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SECTION IV WRESTLING: TIOGA WINS SECTION IV DUALS - EARNS TRIP TO STATE DUALS (24 PHOTOS) (2019-01-15)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
WALTON - Tioga has been the odds-on-favorite all season to win the Section IV, Division 2 Duals, and Friday night that came to fruition with wins over fourth-seed BGAH in the semifinals, and second-seed Windsor in the final, earning the Tigers a trip to the New York State Duals on Jan. 26.

The Tigers beat BGAH in a regular-season dual 52-21, but it was much closer Tuesday night, with Tioga earning a 41-30 win.

Windsor, which beat Norwich in the semifinals, jumped ahead 22-9 early, but Tioga rallied for a 37-25 win.

Tioga coach Kris Harrington said his Tigers weren't at their best Tuesday night, and attributed it to the pressure of being the favorites.

"Expectations are expectations," he said. "I don't feel it because I don't wrestle, but today I thought the kids felt a little pressure.

"They've been told all year they're the best team, and I think that's a heavy burden to carry and can weigh on you," Harrington noted. "I think as the day went on, they started to relax and have fun.

Overcoming adversity is big. I had to call injury time out for two kids because they were vomiting - that doesn't normally happen," added Harrington. "To face some adversity and win that way, I'm really proud of these guys."

A touch of the flu didn't help either.

"We've got a little bit of a flu going around right now," said Harrington. "No excuses, but we need to get healthy before next week.

Harrington also heaped a great deal of praise on some of Tioga's smallest wrestlers.

"If you look at it, our young guys really stepped up," he said. "(Justin) Hopkins in the finals, our 7th-graders .. we expect it from John (Worthing), Brady (Worthing) and Austin (Lamb), but others really stepped up.

"Look at our 7th-graders (Gianni Silvestri and Caden Bellis) right now, they are anchoring this team," noted Harrington. "Twelve-year-olds should not be able to do what they're doing.

Semifinals
Tioga 41, BGAH 30

Tioga jumped out to a quick 15-0 lead after three weight classes, but BGAH battled back to take the lead midway through the match. After an exchange of leads, the Tigers received forfeits in the final two weight classes for a 41-30 win and a trip to the finals.

"Give a lot of credit to (BGAH coach) Brandon (MacNaught)," said Harrington. "He put a good game plan together and they executed it.

"They are executing at the right time, and that gives me pause as we move forward," added Harrington. "BGAH looks very, very strong."

Tioga senior 138-pounder John Worthing scored an early first-period takedown for a 2-0 lead over Brody Oleksak.

After riding Oleksak for the entire second period, John Worthing scored a quick escape in the third period, then recorded a takedown in the closing seconds for a 5-0 win.

Senior Austin Lamb made quick work of Brady Battice at 145 pounds, building a quick 5-0 lead before scoring the pin at 32 seconds to give the Tigers a 9-0 lead.

Freshman Emmett Wood recorded a four-point move early in his 152-pound bout with Austin Smith before turning him to his back at 1:25 for the win.

Hayden Lewis put BGAH on the board at 170 pounds with a takedown in overtime for a 2-0 win over Tioga senior Zac Warner at 160 pounds.

BGAH standout Shane Hoover built a 12-0 lead over Tioga senior Vinnie Sullivan before scoring the fall at 5:08 to trim the Tioga lead to 15-9.

BGAH sophomore Austin Eggleston also built a big lead, 10-2, before recording a second-period fall over Tioga junior Dom Wood to even the match at 15-15.

Tioga senior Joe Lloyd gave up an escape early in the third period to BGAH's Robert Anduni and dropped a 3-2 decision.

Tioga regained the lead, at 21-18, with a forfeit at 220 pounds to Matt Babcock, then Tioga senior 285-pounder Steven Taylor upped the lead to 24-18 with a 3-0 decision over BGAH heavyweight Timmy James.

