Congratulations to ….
AJ Voelker (Monroe Woodbury) 4th @ 170 – In his first trip to the state tournament, Voelker left it all on the mat! Battling through a knee injury, the MW senior made it to the semifinals and finished 3-2 for the weekend. Actually, Voelker finished 4th and 3rd because NYS recognizes two sets of placewinners. The Federation winners which includes all of the wrestlers who competed in the tournament, and the NYSPHAA winners which does not include the PSAL and the CHSAA wrestlers. Since a CHSAA wrestler finished higher that Voelker, he also technically won 3rd place this weekend! Congrats AJ!
Josh Bonneau (Minisink Valley) 4th @ 220 – Perhaps no other wrestler in the tournament has as much “up-side” as Bonneau. He finished 4th at his weight (3rd among NYSPHSAA wrestlers) in only his second season on the mat! Actually, the Minisink senior only wrestled for a total of 8 months…November thru February for two seasons. Great job Josh!
Vinny Vespa (Monroe Woodbury) 5th @ 99 – After getting pinned in his opening match, Vespa fought all the way back to earn 5th place in the extremely tough 99 pound weight class. One of his victories in wrestlebacks was against top seeded John Arceri of Section 11. Very impressive Vinny…almost as impressive as taking on and defeating stage 4 cancer. Congratulations young man!
Dylan Booth (Port Jervis) 5th @ 113 – The Port Jervis junior has had a magical season which included 3 wins over 3X Section 9 Champion Johnny Stramiello. Booth made it all the way to the NYS semifinals where he ran into 2X state champ Kyle Kelly. All of your hard work is paying off Dylan…congrats!
Dan Decarlo (Port Jervis) 5th @ 152 – The sky is the limit for Decarlo, a junior who basically only wrestles seasonally. Dan made it to the state semifinals where he ran into Corey Rasheed, the eventual champion at 152 pounds. Decarlo lost a hard fought 5-0 decision which was, by far, Rasheed’s closest match. Great job Danny!
Johnny Stramiello (Pine Bush) 6th @ 113 – The Pine Bush junior fought his way to the podium for the second consecutive year. A 4X state qualifier, Stramiello is determined to ascend higher up the podium for his senior season. Go get it Johnny…the S9 wrestling community is behind you!
Austin Ingraham (Highland) 6th @ 113 – Now in his junior season, Ingraham has started to open some eyes around the state. His excellent mat work from the top position makes opponents think twice before choosing bottom. Another year of hard work and good competition will make Ingraham a legitimate title contender in D2 next year! Congratulations on a great season Austin.
Michael Raccioppi (Minisink Valley) 8th @ 126 – The Minisink Valley sophomore fought and clawed his way to 8th place for the Federation and 6th place for the NYSPHSAA standings. Very few wrestlers in S9 put in the work that Raccioppi does and his ears are starting to show it! Great job Michael and there is no doubt that you will climb higher atop the podium next year!
Bryan Mongiello (Washingtonville) 8th @ 132 – Like Raccioppi, Mongiello gets recognized here because two of the wrestlers who finished above him are non-Federation competitors thus, technically, he finished 6th in NYSPHSAA. This is a well deserved honor for the Washingtonville senior who picked up a 5-0 win against S9 champion Chris Truglio of MV during wrestlebacks! Congrats Bryan!
Bonneau – Frosh 4th @ 220 – WOW!
Bonneau is a senior…working on a few hours sleep when I wrote it…my fault
Still pretty sweet!