SECTION 4 BOYS AND GIRLS' WRESTLING: LOCALS FIND SUCCESS AT SOUTHERN TIER MEMORIAL (24 PHOTOS) (January 10, 2026)

Southern Tier Sports Report
ELMIRA --- Locals found success at the Southern Tier Memorial, with Horseheads, Elmira and Corning all having girls place winners, while Elmira, Horseheads and Edison boys had place winners.

For the girls Horseheads had three place winners.

Sonya Dordoni took third at 107. She was undefeated on the second day, picking up pins against Kaelynn Dickson of U-E and Amelia Armstrong of Wayne. Dordoni previously lost in the STAC semis to Dickson and twice to Armstrong earlier this year.

Lily Veseck was fifth at 132 getting a pin in the fifth-place match against Amelia Wrightbof of Waverly, getting redemption over a prior loss. 

Ellisa Bly of Horseheads took third at 235. After falling in the semifinals to Ava Bragg of Lockport she picked up falls on her way to take third on the day. Her only losses on the season are to the 235-pound champion Peyton Mullins of Dundee and twice to Bragg. 

Elmira’s Alea Hartford took sixth and Ameera Mahmoud was seventh at 100 pounds. 

Lauren Mahon of Corning took fourth at 120. After reaching the semifinals Mahon fell to Kimberly Olaeta, the eventual champion from Windsor, 7-0 in the semifinals. She then had a pin in 1:18 to get into the third-place match, where she led 2-0 before being edged 4-2 by SVEC’s Tayah Beach. 

Corning’s Ava Northrup finished fifth at 185. She had a pin in 55 seconds in the fifth-place match. 

Ayvah Coker took fifth at 235. She won 3-2 in the fifth-place match over Windsor’s Chelsea Stoeckel. 

On the boys side Mason VAnderhoff of Edison beat Josh Knapp of Horseheads in the semifinals at 110. Vanderhoff then took second, falling to the states No. 2 ranked D2 wrestler Declan McKee of Tioga in the final, and Knapp was third. Connor McAllister took fifth. Vanderhoff beat Knapp by major decision 12-3 in the semifinals. 

Gavin Hornsby of Horseheads got to the final at 132, falling to Penns Valley’s Erik Carlile in the final. Hornsby had a 5-4 win over Justin Mann of Letchworth in the semifinals. Ryder DePadua-Reese was fifth at the weight and Rocco Franchi of Edison was eighth. DePadua-Reese had a 14-5 major decision win in the fifth-place match. 

Lavonte Gibbons of Elmira got to the 144 final, falling to Bellefonte’s Wyatt Long in the final. Gibbons won a 14-11 match against Justin Deneen of Chambersburg in the semifinals, before falling in the fina.

At 175 Greg Golden was fifth. He lost 3-0 in the semifinals to Jordan Brown of Sayre, then medically forfeited his next two matches. 

Jaxson Burchard of Horseheads was fifth at 190. Burchard won by far in 54 seconds in the fifth-place match.

Connor Warrick of Horseheads took eighth at 215.  
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES & TIM BIRNEY

PHOTO GALLERY FROM DAY 2 OF THE SOUTHERN TIER MEMORIAL.



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