BGAH 99-pounder Joey Florence rode an early takedown of 7th-grader Gianni Silvestri to a 3-1 lead to cut the lead to 24-21, but Tioga 7th-grader Caden Bellis forged a 17-0 technical fall over Jose Bivar at 106 pounds in 5:44.

Bellis scored a takedown early in the match, then recorded three near-fall points at the first-period buzzer. In the second period, Bellis recorded a reversal and two sets of back points for a 12-0 lead entering the final two minutes.

Bellis ended the match with a takedown and three near-fall points with 16 seconds remaining in the third period to give Tioga a 29-21 lead.

After BGAH's Jacob Tepestra thumped Tioga freshman Mason Welch 10-4 at 113 pounds to make it 29-24, Dylan Decker got off his back in the opening 30 seconds, and pinned Tioga freshman Justin Hopkins in 1:08 to give the Bears a 30-29 lead.

Tioga juniors David MacWhinnie and Brady Worthing received forfeits at 126 and 132 pounds, respectively, to end the match.

Championship Match
Tioga 43, Windsor 25
Tioga once again fell behind in the upper weights, but rallied for a 43-25 win over Windsor in the Section IV Duals, Division II title match.

Harrington said losing the pre-match coin toss gave Windsor the upper hand early.

"Once we lost the coin toss, and I think I'm 0-99 on coin tosses, I had a feeling they were going to shift weights," he said. "Once we put (Austin) Lamb out to start the match (at 145 pounds), they shifted their weights, and it was a huge advantage for them.

"It's probably a minimum of a seven or eight-point swing for them," he added.

Lamb received a forfeit at 145 to open the match, but Windsor won five of the next six bouts, including four in a row, to take a 22-9 lead.

The only Tioga win in the Windsor streak was Warner's 6-0 win over James Hoover at 160 pounds.

Otherwise Langdon Sibley beat Emmett Wood, 9-1, at 152 pounds, Dave Flora beat Sullivan 11-3, at 160 pounds, to draw Windsor within 9-8, and Gabe Monroe beat Dom Wood 15-5 to give the Black Knights a 12-9 lead.

At 195 pounds, Windsor's Brandon Butler pinned Joe Lloyd in 103 to make it 18-9, and Collin Bidwell capped the rally at 220 pounds with a 10-2 major decision over Matt Babcock.

Taylor started the Tioga comeback with a 2-0 win over Timmy Henry at 285 pounds, then Silvestri decked Nick Swartz in 1:33 to trim the deficit to 22-18.

Bellis then stepped onto the mat with highly-regarded sophomore Troy Hayes and dropped a 6-2 decision to keep Windsor ahead, at 25-18. It was Windsor's final win of the bout.

"(Silvestri's) was a huge win, and not only a huge win, but bonus points," said Harrington.

"And, Caden (Bellis) was wrestling one of the top kids in the state, and lost just a regular decision," added Harrington. "I'm sure (Windsor) was penciling that in for six (points). What a momentum shift."

Tioga freshman Mason Welch then scored a quick fall at 113 pounds, pinning Sean Gross in 34 seconds to trim the lead to 25-24.

At 120 pounds, Hopkins finished off a five-point move with 30 seconds left in his bout for a 5-2 win over Ryan Kennedy to give Tioga the lead for good at 27-25.

At 126 pounds, MacWhinnie led 8-1 after the second period, and scored a 12-4 major decision over Mike McDaniels to up the lead to 31-25.

At 132 pounds, Brady Worthing scored a quick takedown and two sets of near-fall points for a 7-0 lead, before finish off Deekon Flynt in 1:27 to give the Tigers an insurmountable 37-25 lead.

John Worthing finished off the match for Tioga wth a pin of Regan Conrad in 29 seconds to provide the final margin.

Tioga returns to action Saturday in the IAC Championships, and will compete at the New York State Duals Jan. 26 at Onondaga Community College's SRC Arena.

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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's David MacWhinnie. .... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.

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