NY STATE GIRLS WRESTLING: OWEGO’S CRAFT SEEDED 7TH IN FIRST NYSPHSAA STATE TOURNEY (2023-01-25)

Tioga County Sports Report
SYRACUSE — Owego’s RaeAnn Craft has drawn the 7th seed for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s first-ever Girls Wrestling Individual Tournament, which will be held at SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga Community College Friday.

Craft will face a familiar opponent in the Round of 16, Corning’s Kaegan Rhodes. The freshman pinned Rhodes, a sophomore, when they met for the 114-pound title at the STAC Wrestling Championships last Saturday.

If Craft, a Section IV champ last year, wins in the first round, she will face the winner of Ophelia Rosenthal-Vince from Ward Melville or Bolivar-Richburg’s Teegan Sibble. Both girls are sophomores.

The top seed is Eastern States Classic champion Yianna Foufas, a junior out of Mepham on Long Island.

Six other Tioga County grapplers will compete in the tourney. From Tioga are senior Emily Sindoni, ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Wrestling, and the top seed at 132 while 7th-grader Kyah Nelson is No. 2 at 165.

Last year, Sindoni became the first champion crowned in Section IV’s first girls tournament. She has been a member of the Tioga program since the seventh grade.

Competing from are Waverly junior Mackenzie Laforest Waverly, No. 1 at 235; 8th-grader Abby Sickler, 10th at 100; freshman Elona Holmes, 11th at 152; and freshman Elizabeth Robinson, 16th at 185.

In this event, NYSPHSAA will bring together 208 girls from its member schools around the state to compete in 13 weight classes. Each weight class will wrestle through to an individual championship and will also compete in wrestlebacks to sixth place.

Currently, 10 sections in the NYSPHSAA membership have girls participating in wrestling, six of which have all-girls teams within their sections.

The association fielded 456 registrations of interest for the event and planned the largest feasible one-day event with 16 girls in each of 13 weight classes. It resulted in selecting 208 girls to compete by invitation based on experience, grade and representation across the state.

Track Wrestling/Flo will stream all the matches on the NFHS Network.

Tickets are $11.50 each (includes all fees) and available only online by visiting www.gofan.co/NYSPHSAA. This event is a one-session, one-day tournament with matches starting at noon.

Tournament Schedule
12:45 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies
1 p.m. — Round of 16
2:30 p.m. — Wrestlebacks
3:15 p.m. — Quarterfinals
4 p.m. — Wrestlebacks
5:15 p.m. — Semifinals & Wrestlebacks
6 p.m. — Consolation Semifinals
6:45 p.m. — Finals

NOTE: The tournament schedule has changed from the original schedule published in the NYSPHSAA news release.

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IN PHOTO: Owego’s RaeAnn Craft. ... TCSR STOCK PHOTO.
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