STAC WRESTLING: MONELL CLAIMS TITLE TO LEAD OWEGO AT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS (2025-01-25)

Tioga County Sports Report
JOHNSON CITY — Owego’s Collin Monell captured his first individual title at the STAC Wrestling Championships here Saturday and became a four-time place-winner in the process.

The senior pinned his first two opponents en route to the top of the podium and was joined there by classmate Booby Struble, third at 160, and freshman Vitaly Sirotkin, fourth at 101.

Monell, the top seed at 131, decked Chenango Forks’ Joey O’Connor in 1:02, then dispatched Horseheads’ Gavin Hornsby in 3:44. In the championship bout, he topped Waverly’s Caden Bradley by a 7-3 score.

Struble, seeded third, pinned Kade Bailey of Susquehanna Valley in 1:07, but dropped a 12-3 major decision to Ithaca’s Quentin Getzin in the semifinals. Getzin would go on to upset top-seeded Coleton Owen of Horseheads in an ultimate tie-breaker in the finals.

Meanwhile, Struble regrouped and scored two more impressive victories. He recorded a 10-1 major decision over Yadier Richard of Johnson City then posted a 20-4 technical fall in 4:51 over Max Policare from Maine-Endwell in the consolation finals.

Sirotkin, seeded sixth, started his tournament with a 16-3 major decision over Elmira’s Nick Johnson then upset third-seeded Raf Haque of Vestal, 6-3, in the quarterfinals. He lost by fall to Mason Vanderhoff of Horseheads in the semis, but bounced back to register a 19-4 tech fall in 3:54 over Union-Endicott’s Caiden Hwalek in the consolation bracket. In the third-place match, he lost a 3-0 heartbreaker to Horseheads’ Connor McAllister.

Also competing for the River Hawks were Robbie Curley (108), Landon Boccasini (108), John Cornwell (131), Jonathon Gilliland (145), Lucas Boccasini (190) and Trevor Monell (215).

Trevor Monell went 2-2 on the day. His victories were by fall in 3:16 over Cyrus Graham of Norwich and in 2:39 against Horseheads’ Martin Huang.

Cornwell was 1-2 with a first-period pin over Johnson City's Jobrien Backus to his credit.

Owego finished seventh in the 14-team event with 70 points. Horseheads ran away with the championship, scoring 247 points to repeat at the top. Waverly was second with 169.5, edging out Maine Endwell (168).

One noticeable absence was the River Hawks’ Dylan Brace, who is recovering from an injury. The sophomore standout would have been a legitimate title contender at 138.

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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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