By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY — The last team to hand Tioga an IAC loss on the wrestling mats ended the Tigers’ 44-match win streak here Wednesday evening. Newark Valley won eight of 13 weights to defeat Tioga, 42-29, in IAC Division I dual meet action.
It also brought to an end a 26-match win streak against divisional opponents. The Cardinals defeated Tioga, 45-34, on Dec. 14, 2016. The Tigers’ last dual meet setback against any team came in a 31-29 thriller against Mount Sinai in the semifinals of the NYSPHSAA Division 2 Dual Meet Championships on Feb. 1, 2020.
“The kids did a nice job,” said NV coach Eric D’Arcy. “We got the coin flip. That helped a lot, kind of set us up going through the match and our kids wanted this match. They really were excited about it. Tioga is obviously one of the best teams in this area every year, every single year. They're a great team and we've taken a lot of beatings the last few years from Tioga, so our kids were pretty excited for this opportunity.”
Things just seemed to go Newark Valley’s way from the start. The Cardinals took advantage of three forfeit wins, had a little bit more flexibility in its lineup and won the coin flip to determine which weights it would get the choice in, all of which can be key to a dual meet outcome.
“That hurts against a team like Newark Valley, who's starting to come into their own,” said Tioga coach Kris Harrington. “We have who we have right now and that's a nice team, and I’ve got to do a better job getting my team prepared.”
In addition to the forfeit points, NV also scored bonus points in four of its contested wins.
“We can't give up the bonus points, but we gave them up against a quality team so we’ve got some work to do to get ready for the rest of the season,” Harrington said.
“We're missing a couple guys. That’s hurting us big time. No excuse. We have who we have and, like I said, we’ve got to get by this. That's where we're at right now.”
Each team won five contested bouts, with the Tigers holding a 29-24 edge, but the visitors surrendered forfeits at 131, 152 and 160 pounds.
“Coming in, we knew it was going to be close,” D’Arcy said. “I had us winning five for sure, hoping for seven and got eight. You take that and you're happy with it.”
Tioga started out strong with Declan McKee and Logan Bellis giving the state’s No. 2-ranked team an 11-0 lead. McKee built an 11-0 cushion before pinning Chance Spoonhower in 1:33 at 116. Bellis followed with an 18-1 technical fall over Leland Houston at the four-minute mark at 124.
Bellis is a two-time state medalist while McKee made the podium last season.
Meanwhile, NV bumped unbeaten Trevor Middendorf up to 131 to accept a forfeit and make it an 11-6 match.
Logan Rhodes followed with an 11-2 major decision over Brayden MacWhinnie at 138, trimming the Tigers’ lead to 11-10.
Jayden Duncanson, a three-time state medalist, moved up to 145 and extended the Tioga lead to 17-10 with a 33-second fall over Mike Wandell.
The next two weights, 152 and 160, were forfeits to Newark Valley’s Marcos Escalante and Logan Woodin, pushing the home team in front, 22-17.
NV bumped up at the next three weights to clinch the team victory, building a 36-17 cushion.
Cadin Creeley posted a fall in 1:52 against Max Stauder at 170, Gabe Merrill followed with a 7-1 decision over James Howey at 190 and Titus Callahan recorded a 17-0 tech fall over Austin Babcock at 215.
Callahan’s victory clinched the team triumph. He and Creeley are returning state qualifiers.
The Merrill-Howey clash wasn’t determined until late in the bout. Leading, 4-1, Merrill fought off a Howey takedown attempt, picking up the extra three points with a takedown with 39 seconds remaining.
The ability to juggle its lineup was big for the Cardinals.
“That helps us a lot,” D’Arcy said. “I’ve got some good kids that I can slide in. We're very young in some spots and that's the one challenge we have. But if we can get to, usually 124 and up, we're a pretty solid group and that helps us a lot.
“When you can move a kid like Titus up to 215 and win a match, and you can move guys like Gabe up and Cadin Creeley, that helps a lot.”
At 285, NV’s Austin DeBolt avenged a pair of 2024 losses to Tate MaCauley with a headlock and pin in 54 seconds.
“Austin DeBolt has not beaten that kid there ever in his career and that was a huge win for him at unlimited,” D’Arcy said. “We knew we had won the match by that point, but that was a nice win for a kid who's lost a lot of tough matches in his lifetime, and that was just a real, real good win for him.”
Tioga closed out the night with pins. Drayke Ulrich (101) decked Kenny Slater in 1:59 and Parker Jackson (108) dispatched Andrew Lelik in 3:16.
In exhibition matches, Tioga’s Aiden Black rolled to a 20-4 tech fall over Emmit Hendrickson and NV’s Wyatt Dillow pinned Jamie Woodcock in 3:05.
The Cardinals improve to 2-0 in the division and 4-0 overall.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
