By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
ALBANY — Owego’s Gavin Lovell bounced back from an early setback to win a pair of bouts and keep his podium hopes alive at the 2026 NYSPHSAA Division II Wrestling Championships held at MVP Arena here Friday.
The 7th-grader shook off a fall against Tioga’s Drayke Ulrich in the second round at 103 pounds to win a pair of matches and advance to Day 2.
In wrestleback action, Lovell pinned Richard Gonzalez of Eagle Academy in 1:45 before posting a 7-1 decision over Duanesburg/Schoharie’s Hunter Rock.
The win over Rock was Lovell’s 30th of the season. He scored late takedowns in the first and third period while giving up an escape midway through the second.
Lovell and Gonzalez battled to a scoreless tie in the first period before Lovell picked up the fall 45 seconds into the second period.
Ulrich, the No. 7 seed, scored a pair of takedowns before sending Lovell into the wrestlebacks with the fall in 2:41.
“I came off that loss and had to wrestle a hundred times better than that first match in the wrestlebacks,” Lovell said.
Lovell didn’t change his style of wrestling as much as he stepped up the intensity.
“Just aggressive, aggressive, push the pace,” he said.
“First match, I think we had expectations and that's what happened,” said coach Mike Daly. “Got to learn to bounce back.”
And that’s what he did to stay alive in the wrestlebacks.
“Was nice to see him get his head back in it,” Daly said. “First match that he got in the wrestlebacks was a good first match to have, a kid that maybe was first time up here as well, a little less experienced, but this (last) kid was a little more solid, and I felt good. He went out there and handled the match, controlled the match, and got it done, and he was the aggressor at the end. That's what we like to see.”
Lovell wrestled well on his feet in defeating Rock.
“This one,we're at the end, we're winning and getting a takedown, and that isn't always his mindset. Sometimes we shut down for the win, but this time you guarantee yourself a win by getting that final takedown, so he did a really nice job.”
Lovell (30-9), the 10th seed, meets 8th-seeded Brennon Egan (26-5) of Broadalbin-Perth in the blood round. The winner makes the podium, the loser goes home.
Saturday’s wrestling starts at 9:30 a.m. The consolation finals will begin at 2:15 p.m. The championship finals opening ceremony starts at 5:50 p.m., followed by the championship finals at 6:05 p.m.
The tournament will be streamed live on www.nfhsnetwork.com/associations/nysphsaa/wrestling. Subscriptions are offered for $13.99 per month or you can purchase an annual pass for $79.99. Both subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel them.
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PHOTOS BY MIRANDA SZYMANSKI, TIM BIRNEY & TIM TAYLOR.
