IAC WRESTLING: NEWARK VALLEY GOES ON THE ATTACK TO DEFEAT WHITNEY POINT (15 PHOTOS) (2019-01-09)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY - Newark Valley went on the attack in the majority of the bouts during Wednesday's IAC Division I clash with Whitney Point, charging out to a big lead early on the way to a 41-33 victory here.

NV grounded the Golden Eagles with eight cradles in the first three matches, racking up two pins and a technical fall to grab a 17-0 lead. The Cardinals followed those wins up with to more falls to build a 29-0 cushion.

Newark Valley head coach Mike Daly was pleased with the way his grapplers went on the attack in most of the bouts.

"They were definitely the aggressors I thought, so that's good to see. They're coming around at the end," he said. "That's what we want. Move forward on all three positions and get after it."

The Cardinals went cradle crazy early in the match, using the move several times in the first three bouts to score near-fall points and even a pin.

"Cradles and Newark Valley have been synonymous for a long time, so when I came here there was no reason for me to change that. We're going to try to be successful with that and hopefully implement some other things so we're not one-dimensional," Daly said. "If you can do one thing great you're going to win a lot of matches and that's what we're trying to get to begin with and then hoping to open things up."

Noah Shiel got the home team started, overcoming a shaky start at 152 pounds to deck Hunter Ballard in 3:06. Ballard would register the initial takedown, but Shiel would escape with 30 seconds to go in the first period. Shiel was working a cross-face / far ankle at the buzzer in an attempt to take the lead, but Ballard held him off. Ballard would have no such luck i n the second period as Shiel recorded a takedown for a 3-2 edge and added two near-fall points with a cradle. Midway through the period, he switched doff to a half-nelson for the pin.

Cam Carrier followed with a dominating 15-0 tech fall over Killian Prentice at 160. Carrier went up 8-0 in the first period with a takedown and two cradles and was up 13-0 heading into the final seconds of the bout. He was able to turn Prentice one more time for a pair of near-fall points, giving him the tech fall differential and NV an 11-0 lead in the team score.

Connor Jacobson (170) rode a takedown and a pair of cradles to a 7-0 lead in the first period against Gavin Oliver, then added a takedown and two near falls to carry a 13-0 cushion into the third period, then scoring a fall 40 seconds into the period to push the NV lead to 17-0.

At 182, Collin McCall scored first- and second-period takedowns before dispatching Austin Quail at 3:20.

A forfeit to Josh Duke at 195 pushed the  Cardinal advantage to 29-0.

Joey Woodmansee would move up from 195 to take on the Point's top wrestler, Carter Stone, at 220. Woodmansee scored a first-period takedown and second-period escape, but got caught by Stone for a pin in 3:36. Stone, now 18-3 on the season, was able to encircle Woodmansee's head with one arm and under hook the other for the upper body throw. Woodman battled for several seconds before the bigger Stone prevailed.

"A kid like Joey Woodmansee, that was a tough one," said Daly. "He had that wrist, he was winning against a muuuch bigger guy, and he let go of that wrist ... he was getting nervous and as soon as he let go - he made that one mistake - he holds onto that wrist that doesn't happen. He was dominating the match in my opinion. I don't know. I might be biased, but got the takedown, got the score, got the escape. It was his match, one mistake. I was impressed with what he did. I thought he was the better wrestler but size got the better of him in one move and that's part of wrestling. You can be the better wrestler for five minutes and 59 seconds and get pinned. He's come a long way. That was encouraging to see him wrestle a big guy like that; discouraging to not get the win, but overall, happy with his performance.

"All the rest of the guys went after it. Finishing needs a little work. We've got to learn how to finish. That's been a weakness this year. Definitely things to work on, but encouraging things as the year goes on as well."

Newark Valley received its second forfeit win of the evening when undefeated 285-pounder Trentyn Rupert had his hand raised to make the score 35-6.

There was no match at 99 and 106, and NV's Andrew Post accepted a forfeit at 113 to make it 41-6 and clinch the team victory.

Whitney Point (5-11, 1-3) won the final five bouts. Aidan Rosa built a 5-0 lead over Mark Vosburgh, then held off the NV 126-pounder's late charge for a 5-3 win. Alex Barnhardt (138) pinned Mike Post in 2:40 while Christian Wilson (120), Brennen Roe (132) and Jordan Canniff (145) received forfeits.