With the Section 9 Duals and the Eastern States Classic in the books it’s time that we roll out our first rankings of 2019! As a reminder, these rankings are just for fun. These rankings, or any rankings for that matter, have absolutely nothing to do with where a wrestler will be seeded at the Section 9 Tournament in February. Seeding the tournament is done by a formula and it is based completely upon results. Rankings are subjective … seeding is objective. That said, let’s enjoy the chatter created by these rankings and please feel free to comment below or to sectionixwrestling@gmail.com.
99 Pounds
1. Colby Amell – Saugerties
2. Andrew Marchese – Washingtonville
3. Jackson Merli – NFA
4. Richie Toledo – Monroe Woodbury
5. Nicolo Ricciuto – Valley Central
Amell is still top dog at 99. The Saugerties senior made it to the R16 at the ESC as did #2 Marchese from Washingtonville. Merli now has a common opponent win over MW’s Toledo (Adams from Monsignor Farrell) so he takes over at #3 followed by #4 Toledo and #5 Ricciuto from VC. Tufano from Port Jervis is having a great year and seems to be the top D2 wrestler at the weight. Two others to keep an eye on are Greco form Warwick and Rourke from Cornwall who have recently traded wins.
106 Pounds
1. Zack Ryder – Minisink Valley
2. Justin Morales – Middletown
3. Dylan Winters – Monroe Woodbury
4. Matt Davis – Wallkill
5. Jaden Hansen – NFA
The Minisink Valley 7th grader has been dominating local competition and just placed 5th at the Eastern States Classic where both of his losses where by decision to last year’s state finalists at 99 – Stevo Poulin and Chase Liardi! One of the local contenders who Ryder has yet to face is Middletown’s Justin Morales who sits at #2. Ryder does have a common over Morales – Echeverria from Long Beach. Winters had a tough go at S9 Duals losing by fall to both Ryder and Morales but he remains #3 followed by Matt Davis from Wallkill. Cracking the rankings for the first time this week is NFA’s Jaden Hansen who is our new #5 at 106. Hansen picked up a nice 4-1 decision over Tyler Reed from Cornwall who is also one to watch here. Peter Bender from Highland is having a great season as well and may be the top D2 106 pounder in S9!
113 Pounds
1. Nikko Walsh – Rondout Valley
2. Jacob Chenier – Kingston
3. Matt Morris – Red Hook
4. Joe Habert – Minisink Valley
5. Santos Ocasio – Monroe Woodbury
Rondout Valley’s Nikko Walso is having a great season and holds the #1 spot but Kingston’s Jacob Chenier is nipping at his heels! Chenier had a convincing win over #4 Habert from Minisink Valley who comes in just behind #3 Morris from Red Hook. We could possibly see Walsh, Morris and Habert at the Gene Brigham on Saturday! Monroe Woodbury’s Santos Ocasio holds the #5 slot at 113 but there are several others to keep an eye on here including Elliott Crocco from New Paltz who has two recent wins over a very solid Austin Maddox from Washingtonville. Drew Greco from Warwick came in 4th at the Shoreline and will definitely contend here! Let’s not forget MV’s Andrew Filip who won the Yonkers Tournament and Goshen’s Dylan Tierny who’s also having a nice season.
120 Pounds
1. Marco Vespa – Monroe Woodbury
2. Nick Picariello – Minisink Valley
3. Liam Bullock – Chester
4. John Antonelli – Marlboro
5. Joey Curreri – Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West
Our top ranked wrestler at 120 pounds is 2X NYS placewinner Marco Vespa, who is a perfect 28-0 this season. The Monroe Woodbury senior picked up his 200th career win on Saturday at the Kohl Tournament! Congratulation Marco! Coming in at #2 is MV’s Nick Picariello who fell short of placing at the ESC but wrestled very well! His two losses were close decisions to very tough wrestlers. Picariello lost 5-2 to 3X NYS place winner Caleb Robinson from Walton and 4-1 to 2X NYS qualifier Thomas Hughes from Fulton. Liam Bullock is having a great year and comes in at #3 followed by fellow D2 contenders John Antonelli from Marlboro and Joey Curreri from Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West.
126 Pounds
1. Jordan Suarez – Minisink Valley
2. Eric Tigue – Port Jervis
3. Kevin Urena – Pine Bush
4. Brandon DeLaRosa – Newburgh Free Academy
5. Ryan Burgos – Monroe Woodbury
MV junior Jordan Suarez had an awesome Section 9 Duals tournament where he pinned both DeLaRosa and Burgos so he remains our #1 at 126! Second ranked Tigue looked solid at ESC before being eliminated by a tough 8-4 decision to state champ Marek Bush. Numbers 3, 4, and 5 are razor close! This week we went with Urena at #3 based on his competitive performances against two hammers at the ESC. Urena lost 10-3 to ESC finalist and National Prep Champ Zeke Escalara from Wyoming Seminary and also lost 4-0 to NYS qualifier Deam Shambo. DeLaRosa from NFA is at #4 followed by Burgos from Monroe Woodbury who returns to the rankings at #5 after returning to action from an early season injury! Travis Phillips from VC and Eli Weinstein from Goshen are both having good seasons and will definitely contend for medals at the Section 9 Tournament!
