We have a few weeks of wrestling in the books so let’s see what kind of changes there are in our individual rankings!!! These will be the last rankings before the 2 pound growth allowance is applied – often a wrestler’s favorite Christmas gift! As always, respectful feedback is welcomed and encouraged at sectionixwrestling@gmail.com.
99 Pounds
We are still going to wait to do rankings for our 99 pound weight class until there are more results and we see who drops down…but we definitely have a few 99 pounders who are off to great starts! We should definitely keep our eyes on kids like Manny Saenz (Middletown), Marco Giumarra (Cornwall), Rocco Futia (Wallkill), Anthony Tresch (Minisink Valley), Kevin Segail (NFA), and Mason Ketcham (Washingtonville).
106 Pounds
1. Justin Morales (Middletown, senior)
2. Jordan Brown (Monroe Woodbury, freshman)
3. Jackson Merli (NFA, sophomore)
4. Alex Greco (Warwick, freshman)
5. Sebastian Vidacovich (Valley Central, freshman)
Morales, a 2X state qualifier, has already competed at 106 so he takes over the top spot! Brown has wins over Merli and Greco so he moves into the 2nd spot followed by Merli at #3 and Greco at #4. Vidacovich only loss is to Greco and has wins over Ortiz from Pine Bush and Tufano from Port Jervis who will both contend this year!
113 Pounds
1. Andrew Marchese (Washingtonville, sophomore)
2. Jaden Hansen (NFA, junior)
3. Nicolo Ricciuto (Valley Central, junior)
4. Luke Greiner (Minisink Valley, 8th grade)
5. Peter Bender (Highland, junior)
Marchese has been dominant with his only loss coming to 2X NYS champ Stevo Poulin! Hansen picked up wins over Bender and another NYS qualifier Crawford at the New Paltz Duals and ascends to the 2nd slot followed by Ricciuto who has only lost to Marchese. Greiner has lost two matches to state qualifiers but has looked sharp and comes in at #4 followed by Bender who was the S9 D2 champ last season. Other wrestlers to watch here are Cornwall’s Kevin Rourke whose only loss on the season is by decision to Morales and Middletown’s Kenny Santiago who is having a very solid year! Red Hook’s Brandon McKay has been wrestling tough this year and will definitely contend in the small school tournament this February.
120 Pounds
1. Santos Ocasio (Monroe Woodbury, senior)
2. Elliott Crocco (New Paltz, senior)
3. Sofia Macaluso (Minisink Valley, sophomore)
4. Gabriel Giumarra (Cornwall, junior)
5. Robert Drost (Saugerties, junior)
This was probably the most difficult weight class to rank because there are probably 8 or 9 wrestlers who could beat one another on any given day. Ocasio has the most impressive wins so far so he’s #1 followed by an undefeated Crocco from New Paltz. Sofia Mac has proven that last year’s 3rd place S9 finish was no fluke – she was a few seconds away from notching a win over Ocasio at the MV vs MW dual. Guimarra and Drost are both off to great starts but we cannot forget about Ryan Ross from Port Jervis, Erik Nilson from Warwick, Matt Davis from Wallkill, Ivan Colon from Middletown, Rocco Deaveiro from Rondout Valley, and Tyler Reed from Cornwall!
126 Pounds
1. Nick Picariello (Minisink Valley, senior)
2. Jacob Chenier (Kingston, senior)
3. Austin Maddox (Washingtonville, junior)
4. Joey Curreri (Eldred, junior)
5. Devin Greer (Pine Bush, sophomore)
Picariello and Chenier are clearly the top two here. Both wrestlers went to the state tournament last season and both have the potential to place in Albany this February. Maddox and Curreri are having solid seasons are hold the #3 and #4 slots while Pine Bush sophomore Greer cracks the rankings and is our new #5 at 126!
