Tioga County Sports ReportBINGHAMTON — Seven Tioga County grapplers have drawn the top seeds in their respective weight classes for Saturday's Section IV Division II Wrestling Championships.
Tioga, seeking its fourth consecutive sectional team title, has drawn five of those No. 1 seeds.
Returning state champion Brady Worthing leads the county contingent. The senior 138-pounder comes in with a spotless 39-0 record, is the only unbeaten grappler in Section IV Division II and is ranked No. 1 in the state by New York Wrestling News.
Eighth-grader Gianni Silvestri (33-1), seeded first at 99, is also ranked No. 1 in the state, having avenged his only loss to Brayden Fahrbach of Mt. Sinai.
Caden Bellis (33-2), also an eighth -grader, is the top seed at 106. Ranked fifth in the state, his only losses have come to Division I standout Tyler Ferrara from Chenango Forks.
Freshman Donovan Smith (35-2), the top seed at 120, is a transfer from Elmira. Both of his losses have come against Division I foes.
Last, but not least, sophomore Emmett Wood (33-6) is the No. 1 seed at 152. His losses have come against opponents with a combined 181-25 record this season, and only two are from Division II teams.
Newark Valley's Josh Post (30-4) is the top seed at 132 and ranked seventh in the state. His losses have come against two D-1 foes (one state-ranked) and two D-2 opponents (one state-ranked) and all with a combined 119-17 record.
Waverly's Ethan Stotler (38-1) is seeded first at 160. His lone setback this season came against Penfield's Cooper Kropman, a two-time Division I state placer who is 37-0. Stotler is one of just two wrestlers to last the full six minutes.
Local No. 2 seeds include Tioga's Mason Welch (120) and David MacWhinnie (132), and Newark Valley's Cam Carrier (170).
Seeded third are Owego's Matt Laubach (106) and Cam Bundy (170), SVEC's Ousmane Duncanson (132), Waverly's Garrett Skeens (138) and NV's Josh Duke (220).
Fourth seeds include NV's Connor Jacobson (160) and Joey Woodmansee (195), Waverly's Gage Tedesco (182) and Tioga's Dom Wood (220).
Tioga's Jacob Welch (126) and Justin Hopkins (145) are seeded fifth.
Waverly's Rylan LaForest (126) and Hunter Cleveland (138) are six seeds.
Seventh seeds are Waverly's Connor Stotler (106), NV's Kamden McCall (145) and Owego's Tyler Benjamin.
Seeded eighth are SVEC's Wyatt Stouffer (99) and Nick Tubbs (170), and Waverly's Austin Kimble (152).
Ninth seeds include Tioga's Emily Sindoni (113) and Aaron Howard (195), NV's Mark Vosburgh (126), Owego's Jacob Morris (132), Zach Miner (145) and Logan Bailey (285), and SVEC's Devin Beach (160).
Waverly's Trevor Meyers (170), Owego's Mason Pratt (182) and Tioga's Cole Williams (285) are seeded 10th.
The top finisher at each weight qualifies for the state tournament in Albany Feb. 28-29. At-large berths are awarded as well based on a wrestler's placement, record and previous postseason history.
Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton.
NOTE: Fans can follow live brackets at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kd2f85spwHHsB4X-m6IEdltBWMye6n4uTZamOGoRLNg/edit?usp=sharing.
IN PHOTO: NV's Josh Post (facing). ... TCSR STOCK PHOTO.
