Bowen Places 2nd At North Section Tournament

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 18, 2024  /  Photo: Chris Manning

Junior Ryder Bowen finished 2nd overall in his 172 lb. weight class to move on to the District IV Class 2A District Tournament next week on Saturday, February 17.

Overall the Hornets finished 9th out of 11 teams with 45 points.

Bowen had a first round bye to the quarterfinals, where he pinned Sullivan County's Braden Templin in 2:02. In the semi-finals he pinned Towanda's Jace Gunther in 2:28 to advance to the finals. In the final bout, Bowen squared off against North Penn-Liberty's Easton Cleveland-Pequignot, the 172 lb. top seed, where he suffered a 10-7 decision to finish 2nd overall.

Also placing on the day was sophomore Hayden Stevens. Stevens lost his 215 lb. quarterfinal match to Towanda's Zach Lantz by a 3-1 decision, dropping him to the consolation round. In his round 3 match, Stevens scored a 9-2 decision over Northeast Bradford's Connor Eastabrook, then dropped a 6-2 decision to Troy's Reed Palmer in the consolation semi-finals. In his 5th place match, Stevens pinned Wyalusing's Daniel Fox in 58 seconds.

Freshman Wyatt Kilburn went 0-2 on the day, suffering an opening round 7-3 decision to Sullivan County's Wyatt Bagley at 139 lbs., and a 1:53 pin fall to Northeast Bradford's Kale Howland in the consolation round.

Sophomore Mason Nowak (133 lbs.) fell to Towanda's Jazick Brown in 4:26 in the quarterfinal round then won a 3-0 decision against Northeast Bradford's Alex Gomez. Nowak was pinned by Sullivan County's Keegan Bagley in 3:26 in the consolation semi-finals and suffered a 7-5 loss to Wyalusing's Jackson Fischer in the 5th place match.

Junior Silas Mickey (152 lbs.) fell to Williamson's Owen Cummings in 1:09 in his opening match then pinned Sullivan County's Riggin McGowan in 32 seconds in the consolation round. Mickey then fell to Troy's Kenyon Slater in 49 seconds in the consolation semi-finals and dropped a 10-4 decision to Canton's Ryland Sakers in the 5th place bout.

Junior Evan Ingerick (189 lbs.) dropped a 15-0 tech fall (3:33) to Troy's Rylan Breidt in the opening round then was pinned by Williamson's Joel Hultz in 15 seconds in the consolation semi-finals, and fell to Athens' Landon Layman in a 5-3 decision in the 5th place match.

Bowen will be back in action next week at the District Tournament at Williamsport on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24.