NTL WRESTLING: WYALUSING STARTS HOT, FINISHING STRONG IN WIN OVER TOWANDA (January 17, 2026)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportWYALUSING — For the last four years Wyalusing has watched as Towanda claimed the Standing Stone Trophy. Some were close matches, others, like last year’s, weren’t. On Friday, though, the Rams put all that behind them as they rolled to a 52-19 win over their rivals to bring the Standing Stone Trophy back.
“I think we definitely out wrestled (them) mostly across the board,” said Wyalusing coach David Patrick. “The big rivalry, we talked about that last night, and tonight, but coming out of last night’s practice I felt really good where we’re going to be, and it’s just execution on some of it. Some of it’s just believe, we’re still working through some of those things with some of the guys in the middle of the line-up, but it was good overall.”
It was a match of runs with Wyalusing winning the first five weights to take a 30-0 lead.
Towanda rallied, claiming the next four weights to cut it to 30-19, but the Rams finished strong, winning the final four bouts to claim victory.
“I think we kind of got out wrestled tonight,” Towanda coach Bill Sexton said. “We came out flat, maybe one of the few times all year long. We had some matches early on that we needed to be more competitive, not necessarily win, but be more competitive in, and they got the better of us down there. They were ready, they were hungry - it’s been a while since they beat us - and I think it was their night, and they took advantage.”
Austin Jones (114), Isaiah Harvey (121), Bostyn McMicken (127), Cole Patrick (133), Ethan Vanderpool (189), Daniel Fox (215), and Brenden Wells (285) all had falls for Wyalusing, with Logan Wood (107) getting a forfeit.
Conner Earle (172) scored a major decision for their other win.
Towanda got falls from Bryghton Yale (139), and Reese Sluyter (160), while Gage Evans (152) got a tech fall. Hagen Jones (145) added a 2-0 decision for their other win.
Evans and Jones were the recipients of the Branish-Schnure Memorial Awards.
After Wood’s forfeit it was Jones setting the tone for Wyalusing. He got an early takedown on Towanda’s Mason Harbst, but Harbst came back with an escape.
Harbst went up with 4-3 with a takedown, but Jones got the reversal, and finished the period on top, for the 5-4 lead.
In the second Wood started on top and took control, first getting four near fall points, then getting the pin in 3:24.
“That was really important,” Patrick said. “We kind of knew there was going to be a forfeit, and then the bump. We kind of predicted some of that. It was big, he set that tone, and gets the ball rolling.”
Harvey got the fall over Braydon Fessenden in 1:43, while McMicken racked up an 11-0 first period score on Towanda’s Jaydon Stranger before getting his second period fall in 2:54.
Patrick got his fall in 40 seconds over Lydian Bailey to make it 30-0 Rams.
Yale was able to stop some of that momentum with his fall over Griffin Sheldon in 2:55. Yale used two takedowns, and a set of back points to go up 10-2 after one.
He was on bottom to start the second, got the reversal, and then the pin to make it 30-6.
The next match was the closest of the night with neither Jones, nor Reuben Kinney able to get a takedown in the first period.
Jones got a reversal to start the second, and rode Kinney the rest of the way, but Kinney refused to be turn for a 2-0 score.
In the third Kinney chose neutral, and looked for the go ahead takedown. With under 40 seconds to go he took his shot, but couldn’t finish it, as Jones sprawled, and then they went into a scramble as the clock ticked to zero, giving Jones the 2-0 win.
The next match featured two of the top wrestlers in the league at 152 in Evans, and Jonathan Earle. Evans got a first period takedown to go up 3-0, then opened the second with a reversal for a 5-0 lead.
Earle got an escape point but another Evans takedown made it 8-1 going into the third.
In the final period Evans racked up four takedowns - including one at the buzzer - for the 20-5 tech fall win in 6:00.
It was exciting at 160 as Sluyter used three takedowns, and a set of back points to build a 13-2 lead over Wyalusing’s Holden Patrick after the first period.
Sluyter took top in the second, then scored two more back points as he worked for the tech fall.
Patrick came back with a reversal, only for Sluyter to get one back on him, then finish on top for the 17-4 lead.
The third saw a reversal of fortune, beginning with Patrick getting an escape.
He then got a takedown on Sluyter as he picked up, and took him to the ground. The two went into a scramble, with Sluyter cradling him up to get the fall in 4:57, cutting the deficit to 11 points after Towanda was docked a team point.
With the moment against them Conner Earle looked to reverse the Rams’ fortune against Towanda’s Kolton McPeak.
McPeak got the first takedown, with Earle getting an escape, then getting a takedown of his own for a 4-3 lead after one.
Earle got another takedown in the second to make it 7-3.
He then took bottom to start the third, and got an escape for an 8-3 advantage. He would get a takedown, then cradle McPeak up for four back points for the 15-3 major, extending Wyalusing’s lead to 34-19.
Vanderpool then shut the door with his fall over Dillan Sbragia in 1:17, making it 40-19.
The final two matches were icing on the cake for the Rams.
Fox got a takedown on Towanda’s Finn Brennan, but the score was cut to 3-2 after two penalty points on him. Brennan chose down in the second, and Fox went to work, turning him and getting the fall in 2:14.
At 285 It was a lot tying up between Wells, and Towanda’s Dominik Miller. After a scoreless first Miller got an escape point to start the second.
As the period was coming to a close Wells was able to push Miller to his back, then get on him for the fall in 3:42.
“The heart of their line-up, with Yale bumping up, from 39 to 60, there were some errors there,” Patrick said. “We knew we had some studs to wrestle against but we knew what we needed to do.”
Towanda (12-7) will turn around and head to Canton for a Saturday contest. It’ll be the Knights’ third match in four days, and Canton’s fourth match in five.
“Canton wrestled tonight on the road, we wrestled on the road, so we’ll go over there, and figure out who rebounds better,” said Sexton.
Wyalusing will look to wrap up the NTL title next week with NP-Liberty on Tuesday, and a home date with Williamson on Thursday, before heading down to Ultimate Warrior to end the week.
“Staying healthy is number one,” said Patrick. “We’ve definitely got Williamson coming up, we’ve definitely got to get a hold of them, and the we have Horseheads as well. And Ultimate Warrior is really going to show us where we’re at.”
Wyalusing 52, Towanda 19
107: Logan Wood (W) fft
114: Austin Jones (W) fall Mason Harbst, 3:24
121: Isaiah Harvey (W) fall Braydon Fessenden, 1:43
127: Bostyn McMicken (W) fall Jaydon Stranger, 2:54
133: Cole Patrick (W) fall Lydian Bailey, :40
139: Bryghton Yale (W) fall Griffin Sheldon, 2:55
145: Hagen Jones (T) dec. Reuben Kinney, 2-0
152: Gage Evans (T) tech. Jonathan Earle, 20-5, 6:00
160: Reese Sluyter (T) fall Holden Patrick, 4:57
172: Conner Earle (W) maj. Kolton McPeak, 15-3
189: Ethan Vanderpool (W) fall Dillan Sbragia, 1:17
215: Daniel Fox (W) fall Finn Brennan, 2:14
285: Brenden Wells (W) fall Dominik Miller, 3:42
- Towanda loses a point for unsportsmanlike at 160 pounds
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
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