A pair of area wrestlers locked up in online reader voting for the fifth week of winter scholastic sports competition and New Hartford Spartan Victor Petronella took top honors in Mohawk Valley athlete of the week polling by the Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram.
Petronella, an undefeated senior 138-pounder, and Central Valley Academy’s Gene Edwards, a senior competing at 150 pounds, won individual titles at the 50th Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament in Ilion and received almost 90% of 67,725 votes combined in the athlete of the week poll. Petronella received 39,044 votes – 57.6% – while Edwards finished second with 27,313 votes – 40.3%.
Whitesboro senior Joe Dare, another wrestler and 165-pound Sammon Tournament champion, finished third with basketball players Brooke Reddington of West Canada Valley and Payton Comstock of Dolgeville rounding out the top five among 21 nominees.
Petronella pinned his first three opponents in Ilion and won 10-0 in his title bout. He extended his season record to 17-0 with a forfeit in a dual meet against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, and he is now 18 wins away from reaching 100 for his varsity career.
Edwards, who earned his 200th win earlier this season, added a third-place finish over the weekend at the regional Eastern States Classic tournament in Halfmoon. The full results appear below.
The Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram have a fresh slate of nominees for online readers to consider for Mohawk Valley Athlete of the Week voting for the week of Dec. 29, 2025-Jan. 4, 2026.
Central Valley Academy freshman Kiley Beam joined seniors Lejla Kendic of Sauquoit Valley and Haylee Bostwick of Rome Free Academy as the third girls basketball player to win the winter athletic season voting; Central Valley Academy wrestler Vinny Henrickson was the other December winner. The new ballot includes athletes from area basketball, hockey, volleyball and wrestling teams, and the polls will be open until Saturday, Jan. 10, at noon.
Twenty-one scholastic athletes from across the Mohawk Valley are nominated for the fifth week of winter scholastic athletic competition.
A weekly list of nominees is compiled by the sports department with information provided to the Times Telegram and the Observer-Dispatch by coaches and athletic directors through emails and other contacts.
If a top performer’s name doesn’t appear on the list, encourage their coach or athletic director to email submissions to sports@timestelegram.com or sports@uticaod.com.
Voting closes Saturday and a winner is scheduled to be announced later in the weekend on the TimesTelegram.com and UticaOD.com websites.
The nominees for the week ending Jan. 4 are:
CHRIS BELMONTE, New Hartford wrestling: Undefeated senior pinned four opponents and scored one technical fall while winning the 285-pound championship at the Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament for the third time.
HAYLEE BOSTWICK, Rome Free Academy basketball: Senior scored the 1,000th point of her varsity career on what wound up being the final day of the Downtown Classic at Utica University’s Nexus Center.
JACOB BRUNO, Rome Free Academy hockey: Senior had hat tricks on back-to-back nights and totaled six goals and four assists in wins over Guilderland and the Capital District Jets for the Black Knights, Section III’s last remaining unbeaten team.
KAELYN CHASE, Canastota wrestling: Seventh-grader earned her first varsity tournament title at Baldwinsville’s Queen Bee Tournament while competing at 94 pounds.
CLARE COLANTUONI, New Hartford volleyball: Sophomore setter recorded the 1,000th assist of her varsity career among the 33 she had against Holland Patent for the unbeaten Spartans.
PAYTON COMSTOCK, Dolgeville basketball: Junior scored a season-high 36 points Saturday and joined the Blue Devils’ 1,000-point club on the free throw that completed a four-point play early in the fourth quarter.
JOE DARE, Whitesboro wrestling: Senior won the 165-pound title at the Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament with two pins and two technical falls among his five victories.
GENE EDWARDS, Central Valley Academy wrestling: Senior won his fourth Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament title while making his fifth appearance in the finals, and earned the heavyweights’ most outstanding wrestler trophy with four pins and a 5-0 decision over three-time Section X champion Ryan Mashaw in the 150-pound final.
LEIGH FERGUSON, Frankfort-Schuyler basketball: Junior earned tournament most valuable player honors by scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds and three steals in a come-from-behind victory over Oriskany/Westmoreland in Coach Bob Graziadei’s Holiday Tournament championship game in Oriskany. She had 18 points and nine rebounds in the unbeaten Maroon Knights’ first-round win.
AVANGELENE HOFFMAN, Sherburne-Earlville wrestling: Seventh-grader pinned each of her opponents in the first period and won the 185-pound title at the Queen Bee Tournament in Baldwinsville.
JACOB HURD, New Hartford wrestling: Senior earned his third Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament championship with three pins and a technical fall among five victories at 118 pounds.
ANDREW JULIANO, Holland Patent wrestling: Senior repeated as an individual champion at the Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament and earned the most outstanding wrestler trophy for the lightweights with five pins at 126 pounds, including four in the first period.
PEYTON KELLEY, Camden wrestling: Senior won then 100-pound title at the Queen Bee Tournament at Baldwinsville Saturday, then went unbeaten to finish atop her bracket at the Dame of Thrones event in Halfmoon the following day.
LUKE LANGEL, Hamilton basketball: Sophomore scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season against West Canada Valley.
RYAN McGRATH, Adirondack basketball: Junior started the new year with 31 points – his second 30-point game of the season – in a 63-43 win for the 7-2 Wildcats.
MILES NELEN, Cooperstown basketball: Senior and Section III’s second-leading scorer was the most valuable player at the Hawkeyes’ annual Dick White Tournament with 65 combined points in wins over Delhi’s Delaware Academy and Cato-Merdian, including 35 in the championship showdown of Section III’s last two unbeaten Class C teams.
ALIVIA PAGE, Canastota wrestling: Senior won an individual title at 152 pounds at Baldwinsville’s Queen Bee Tournament.
EMILY PAYNE, Clinton hockey: Senior goaltender posted her second shutout of the season and sixth of her varsity career with 23 saves in a 2-0 win over Canton.
VICTOR PETRONELLA, New Hartford wrestling: Undefeated senior won the 138-pound title at the Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament with four pins among his six victories.
BROOKE REDDINGTON, West Canada Valley basketball: Sophomore recorded the second triple-double of her varsity career when she scored 24 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists in a victory at Cooperstown.
BRAYSEN RICHARD, Herkimer wrestling: Junior pinned his first four opponents Saturday and won by major decision in the finals to claim the 190-pound title at the Leo J. Sammon Jr Memorial Tournament.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Readers pick undefeated New Hartford wrestler as Athlete of the Week
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
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