Gannon Johnston, but bounced back with a 4-1 win over CV's Elton Richards-Follette. In the third-place match he was a pin victim of Windsor's Garrett Bidwell.
Also competing for the Indians were Jacob Millard (120) and Matt Gatto (160). Millard lost by fall to Norwich's Andrew Brown, who placed third. Gatto fell by pin to Norwich's Dakota Powers and Windsor's Noah Yadlosky, who went on to place third and fifth, respectively.
Owego placed sixth in the 16-team field with 87 points. Windsor won the team title with 229.5 points, besting Horseheads' 215.
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TEAM SCORES
1. Windsor, 229.5
2. Horseheads, 215
3. Chenango Forks, 182.5
4. Norwich, 170
5. Corning, 123
6. Owego, 87
7. Elmira, 78.5
8. Vestal, 78
9. Susquehanna Valley, 65
10. Chenango Valley, 61
11. Oneonta, 59
12. Johnson City, 58
13. Union-Endicott, 36
14. Binghamton, 27
15. Ithaca, 13
16. Maine-Endwell, 9
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
99: Max Morris (Norwich) pinned Ryan Massengale (Horseheads), 3:16
106: Tyler Ferrara (Chenango Forks) pinned Matt Laubach (Owego), 1:51
113: Dante Geislinger (Norwich) pinned Tommy Dale (Horseheads), 2:48
120: Dante Rigal (Johnson City) dec. Zach Levey (Horseheads), 7-4
126: Chase Daudelin (Corning) pinned Cooper Rice (Chenango Forks), 3:29
132: Drew Witham (Corning) tf Calum Houper (Horseheads), 17-2
138: Logan Gumble (Chenango Forks) maj. dec. Charles Loucks (Corning), 14-1
145: Ethan Hart (Corning) maj. dec. Dylan Wilmot (Windsor), 8-0
152: Jacob Scibek (Horseheads) maj. dec. Colsten Volpe (Chenango Valley), 12-2
160: David Flora (Windsor) dec. Jarrett O'Connell (Horseheads), 5-2
170: Mikey Squires (Norwich) maj. dec. Cameron Bundy (Owego), 10-0
182: Mitchell Knapp (Susquehanna Valley) pinned Gabriel Monroe (Windsor), 5:23
195: Brandon Butler (Windsor) maj. dec. Quinten Bissell-smith (Oneonta), 11-1
220: Collin Bidwell (Windsor) dec. John Robyck (Elmira), 7-2
285: Lucas Scott (Chenango Forks) dec. Tyler Rice (Norwich), 3-2
CONSOLATION FINALS
99: Trevor Cortright (Chenango Valley) dec. Cody Dale (Horseheads), 2-1
106: Robert Gerdus (Johnson City) pinned Ethan Randis (Chenango Valley), :34
113: Cael Owen (Horseheads) dec. Ethan Dibble (Windsor), 6-2
120: Andrew Brown (Norwich) dec. Troy Hayes (Windsor), 7-2
126: Peter Sacco (Vestal) dec. Constantine Gehring (Binghamton), 11-6
132: Mason Edwards (Norwich) pinned Jacob Morris (Owego), 4:33
138: Co-De Petticrew (Vestal) pinned Richard Champion (Chenango Valley), 5:54
145: Zander Arnold (Chenango Forks) pinned Serfino Menard (Horseheads), 2:25
152: James Hoover (Windsor) dec. Joey Marvin (Norwich), 10-8
160: Dakota Powers (Norwich) dec. Lee Abbey (Chenango Forks), 8-2
170: Langdon Sibley (Windsor) pinned Collin Kintner (Vestal), 4:25
182: Bradley Needles (Chenango Forks) by inj. def. over Cole Rivell (Union-Endicott)
195: Trevor Frable (Susquehanna Valley) pinned Camden McConnell (Corning), 2:05
220: Gannon Johnston (Horseheads) pinned David Yan (Vestal), 1:59
285: Jerimiah Morris (Oneonta) pinned Logan Bailey (Owego), 2:37
FIFTH PLACE FINALS
99: Dylan Mollo (Union-Endicott) maj. dec. Tim Boyce (Susquehanna Valley), 8-0
106: Riley Walker (Corning) dec. Brody Galyen (Vestal), 7-0
113: Dylan Eggleston (Chenango Forks) tf Shane Howell (Oneonta), 20-4
120: Mason Cardinale (Elmira) pinned Dylan Roberts (Union-Endicott), 1:52
126: Ryan Kennedy (Windsor) pinned Jack Caruso (Oneonta), 1:53
132: Deekon Flint (Windsor) maj. dec. Patrick Zara (Johnson City), 10-2
138: Tristan Rosas (Vestal) dec. Louie Menard (Horseheads), 6-0
145: Ty King (Elmira) dec. Zach Miner (Owego), 4-1
152: Cameron Gordon-Davis (Elmira) pinned Aiden McHugh (Maine-Endwell), 3:52
160: Noah Yadiosky (Windsor) pinned Aidan Lupole (Susquehanna Valley), 1:27
170: Jack Massengale (Horseheads) pinned Mateo Goodhue (Oneonta), 1:26
182: Isaiah Colon (Elmira) pinned Tyler Benjamin (Owego), 2:30
195: Jeremy Russell (Ithaca) maj. dec. Louis Kennedy (Binghamton), 10-1
220: Garrett Bidwell (Windsor) pinned Michael Bridge (Owego), 4:31
285: Landon Chalk (Elmira) pinned Cobey Breeze (Johnson City), :41
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IN PHOTO 1: Owego's Zach Miner. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