132 Pounds
1. Tommy Maddox – Washingtonville
2. Mat Malherio – Highland
3. Matt Romano – Valley Central
4. Pat Ross – Onteora
5. Josh Sam – Middletown
Big shake-up in the 132 pound rankings where we have a new #1 in Washingtonville’s Tommy Maddox! Maddox has returned from an early season injury in impressive fashion by notching wins over former #1’s Malherio and Maddox. He also picked up a great win at ESC over a very tough Sean Petersen from Islip who defeated NYS #3 Logan Sciotto earlier this season! Malherio looked solid at ESC going 2-2 so he is our #2 and Romano, who only lost 6-4 to eventual ESC champ Justin McDougald, comes in at #3. Pat Ross is #4 at 132 and our new #5 is Middletown’s Josh Sam picked up a nice win over NFA’s Luke Fischer who is one to watch here. Aiden Cuppett from New Paltz has jumped on everyone’s radar after pinning Heinlein from Saugerties in a dual and then only losing 3-2 to Malherio at Mat Wars!
138 Pounds
1. Sean Savacool – Minisink Valley
2. Nick Ross – Onteora
3. Ethan Palanca – New Paltz
4. Robert Estevez – Monroe Woodbury
5. Gavin Staerker – Port Jervis
Our #1 at 138 is Minisink Valley junior Savacool who had an incredible week which included a pin over Estevez in the Section 9 Duals finals and then a 7th place finish at the Eastern States Classic! Ontora’s Ross is on fire and we move him up to #2 followed by New Paltz sophomore Palanca who took 4th at the Mat Wars. MW’s Estevez remains at #4 but we have a new #5 in Port Jervis’ Gavin Staerker who recently beat prev ious #5 Ceasar Luna from Highland 4-0 in a dual! Warwick has tow wrestlers who are having nice seasons at 138 in Gibbons and Schmalfuhs and Cornwall’s Alex Burns will also be in the medal hunt!
145 Pounds
1. Joe McGinty – Monroe Woodbury
2. Tommy Askey – Pine Bush
3. Nicholas Albornoz – Minisink Valley
4. Nick Curreri – Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West
5. Jacob Gonzalez – Minisink Valley
We have a shake-up at 145 with Joe McGinty from Monroe Woodbury taking over the #1 spot. McGinty was a finalist at the Shoreline and had a common opponent win over Askey (Stefan Major from Kings Park). The anticipated head-to-head match between McGinty and Askey never occurred at the S9 Duals so maybe we will see the two lock horns at their upcoming dual meet. Nicholas Albornoz from MV remains our #3 and Nick Curreri from E/L/SW stays at #4. Jaccob Gonzalez from Minisink Valley is having a great year and takes over the #5 spot at 145.
152 Pounds
1. Nate Ross – Onteora
2. Nick Florin – Pine Bush
3. Vincent Gennaro – Washingtonville
4. Dan Heffner – Cornwall
5. Destin Morano – Middletown
The top two at 152 remain the same. #1 ranked Pat Ross keeps rolling along. He notched his 100th career win in the semis of the Dan Wickham Tournament this weekend; then in the finals he defeated a 2X Section 8 champ earning him MOW honors for the 2nd week in a row! Pine Bush’s Nick Florin had a strong showing at the ESC. Florin went 3-2 and was one match away from placing. He also picked up a 3-2 win in the Rd 32 over the eventual 3rd place finisher Stefan Major from Kings Park! Numbers 3-5 and some others at 152 are very even which should provide great excitement for the medal round at the S9 Tournament. For now we have Gennaro from Washingtonville at #3, Heffner from Cornwall at #4, and Morano from Middletown at #5. Let’s keep our eyes on Connor Leggett from NFA, Doug Doherty from Monticello, Max Wernicki from MW, Kraig Thomas from Wallkill, Chris Fini from Goshen and James Shaw from Burke!