132 Pounds
1. Zack Ryder (Minisink Valley, 8th grader)
2. Matt Morris (Red Hook, senior)
3. John Antonelli (Marlboro, senior)
4. Luke Fischer (NFA, senior)
5. Eli Weinstein (Goshen, senior)
The top 4 stay the same here but we have a new #5! Ryder has been an absolute buzz saw! The MV 8th grader was a state finalist last year and he is 7-0 this season with six pins and one win by forfeit. One of his wins was a second period wbf over our #2 Morris who placed 6th in NYS D2 last year. Antonelli has been very good this season as has Fischer whose only loss is to former S9 wrestler Nikko Walsh who now wrestles for S2 Columbia. By virtue of his head-to-head win over Warwick’s Drew Greco, Goshen’s Eli Weinstein is our new #5! This is a very deep weight and some others to watch here include Warwick’s Greco, VC’s Travis Phillips, Port’s Caleb Harrison, Kingston’s Joe Ferro, MV’s Mia Macaluso, Middletown’s Moises Diaz, and Washingtonville’s Jacob Poppe!
138 Pounds
1. Jordan Suarez (Minisink Valley, senior)
2. Matt Romano (Valley Central, senior)
3. Josh Sam (Middletown, senior)
4. Brian Lombardi (Minisink Valley, junior)
5. Joey Amato (Port Jervis, senior)
Suarez is a perfect 7-0 with six pins and a win by forfeit. We swapped Romano and Sam at the #2 and #3 spots because of Romano’s pin over Kingston’s Christian Francisco-Agostin whom Sam only narrowly defeated 5-3. Lombardi can wrestle with all of these guys and stays at #4 followed by #5 Amato whose only loss is to Romano. Francisco-Agostin form Kingston and Alex Lopez from Red Hook will definitely contend here.
145 Pounds
1. Sean Savacool (Minisink Valley, senior)
2. Eric Tigue (Port Jervis, sophomore)
3. Ethan Palanca (New Paltz, junior)
4. Gabe Galarza (Pine Bush, senior)
5. Aiden Cuppett (New Paltz, senior)
Savacool, like teammates Ryder and Suarez, is a perfect 7-0 with 6 pins and a win by forfeit! Tigue’s only loss was a 10-5 decision to Pine Bush’s Askey up at 160 pounds so he stays at #2 here and Palanca’s only blemish this season is to Section 1 state qualifier Brendan Carroll so he remains in the #3 slot. Galarza has looked very sharp and stays at #4 and we have a new #5 in Cuppett. The New Paltz senior picked up a pin over previously ranked Gavin Richter who will still be a contender here.
152 Pounds
1. Tommy Askey (Pine Bush, senior)
2. Nick Ross (Onteora, junior)
3. Jaccob Gonzalez (Minisink Valley, junior)
4. Christopher Fini (Goshen, senior)
5. Levi Wyns (New Paltz, senior)
Askey has been a hammer! He is 7-0 with five pins, one tech, and a 10-5 decision over a 2X S9 champion (Tigue). So he’s the clear cut #1 right….not so fast! Sitting at #2 is a 3X S9 D2 champ who placed 3rd in NYS last year – Nick Ross! Then right behind Ross we have MV junior Gonzalez who is absolutely tearing through the competition with a 7-0 record including five pins and two techs! Fini’s only loss is to Tigue and he’s our new #4 followed by our new #5 at 152 Levi Wyns from New Paltz! Highland’s Logan Smith, Red Hook’s Tyler Benincasa, Pine Bush’s Dylan Burgos, Wallkill’s James Hubbard, and Monroe Woodbury’s Mike Zrelak should not be discounted here as they are all off to great starts this season!
160 Pounds
1. Joey McGinty (Monroe Woodbury, senior)
2. Nate Ross (Onteora, senior)
3. Evan Gibbons (Warwick, senior)
4. Elijah Timbrouck (Kingston, junior)
5. Jace Hirsch (Minisink Valley, junior)
McGinty suffers his first loss of the season but he stays #1 here – no shame losing to Section 3 hammer Jake Null. Null finished 2nd in NYS last year – iron sharpens iron! Nate Ross remains at #2 and Evan Gibbons, although inactive since opening night against MW, will stay at #3. Bursting into the rankings at #4 is Elijah Timbrouck from Kingston who is undefeated and has wins of previously ranked wrestlers Pablo Garcia from Middletown and Bryce Horner from Port Jervis. Our new #5 is Minisink Valley junior Jace Hirsch who has looked very tough and has only lost to state medalist McGinty this season. Goshen’s Elijah Price is a great athlete and will contend here!
