Central Valley Academy wins Class B sectional tournament; area wrestlers win titles

HOMER – Four Central Valley Academy wrestlers won individual titles Saturday and the Thunder claimed a sixth consecutive Section III class championship at the Class B tournament.

Championship meets for each of the section’s five wrestling classes were held Saturday. Central Valley Academy, which started its streak at home in Ilion in 2016, topped a field of nine teams while General Brown and Canastota won titles in classes C and D at other tournaments involving area teams.

Brothers Kace and Sixx Cook each won his second Class B title while eighth-grader Gene Edwards and Dolgeville transfer Ethan Randall won in their first class meet with the Thunder.

The Cook Brothers won at 99 and 106 pounds in 2019. Kace Cook, a senior, scored a technical fall against Jack Smith from Jordan-Elbridge in Saturday’s 138-pound final, building a 16-1 lead with 12 seconds left in the third period. Sixx Cook, competing at 145, pinned Aaron Briones-Cooper from South Jefferson/Sandy Creek in the second period of his final.

More: Area wrestlers compete in sectional class tournaments Saturday

More: Thunder wins Section III's Division II dual meet wrestling title again

Randall, the 170-pound champion in Class D as a freshman in 2020, won a 189-pound title Saturday when he scored a major decision against Andrew Bailey of Chittenango, winning 15-2.

Edwards, competing in the postseason for the first time, scored a 7-0 decision against Brock Frederick, another eighth-grader from South Jefferson/Sandy Creek, in the 102-pound final.

Aden Mead was a fifth Central Valley Academy finalist at 132 pounds and settled for second place with a 7-5 loss to Jordan-Elbridge’s Jack Lamson in the championship round.

The Thunder sent six more entries to the semifinals and five to the consolation finals. Cooper Reed (126 pounds) and Cole Wheet (152) finished third and earned spots in the Division II tournament next weekend at SRC Arena. Maddox Walz, Santino Curley and Jeremy McRedmond finished fourth at 110, 138 and 285 pounds, respectively.

Semifinalist Nikolai Penree finished fifth at 172 pounds. Hayden Dooley and Sal Fresco wrestled back to sixth at 145 and 215.

Central Valley Academy accumulated 219½ team points. Runner-up Camden (165 points), Jordan-Elbridge (164), Homer (163) and Marcellus (161) finished with four points of each other in competition for second place.

Jamesville-DeWitt/Christian Brothers Academy won Section III’s Class AA tournament and Indian River won in Class A.

Mountie honored at Class C tourney

DEXTER – Little Falls Mountie Mason Rowley was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at Section III’s Class C tournament after winning the 152-pound title Saturday at General Brown High School.

Rowley, fellow finalist Matt Verri and the rest of the Mounties finished sixth among nine teams, one spot behind Mt. Markham with host General Brown winning a third consecutive championship.

Rowley, a sophomore seeded second, pinned his first two opponents Saturday – Gary DuPont from Altmar-Parish-Williamstown/Pulaski in 17 seconds and Ethan Bruno of Phoenix at 4:59 of his semifinal bout. The title bout against Nathan Snow, the top seed from General Brown, went to overtime where Rowley scored a 3-1 victory.

Rowley had been a 126-pound finalist as an eighth-grader two years ago.

Verri, a freshman, was also seeded second and reached the final at 132 pounds with a pair of major decisions. Phoenix senior Parker Allers, the No. 1 seed, won the title bout with an 8-2 decision.

Mt. Markham sent three wrestlers to the finals and had two winners, including senior Aydin DeForest who recorded a four-second pin of junior teammate Brad Burke in the 160-pound final. DeForest and Burke had entered the tournament as the top two seeds and both had byes to the semifinals of a bracket with five wrestlers. DeForest advanced with an injury default and Burke pinned Little Falls’ Connor Baylor in the second period.

Dominic Jones won the Mustangs’ second title by pinning Holland Patent’s Eden Koperda in 36 seconds at 215 pounds. Jones pinned all three of his opponents in a total of two minutes and 15 seconds of mat time.

Mt. Markham sent seven wrestlers to the semifinals while Little Falls sent four. CJ Jones (126 pounds), Cael Wellenstein (145) and Jarred Kelly (189) placed third and Erin DeKing (152) was fourth for Mt. Markham while Baylor finished third and 160 and Garrett Serow wrestled back to fourth at 102 for Little Falls. Little Falls semifinalist Colton Wheet placed fifth at 132 with teammate Brandon Harrington sixth at 145. Zach Congdon was a sixth-place finisher for Mt. Markham at 172.

Bilinski wins Class D title

BEAVER FALLS – Dolgeville Blue Devil Jared Bilinski, a junior competing in sectional competition for the first time, won the 189-pound title Saturday as Canastota took top team honors at Section III’s Class D championship meet.

Bilinski, one of three Dolgeville finalists, won a 5-2 decision against Adirondack Wildcat junior, the top seed, in the 189-pound title bout. Seeded second, Bilinski had pinned his first two opponents in less than one minute. Bilinski and White and split two previous decisions; Bilinski won in overtime at a Jan. 11 dual and White earned a 5-3 victory Jan. 29 in the finals at the Center State Conference tournament.

Freshmen Grayson Eggleston and Bryce Mosher joined Bilinski in the finals for the Blue Devils who finished fifth among 10 teams at Beaver River High School. Eggleston was beaten 13-9 by Trevor Waugh of Beaver River in the 110-pound final before Copenhagen’s Chase Nevills scored a technical fall against Mosher.

Gabe Herringshaw, Dolgeville’s 160-pounder, placed third and will join his teammates at the Division II sectional championship at SRC Arena in Syracuse.

Canastota had five individual champions and a sixth finalist Saturday while accumulating 221 team points. Beaver River edged Adirondack by half a point for second place – 40 points behind Canastota – with Copenhagen and Dolgeville completing the top five teams. Cooperstown/Milford finished eighth and Poland was ninth.

Culley Bellino, the 132-pound champion, was voted the most outstanding wrestler at the tournament and was joined among the individual winners by Canastota teammates Travis Soucia (152 pounds), Evan Austerman (160), Casey Bixby (215) and Jacob Napoli (285). The Raider will send seven wrestlers to the Division II tournament with Kyle Musachio finishing second at 126 pounds and Logan Mead third at 145.

Adirondack had Cole Croniser and Jacob Strain win titles at 102 and 126 pounds. Isaac Croneiser joined them and White as a finalist and finished second at 215.

TJ O’Connor was a second-place finisher at 132 pounds for Cooperstown/Milford and 102-pounder Daimeon Morrison was Poland’s top finisher in third place.

Two champs for Canajoharie/Fort Plain

CAMBRIDGE – Section II’s class tournaments also took place Saturday and Canajoharie/Fort Plain had two champions crowned at Cambridge High School in Class D.

Reed Douglass won at 172 pounds and senior classmate Cody Haig won at 138. Douglass pinned Maple Hill’s Anthony Sturgis in 1:22 in his title bout. Haig scored a 6-3 decision against Daniel Stealey of Duanesburg.

Three third place finishers will join Douglass and Haig at Section II’s Division II tournament next weekend in Glens Falls – Austin Horender, Alex Smith and Will Douglass at 110, 118 and 160 pounds, respectively. Horender and Smith were semifinalists.

Christian Burke placed fifth for the Cougars at 145 pounds, and Grayson Lapi (126 pounds), Tommy Weingart (132) and Kester Nichols (215) all finished sixth.

Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: CVA wins Class B sectional tourney; Herkimer County wrestlers win titles