Winter sports roundup! Alpine and Nordic Skiing and Wrestling

Crystal Tweed

Posted 3/3/26

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Winter sports roundup! Alpine and Nordic Skiing and Wrestling

Ian Pammer skis Gore Mountain. Eleven students from Sullivan West qualified for sectionals in Alpine:Aden Speer, Ian Pammer, Ken McCullough, Tyler Brockner, Braydon Levine, Micah Fienblatt, and Jonathon Hector, Allie Hellerer, Kyra Weston, Hailey Norris, and Carly Doyle. The SW Men’s Alpine team also received a Section IX Division 1 award during the Sectionals Award ceremony at Hunter Mountain for taking first place in the team rankings in Division 1 for 2026.

contributed photos

Tri-Valley’s Santino Haffner qualified for the NYSPHSAA Alpine Skiing Championships and finished his first course run in 1:11.26.

Monticello Nordic ski student athletes Logan Waterton and Baya Titus are photographed at the Section IX Nordic Skiing Championships at Minnewaska State Park. Waterton, just a seventh grader, skied his first year with the varsity team this season, finishing the course in 42:38.7. Titus finished in second place in 34:13, enough to qualify to ski in the NYSPHSAA Nordic Championships at Bristol Mountain.

The Monticello boys alpine ski team brought home second place at the NYSPHSAA Alpine Skiing Championships at Bristol Mountain in Canandaigua, NY. Pictured left to right are: Christian Bastone, Samuel Rein, and Giuliano Francisco. Rein also earned the Sportsmanship Award!

Five students from Monticello qualified to ski at the NYSPHSAA Championships last week. Left to right are Giuliano Francisco, Samuel Rein, Christian Bastone, Annabella Caycho, and Madelyn Cavello.

The Liberty Redhawks boys wrestling team closed out their wrestling season, with each member earning a podium spot at the Section 9 D2 Sectionals. Misael Juarez Perez placed sixth at 144 pounds, Shawn Bickham placed fourth, and Tarek Benadim placed third at 157 pounds; Elmer Son Vicente placed third at 215 pounds, and Miguel Guzman placed fifth at 157 pounds. The Redhawks wrestling team is photographed with their coach, Brian Vaughn.

Julio Santiago finished his wrestling career with a fifth-place finish at Sectionals at Monroe-Woodbury High School, making him a 2X All-Section wrestler for Monticello. Dion Knight, right center, punched his ticket as a Section IX finalist and had a great showing at the NYSPHSAA Wrestling Championships. Head Coach Patrick Owens left, said, “He [Knight] had a great showing, he’s a junior, so he’ll be back next year.” Far right is assistant coach Justyn Kelly.

Posted Tuesday, March 3, 2026 6:30 am

Crystal Tweed

SULLIVAN COUNTY – The Winter sports regular season is just about over, with only sectionals and regional matchups coming up over the next two weeks. Conditions were ideal this season for Nordic and Alpine skiing with plenty of snow and cold weather on the mountain. “We had probably the best winter conditions in the last 10 years or so,” shared Becky Mitchell, Resort Operations Director at Holiday Mountain. “The conditions made for amazing racing for the high school season. Some nights were a bit chilly, but we couldn’t have asked for any better conditions this year,” Mitchell said. Here’s a look back at the last few weeks of the ski season. Be sure to check out the Democrat’s sports section on Tuesdays and Fridays for boys and girls basketball sectional updates and state qualifiers for indoor track & field.