170 Pounds
1. Patrick Ross (Onteora, junior)
2. Joe Velazquez (Middletown, senior)
3. Marcus Brown (Monroe Woodbury, junior)
4. Chris McLaughlin (Minisink Valley, senior)
5. Vincent Gennaro (Washingtonville, senior)
No change in the top two as Ross and Velazquez have dominated the competition! Brown defeated McLaughlin and Patterson from NFA who easily could be ranked here so Marcus is our new #3 followed by McLaughlin and Gennaro…we’ll make Patterson 5A! Peters from E/L/SW is also a tough contender as is Adian Maduro from Highland, Alden Hathaway from Wallkill, Burke’s Brendan Douthit, and Meijas Tanner from Kingston!
182 Pounds
1. Ethan Gallo (Minisink Valley, freshman)
2. Max Wernicki (Monroe Woodbury, senior)
3. Jeremy Mazzella (Warwick, senior)
4. Logan Michael (New Paltz, senior)
5. Mike Paravati (Monroe Woodbury, senior)
This weight class rankings completely blew up! Gallo has been awesome and stays at #1 but we have a new #2 in Wernicki. Mazzella only lost to Max by a point so he’s at #3 for now followed by Logan Michael from New Paltz who’s only loss is to Section 2 stud Altomer. Paravati has weighed in at 182 so we’ll rank him at #5. Former #2 Knisell was pinned by Goshen’s Karystinakis who is having a great year and should be watched as should NFA’s Darwin Banegas, Justin Lyle from Wallkill, and Erik Quik from Port Jervis.
195 Pounds
1. Joe Russell (NFA, junior)
2. Carson Henry (Minisink Valley, junior)
3. Scott Geysen (Minisink Valley, junior)
4. Steve Felice (Monroe Woodbury, senior)
5. Brian Giacchi (Middletown, senior)
NFA junior Russell is having a great season and keeps the top spot at 195! Carson Henry is undefeated for MV and is our new #2 and we will put his teammate Geysen at #3! Felice has losses to Henry and Russell and comes in at #4 while Giacchi notched a nice win over Kingston’s Zavier Bennet and takes over at #5. Bennet is still one to watch as is Ben Swart from Highland, Craig Laurey from Saugerties, and Dominick Siracusa from Goshen!
220 Pounds
1. Maxx DeCapua (Newburgh Free Academy, senior)
2. James Oosterom (Port Jervis, senior)
3. Armel Duke (Middletown, senior)
4. Connor Boyer (James I. O’Neil, junior)
5. Jonathan Perez (Highand, senior)
No changes to the top 3. A match-up between #1 DeCapua and #2 Oosterom would be one of the most highly anticipated matches of the year! Duke has looked great and stays at #3 but we have a new #4 in Boyer from O’Neil who is undefeated. Perez from Highland comes in at #5 but we should also watch Dylan Bullock from Chester here!
285 Pounds
1. Adam Fenner (Minisink Valley, junior)
2. Stephan Monchery (Middletown, 8th grade)
3. Devin McGovern (Chester, senior)
4. Bruce French (Middletown, senior)
5. Stephon Holmes (Kingston, senior)
Fenner is a returning state medalist and has mauled his competition this season – 7-0 with 7 first period pins! Monchery has also been very business-like – 6-0 with 3 pins and 3 forfeits! McGovern’s only loss is out of Section 9 and we have a new #4 in French by virtue of his 4-2 win over previously ranked Logan Hickey from Warwick. Holmes from Kingston has looked great and sits in the #5 slot for this week! Others to watch at heavyweight include the aforementioned Hickey, Frankie Hernandez from Monroe Woodbury, Shamar Gittens from Highland, and Jake Southard from Port Jervis.