STAC GIRLS WRESTLING: DALY, LOVELL GARNER BRONZE TO HIGHLIGHT OWEGO EFFORT AT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS (2025-01-24)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
JOHNSON CITY — Michaela Daly and Jaelynne Lovell captured third-place honors at the STAC Girls Wrestling Championships here Friday.

It was the first league tournament for the duo and five other River Hawks, all of whom are first-year members of the team.

Owego looked more confident and was clearly more aggressive on the mat than its previous outing Monday at the Windsor tournament. Six River Hawks managed just one win there while collecting 10 victories at the STAC tourney.

"It definitely was a big change from going from Monday to this one," said coach James Benjamin. "I think we just needed to kind of get our feet back under us for a minute and kind of get a little bit more of a drive. It's good seeing the turnaround. They're really picking it up.

With the Section IV championship not far off, now is a good time for the River Hawks to start peaking.

"It's big because I think a lot of these girls they're going to see here are going to be the same ones they see in sectionals," Benjamin said. "I think this is going to give them a little more motivation that they need. They know the moves, they know how to wrestle, they've just got to believe in themselves."

Daly pinned Oneonta’s Caitlyn Thompson in 1:10, then fell by pin to eventual champion Lily Gullo of Horseheads. In the consolation semifinals, she pinned Olivia Rodriguez of Johnson City in 1:58. Daly faced teammate Ashlee Crawford-Bauer for third and won by fall in 1:47.

Lovell decked Oneonta’s Ambria Armes in 1:04 to start her tourney, but lost by fall to Ithaca’s Brooke Parker in the semis. She rallied back to pin Elmirah’s Savannah Hartford in 1:10 in the consi semis, then recorded a 10-0 technical fall over teammate Carissa Chandler in the third-place bout.

Crawford-Bauer and Chandler won their openers with pins before falling to the top seeds in the semis.

Crawford-Bauer dispatched Olivia Rodriguez of Johnson City in 4:26, but suffered a 10-0 tech fall against Waverly’s Kennadie Cochrane. She bounced back to make quick work of Oneonta’s Caitlyn Thompson in 26 seconds before her loss to Daly.

Chandler decked Elmira’s Savannah Hartford in 4:10, but lost by pin to top-seeded and eventual champion Chloe Owen of Horseheads in the semis. She recovered with a fall over Ambria Armes of Oneonta in 2:26 before falling to Lovell in the consi finals.

Also competing for the River Hawks were Kaylie Cote, fifth at 100; Tatum Kowalski, sixth at 138; and Mikenna Wilbur at 126.

Owego placed seventh out of 14 teams with 71.5 points. Horseheads repeated as team champs, scoring 144.

The River Hawks competed without two-time defending STAC champion RaeAnn Craft, who is out for the remainder of the season due to injury.

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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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