At State Qualifiers, B-R’s Allen, MacDonell advance to New York State stage after placing in Top 2, Sibble to earn chance to advance Monday; Wellsville’s Outman finishes 3rd

[PHOTO BY CHAR STONE]

BROCKPORT — The stage was set at SUNY Brockport on Saturday. Right before football’s big dance the following night, a slew of Allegany County wrestlers received an opportunity to punch their tickets to wrestling’s biggest stage in the Empire State.

The Albany Capital Center awaited.

In last year’s State Championships, the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg witnessed history for the very first time, as Trent Sibble ended his legendary career on the mat with the school’s first ever State title at 285 pounds. One year later, a field of five Wolverines were in the hunt to earn themselves the right to compete amongst the best of the best.

When it was all said and done, two Wolverines earned their right to go for all the glory — Caden Allen and Tavyn MacDonell, as the two Wolverines placed inside the Top 2 to punch their tickets to Albany in just over a week’s time, continuing to keep their seasons alive on the mat.

Allen took care of business across the 215 pound bracket for the Wolverines, as he navigated all the way to the very end of the Championship match, where he shutout Palmyra-Macedon’s Jared Haers with a 4-0 decision to capture first place. As for MacDonell at 170 pounds, he fell to Palmyra-Macedon’s Braidon Woodward in a 10-2 major decision to record a third place finish, but was in line to continue his path to the State Capital by participating in a True Second match.

In it, MacDonell was able to finish the job in just 2:49 against Wellsville’s Xander Outman, as he recorded a 16-1 technical fall victory to claim his spot for the State Championships. Outman placed third in the 170 pound bracket before dropping down into the True Second match, defeating Byron-Bergen’s J.C. Starowitz in a 5-1 decision.

Bolivar-Richburg could have the possibility of taking a third wrestler to Albany with them following Monday night after Teegan Sibble placed second in her Finals bout at 101 pounds against Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton’s Wyatt Sartori in the midst of a tough 4-3 decision. Sibble will wrestle again in Perry in a True Second match of her own, as she takes on Honeoye Falls-Lima’s John Winseman for that opportunity to advance.

Winseman defeated Caledonia-Mumford’s Jakob Bishop by pinfall in just 22 seconds to place third.

The New York State Championships at the Albany Capital Center will be the two-day event that helps close out the entire wrestling season, as the action officially gets underway on February 23.