By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
SPENCER — The Spencer-Van Etten / Candor wrestling teams split with Whitney Point in IAC dual meet action here Wednesday with the girls winning, 19-1, and the boys coming up short, 35-30, on Senior Night.
SVEC’s seniors include Tayah Beach, Kaden Jamison, Rodney Vaow and Kamren Westbrook.
GIRLS
SVEC 19, WHITNEY POINT 1
There were only two contested matches with the Panthers’ Taylor Zufall scoring a 13-2 tech fall over Zoey Taft at 114 pounds and teammate Tayah Beach pinning Colleen Hilderbrant in the first period at 120.
Zufall built an 8-0 advantage before Taft scored a takedown to give the Golden Eagles a team point. Zufall responded with a reversal to take a 9-2 lead into the second period, then scored two more takedowns to register the tech fall at 4:44.
Beach dominated from the start in her bout, scoring a pair of takedowns before scoring the fall in 46 seconds.
“Both girls wrestled really well,” coach Robbie Swartout said. “Taylor Zufall had a really tough opponent. She went out there and pretty much dominated.
“It was a really great effort from both of them, especially for Tayah on Senior Night getting a win, last time at home gym. It was a really, really good match for both of them.”
Elizabeth Kunte (107) and Abigail Russell (132) received forfeits for SVEC.
BOYS
WHITNEY POINT 35, SVEC 30
The Eagles held an 18-17 edge in contested matches, but came out on the short side of five forfeits with WP claiming three freebie wins.
SVEC recorded a pair of big upsets with wins by Kameron Westbrook and Gabe Benjamin.
Westbrook held off Kyle Kitson, 7-5, in their 138-pound bout. Kitson, fresh off a championship run at the River Hawk Round Robin, came in riding an 11-match win streak and was seeking his 25th victory of the season.
A pair of first-period takedowns gave Westbrook a 6-1 advantage which he carried into the third period. Kitson would get an escape then, with 23 seconds remaining, scored a takedown to trim the lead to 6-5. Westbrook picked up an escape with 13 seconds to go and held off Kitson in the final seconds.
At 150, Benjamin upset Eli Baker, a 21-match winner, by sudden victory. He scored a takedown and near fall for a 6-0 lead, but Baker closed the gap to 6-4 heading into the second period.
Benjamin tacked on a pair of takedowns in the second period to build a 12-5 advantage, but Baker wasn’t out of it yet as he battled back to tie the bout at 13 in the third period.
Benjamin went back ahead, 14-13, with an escape, but surrendered a penalty point, sending the match into overtime. It took him just eight seconds to score the winning takedown.
Korbin Brenza (157) looked primed to add another upset to the SVEC showing as he gave Jonathon Kiehle a scare before dropping a 27-10 tech fall in the third period.
Down, 6-0, he rallied to tie the score after one period with an escape, takedown and two-point near fall. In the second period, Brenza hit a reversal and two-point near fall to go up, 10-6, but Kiehle tied the bout with an escape and takedown.
He would put Brenza to his back five times after that, but was unable to pick up the fall.
Kaden Sims (190) and Connor Breed (215) registered falls for the Eagles. Breed decked Travis Leet in 42 seconds while Sims dispatched Justin Card in 3:06.
Sims trailed, 4-3, before scoring a reversal to take a 5-4 edge into the second period. Card would get free to tie the match, but Sims got the takedown and eventually put him to his back for the pin.
Kaden Jamison (144) and Jak Smith (285) received forfeits for SVEC’s other victories.
“Our experienced guys, they're still working and everything, getting better and better, and hopefully by next year they'll be clicking off a lot of those wins where it's pretty tight,” Swartout said. “Our older ones that are still going to be with us next year, hopefully they can keep carrying the team forward with their wins.
“Even though we didn't win I feel like we sent our seniors off pretty well tonight. A lot of great matches, energy was amazing, absolutely loving it.”
SVEC is also working through some injuries to Rodney Vaow (thumb), Brennan Zimmer (rib) and Cooper Zufall (foot), while Kollen Westbrook was also out of the lineup.
“Hopefully, all those injuries will be healed up by the time we hit the postseason and we can really be rocking and rolling for that,” Swartout said.
GIRLS
SVEC 19, WHITNEY POINT 1
107: Elizabeth Kunte (S) by forfeit
114: Taylor Zufall (S) tech. fall Zoey Taft (WP), 13-2 (4:16)
126: Tayah Beach (S) pinned Colleen Hilderbrant (WP), :46
132: Abigail Russell (S) by forfeit
BOYS
WHITNEY POINT 35, SVEC 30
103: Trenton Myers (WP) by forfeit
110: No match
118: Gabe Smith (WP) by forfeit
126: Justin Card (WP) pinned Andrew Kinnetz (SVEC), 1:57
132: Colton Miller (WP) pinned Dante Davis (SVEC), 2:41
138: Kamren Westbrook (SVEC) dec. Kyle Kitson (WP), 7-5
144: Kaden Jamison (SVEC) by forfeit
150: Gabe Benjamin (SVEC) dec. Eli Baker (WP), 17-14 SV-1
157: Jonathan Kiehle tech. fall Korbin Brenza (SVEC), 27-10
165: No match
175: Johnny McCall (WP) by forfeit
190: Kaden Sims (SVEC) pinned Justin Card (WP), 3:06
215: Connor Breed (SVEC) pinned Travis Leet (WP), :42
285: Jak Smith (SVEC) by forfeit
——————
IN PHOTO 1: Kaden Sims. IN TOP PHOTO: Taylor Zufall. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
