By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
ALBANY — Newark Valley’s Cadin Creeley will compete for an individual title at the 2026 NYSPHSAA Division II Wrestling Championships this evening.
He will face top-seeded Ryker Cox (45-2) from Coxsackie-Athens in Section 2.
Seeded sixth at 165-pounds, Creeley pulled off a pair of upsets to reach the championship round.
Creeley secured a spot in the finals with a 7-3 semifinal victory over second-seeded Brody Heckman from Alexander in Section V.
Heckman grabbed a 1-0 edge with an escape early in the second period, but Creeley picked up a takedown to take the lead for good, 3-1. Hackman would get another escape, closing the gap to 3-2 heading into the third period.
An escape increased Creeley’s advantage to 4-2 then, with 34 seconds remaining in the bout, the Cardinals’ standout recorded another takedown to make it 7-2. Heckman would escape with 21 seconds left on the clock, but was unable to score in the final seconds.
Creeley opened the tournament with a 15-0 tech. fall against Mount Sinai’s Connor Fabian in 1:36 in the Round of 16.
He closed out Day 1 with a fall over third-seeded Peter Thompson of Dansville/Wayland Cohocton in 2:47.
“He's just got to keep wrestling the way that he has all weekend,” said coach Larry Kasmarcik. “He's been really, really confident, pushing the pace and wrestling to those abilities. If we could get him to wrestle like that in the finals, I think he'll be fine.”
The championship finals opening ceremony starts at 5:50 p.m., followed by the championship finals at 6:05 p.m. The tournament is being streamed live on nfhs.network.com for a fee.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
