The votes have been tallied and Online readers of the Times Telegram and Observer-Dispatch have selected Vinny Henrickson, a sophomore wrestler at Central Valley Academy, as their athlete of the week for December 8-15.
Henrickson follows Rome Free Academy basketball players Haylee Bostwick as the second winner for the 2025-26 winter athletic season.
Henrickson, a second-year varsity grappler competing at 126 and 132 pounds, pinned each of his three opponents – two at 132 pounds and one at 126 – at the Valley Duals in Ilion and helped then Thunder to a second place finish as a team. Each of his pins came in the first period, and the performance raised his record to 6-1 to start the season.
More than 33,000 votes were cast online with more than half (17,100 of 33,589) cast for Henrickson in polling with 18 candidates. Clinton volleyball player Clara Shaw drew 30.5% of the votes (10,236) to finish second, followed by wrestlers William Griffith of New Hartford and John DiBrango of Whitesboro, each with more than 2,000 votes, and Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young 1,000-point basketball scorer Issy Seamon rounded out the top five.
The full results appear below.
A new poll for the week of December 15-21 has been posted.
Schools are entering their holiday break and the Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram have a fresh round of online reader voting for a Mohawk Valley Athlete of the Week for the week of Dec. 8-14.
Rome Free Academy basketball player Haylee Bostwick won the voting for the first week of the winter athletic season, and the new ballot includes players from area basketball, hockey, volleyball and wrestling teams.
Eighteen Mohawk Valley basketball, hockey and volleyball players and wrestlers are nominated on a ballot for the second week of winter scholastic athletic competition, and the poll will remain open until Friday at noon.
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 Friday and a winner is scheduled to be later that day on the TimesTelegram.com and UticaOD.com websites.
The nominees for the week ending December 14 are:
CHRIS BELMONTE, New Hartford wrestling: Undefeated senior was one of three individual champions as Spartans finished fourth among 15 teams at Phoenix Round Robin. Belmonte scored a first period technical fall in each of his five matches, and outscored his opponents 96-15 combined.
JACOB BRUNO, Rome Free Academy hockey: Senior scored three goals and assisted on four others in wins over Cicero-North Syracuse and Shenendehowa for the undefeated Black Knights, including a five-point game – two goals and three assists – against Cicero-North Syracuse.
PAYTON COMSTOCK, Dolgeville basketball: Junior had 35 points, nine rebounds and six steals in a win over injury-plagued Cooperstown, Section III’s reigning Class C champion. That followed a 29-point, eight-rebound performance in the Blue Devils’ season-opener.
ROSEAR DeVOSE, Proctor basketball: Senior hit four three-pointers and scored 26 points at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in the Raiders’ first win of the season. He also scored 18 points against Central Valley Academy later in the week.
JOHN DiBRANGO, Whitesboro wrestling: Sophomore won 165-pound title at Phoenix Round Robin by pinning four opponents and scoring a technical fall in his fifth bout. Teammate Joseph Dare was a 175-pound finalist and the team finished ninth among 15 teams.
GENE EDWARDS, Central Valley Academy wrestling: Undefeated senior won all three of his bouts at 157 pounds – two by pin in under one minute combined and the third by a 6-3 decision – as the Thunder went 2-1 and finished second at the Valley Duals. For his efforts, Edwards was named Section III Wrestler of the Week by CNYwrestling.com for the second time.
WILLIAM GRIFFITH, New Hartford wrestling: Sophomore was one of three individual champions as Spartans finished fourth among 15 teams at Phoenix Round Robin. Griffith recorded three pins and a technical fall at 150 pounds, and won his title with a major decision.
VINNY HENRICKSON, Central Valley Academy wrestling: Sophomore pinned each of his three opponents in the first period – two at 132 pounds, one at 126 – and helped the Thunder win two of three duals at the Valley Duals.
RILEY HODKINSON, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill basketball: Freshman scored 44 combined points in wins over Homer and Proctor, including a 23-point, 12-rebounddouble-double in the Homer game.
A’NYA JACKSON, Whitesboro basketball: Senior scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the first Whitesboro victory of the season.
CALVIN JACQUAYS, Central Valley Academy basketball: Senior had back-to-back 37-point games for the unbeaten Thunder in wins over Proctor and Whitesboro, and he had nine three-pointers in the Whitesboro game.
LOGAN LANGEL, Hamilton basketball: Senior led unbeaten Emerald Knights to victories over Little Falls and Clinton with 46 combined points, nine assists and five steals.
BRADEN MEEKS, Rome Free Academy hockey: Junior scored four goals for the Black Knights in an 8-1 victory over Cicero-North Syracuse.
LANIE NELEN, Cooperstown basketball: Freshman returning starter for Section III’s 2025 Class champs scored a varsity career-high 26 points and shot 16-for-17 from the foul line at Dolgeville, and topped that three days later when she scored 27 points against Section IV Stamford/Jefferson.
VICTOR PETRONELLA, New Hartford wrestling: Senior was one of three individual champions as Spartans finished fourth among 15 teams at Phoenix Round Robin. Petronella pinned his first four opponents, each in the first minute, and won the 138-pound title bout with a third-period pin.
BROOKE REDDINGTON, West Canada Valley basketball: Sophomore had 24 points, 10 rebounds and five steals against Oriskany/Westmoreland as the Nighthawks extended their season-opening win streak to four games.
CLARA SHAW, Clinton volleyball: Junior had a career-high 18 kills at Sherburne-Earlville Monday and topped that with 20 at Sauquoit Valley the next night - and added five aces – in back-to-back five-game matches for the Comets.
ISSY SEAMON, Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young basketball: Senior went over 1,000 career varsity points Friday when she scored 28 in a win at Worcester. She hit five three-pointers in the game and became the first girl to reach the milestone within the program at Richfield Springs since her cousin Jessica Seamon in 1996.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Readers have spoken: CVA wrestler selected as week’s top performer
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
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