Lake Highland Crowns 10 Champs, Wins Inaugural Southern Tier Memorial; Tioga Placed Second

ELMIRA - The inaugural Southern Tier Memorial, held this past weekend here at the First Arena, was a big success among those in attendance.

"The tournament ran smoothly, and I can't wait for next year," Waverly coach and tournament director Devan Witman said afterward.

The tournament, which honored the memories of several individuals involved with the sport, drew 27 teams from New York, Pennsylvania and Florida.

FLORIDIANS DOMINATE BOYS TOURNEY

The team that traveled the furthest to compete, ran away with the team title and logged 10 individual champions.

Lake Highland Preparatory School, a Class 7A private institution in Orlando, Fla., claimed the team title, scoring 335 points to runner-up Tioga's 198.5 points.

The next closest teams were Bellefonte, Pa., with 125, Long Island-based Longwood at 122, and Horseheads with 120.

Other local teams included Waverly, eighth with 104 points; Elmira, 11th with 77; Corning, 15th with 57; SVEC, 20th with 43.5; Edison, 25th with 19; and Sayre, 27th with four.

The Highlanders advanced 11 wrestlers to the championship finals, winning 10 bouts. Their lone setback came at 160 pounds, where one of Tioga's state champs, junior Ousmane Duncanson posted a 7-4 decision after surviving the semifinals with a sudden-victory decision.

A pair of two-time defending state champs met their fate against Lake Highland opponents.

Tioga's Gianni Silvestri fell by pin to Colin Kacena in 5:35 at 126 pound, while Jaden Pepe of Wyoming Area, Pa., dropped a 3-1 decision to Eligh Rivera. Rivera, ranked 11th nationally, was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the boys tourney.

Another defending state champ, BGAH's Darren Florance, dropped a 7-5 sudden-victory match to Highlands' Charlie Desena in the 110–pound final.

Highland's other winners were Liam Davis (102), Ethan Rivera (118), Zeno Moore (132), Ethan Mojena (145), Claudio Torres (152), Omer Barak (172) and Daniel Williams (189).

Duncanson wasn't the only local wrestler to capture a title. Waverly's Kam Hills decked Union-Endicott's Qymani Viera-Powell in 1:09 in the 285-pound bout.

Section IV wrestlers joining Silvestri, Florance and Viera-Powell as runners-up included Tioga's Tyler Roe at 126 and Waverly 8th-grader Matthias Welles at 189.

ATHENS CLAIMS GIRLS TITLE

Athens bested a couple of local teams to claim the girls team championship. The Wildcats scored 143 points to Waverly's 122.5 and Horseheads' 119. Tioga was fifth in the 19-team event with 64.

The individual titles were more spread out than in the boys tournament, but Lake Highland still managed to add two more champs in Maya Alvarado (100) and Mary Manis (107).

Also placing two wrestlers at the top of the podium were Athens with Layla Bennett (114) and JC Allis (120), Tioga with Emily Sindoni (126) and Kylah Nelson (152), and Waverly with Lilly Parker-Ennis (165) and Mackenzie LaForest (235).

The tourney drew 79 entries in 12 weight classes.

YOUNGSTERS WRAP THINGS UP

The extravaganza ended Sunday with a youth tournament which drew a large number of competitors.

Champions from area clubs were Athens' Silas Bennett; Elmira's Parker Watson, Gunner Purcell and Lucy Clark; Horseheads' Connor McAllister and Sonya Dordoni; Owego's Mason Monell and Peyton Mister; Sayre's Keyarrah Morningstar and Lyam Morningstar; Towanda's Lance Falsey, Jason Isbell, Hunter Watson, Hayden Space and Clinton Tuttle; and Waverly's Leevi Sharpsteen, Joey Riley, Brody Payne, Khidr Pittman, Amelia Wright, Avery Bowman and Leah Wolcott.