160 Pounds
1. Steve Gazzillo – Cornwall
2. Ethan Gallo – Minisink Valley
3. Alden Hathaway – Wallkill
4. Joe Velazquez – Middletown
5. Dylan Burgos – Pine Bush
No changes in the top-5 at 160. On the heals of his 8th place finish at the Eastern States Classic, Cornwall’s Steven Gazzillo remains our #1 wrestler at this weight! Out #2 ranked wrestler, Ethan Gallo, also had a nice showing at ESC. The Minisink Valley 8th grader went 2-2 and advanced to Day 2 in a very tough weight! Alden Hathaway from Wallkill is set to return and he’s our #3 followed by Joe Velazquez from Middletown at #4 and Dylan Burgos is still #5. Let’s not overlook Nick Hadallar from Monroe Woodbury, Nick Patterson from NFA, and Brendan Douthit from Burke.
170 Pounds
1. Tyler Serafini – Newburgh Free Academy
2. Matt Bucci – Saugerties
3. Pasquale Satriano – Valley Central
4. William Noteboom – Warwick
5. Chris McLaughlin – Minisink Valley
The 170 pound weight class also has no changes from our last ranking. Top ranked Serafini had a great showing at ESC. He entered the tournament as the #11 seed and wound up finishing 8th! Placing higher than your seed is always a good thing! Bucci was not at ESC but holds at #2 followed by Satriano then Noteboom. Chris McLaughlin remains at #5 at 170. The MV junior gutted out a few nice wins at S9 Duals over wrestlers we should keep an eye on, namely Steve Felice from Monroe Woodbury and Steven Kollbeck from Kingston.
182 Pounds
1. Anthony Owen – Saugerties
2. Zavier Bennet – Kingston
3. Elijah Babb – Middletown
4. Joe Russell – Newburgh Free Academy
5. Luke Wojehowski – Cornwall
Several changes at 182 for this week’s rankings! Anthony Owen’s from Saugerties drops down to 182 and has a solid showing at ESC including a common opponent win over Bennet making him our new #1! Kingston’s Bennet is having a great season but drops one spot to #2. Numbers 3-5 are a toss-up … Babb beat Russell, Russell beat Wojehowski, but Wojehowski beat Babb! Babb picked up a nice win at ESC over a very tough Geysen from MV so we’ll go Babb #3, Russell #4, and Wojehowski #5 for now. We cannot overlook Knisell from Saugerties, Mike Cassidy from Cornwall, or the aforementioned Geysen from Minisink!
195 Pounds
1. Sam Santander – Monroe Woodbury
2. Maxx DeCapua – Newburgh Free Academy
3. Carson Henry – Minisink Valley
4. Hayden Barley – Kingston
5. Josh Keller – Cornwall
Santander looked impressive at S9 Duals against Henry and rolled through the Kohl so he stays at #1 with ESC 8th place finisher Maxx DeCapua coming in behind him at #2. Hopefully we’ll see these two lock horns at their dual meet this week! Minisink’s Carson Henry picked up a win at ESC and he’s our new #3 followed by Hayden Barley from Kingston. Cornwall’s Josh Keller enters the rankings at #5 this week but will have a chance to ascend higher if he and Henry square off on Wednesday evening in the MV vs Cornwall dual! Cornwall’s Collin Cassidy will also be in the mix at 195 in February! ** James DeAveiro from E/L/SW is having a great season and his absence from these rankings has been a terrible oversight! DeAveiro just defeated Owen from Saugerties recently, he has a 20-1 record, and he will definitely crack the top 5 at 195 on our next rankings!**
220 Pounds
1. Will Leonard – Cornwall
2. Armel Duke – Middletown
3. James Oosterom – Port Jervis
4. Mark Crisfield – Valley Central
5. David Strauss – Monroe Woodbury
No changes in the top 5 at 220 this week but plenty to talk about. Congratulations to Cornwall senior Will Leonard for taking home the 220 pound title at the Eastern States Classic. Leonard is Section 9’s first ESC champ since 2013 when Pine Bush’s Chris Cuccolo won the 99 pound weight class. Great job Will! Armel Duke from Middletown also had a great ESC and placed 7th at 220! Oosterom, Crisfield, and Strauss hold onto the 3-5 spots respectively. Minisink’s Tyler Castro keeps getting better and will definitely be in medal contention at the S9 tourney in February.
285 Pounds
1. Adam Fenner – Minisink Valley
2. Preston Havison – Monroe Woodbury
3. Bryce Moore – Valley Central
4. Caleb Williams – Newburgh Free Academy
5. Stephan Monchery – Middletown
One huge change at 285 – we have a new #1! Minisink Valley sophomore Adam Fenner defeated MW’s Preston Havison 6-0 in the last match of the Section 9 Duals finals and takes over the top spot at heavyweight! Havison pinned Fenner in their meeting back in December. I have a feeling these two will lock horns at least one or two more times this year! VC’s Moore defeats #4 Williams and is at #3 this week while the Middletown 7th grader Stephan Monchery holds on to our 5 spot at heavyweight!