2020 Eastern States Classic Recap

Now that the 2020 Eastern States Classic is in the books, let’s take a look at some of the highlights from this year’s incredible tournament!

Tommy Askey Wins Title @ 152
Pine Bush senior Tommy Askey finished 4th in the state last year at the NYSPHSAA Championships in Albany. That’s a pretty impressive accomplishment for a kid who finished 2nd in the Section the year before as a sophomore. This year it appears as though Askey has taken it to the next level. He is undefeated on the season, he has yet to be taken down this year, and Askey just won the 152 pound title at the Eastern States Classic making himself one of the favorites to be on top of the podium in Albany this year! This is the second year in a row that a Section 9 has been crowned champion at the ESC – Cornwall’s Will Leonard won at 220 last year. Prior to that, Section 9 had a six year championship drought as Chris Cuccolo from Pine Bush was the last local to win when he took the title at 99 pounds back in 2013.

Redding Tops Ryan Jack @ 132
Eastport South Manor senior Zach Redding pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he knocked off Ryan Jack by a score of 8-6 in the finals at 132. Jack, a NC State bound senior from Danbury, CT, is the #2 ranked 132 pound wrestler in the nation according to InterMat. Redding, who is heading to Iowa State in the Fall, was in control of the match from whistle to whistle. The Section 11 stud has finished 3rd, 1st, and 3rd in NYS the last three seasons and is looking forward to ending his high school career on the top step of the podium in Albany!

7th Grader PJ Duke Takes 99lb Title
PJ Duke’s magical varsity wrestling debut continues as the Carmel 7th grader dominated the field and won the first of what will likely be several ESC crowns. The only other 7th grader to win an ESC title was Beau Bartlett back in 2015 when he took the top step on the podium at 99 lbs. Bartlett, now in his senior season at Wyoming Seminary, was back in SUNY Sullivan this season and won his 4th ESC title, this time at 138 pounds.

ESC Girls Division Is A First
Girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing high school sports in the nation. State after state is sanctioning girls wrestling as a varsity sport and we hope that New York will follow suit in the very near future. There are several major tournaments in the off season that have a girls division including the Super 32 and the Journeymen Classic, however there have been no premier in-season high school tournaments with a girls division – until now. The 2020 Eastern States Classic had a girls only division which included 49 female wrestlers from 42 different schools. Congratulations to our champions Zoe Griffith (Gouverneur, 99), Caitlyn Walker (Wyoming Seminary, 106), Ally Fitzgerald (Lynbrook, 113), Sofia Macaluso (Minisink Valley, 120), Mia Macaluso (Minisink Valley, 126), Schyler Caringi (Coxsackie, 132), Damiana Racciatti (Liverpool, 152), Kai Poux (Brooklyn Tech, 170), and Joanna Jones (Wingate, 195).

Top Ranked Sem Dominated the Field
Wyoming Seminary is the #1 ranked high school wrestling team in the nation by every major wrestling media outlet – and at this weekend’s Eastern States Classic they showed why! Although they technically only came with a handful of starters but they won the tournament by an impressive 145 points over second place Shenendehowa. Capturing titles for Sem were Brandon Cannon (106), Nic Bouzakis (126), Beau Bartlett (138) , Lachlan McNeil (145), Andrew Donahue (170), and Kolby Franklin (220). Bouzakis was voted as Champion of Champions by the finalists. He pinned his first 4 opponents in the first period then majored a state medalist in the semis before teching another state medalist in the finals. Bouzakis’ father Troy is a 1990 graduate of Pine Bush where he graduated as a 3X NYS champion.

Weight Classes At A Glance
99 Champion – PJ Duke (Carmel, 7th)
Duke looked awesome and he looks like he might be the best 99 pound wrestler in NYS. I know it’s a little premature to start talking about him being the first ever 6X NY state champ but wow did he look great!

106 Champion – Brandon Cannon (Wyoming Seminary, 9th)
Cannon has now won the Beast of the East and the Eastern States Classic – not too shabby for Sem’s backup 106 pounder! Their starter at 106 is Danny Sheen. Andy Lucinski from Section 6 Newfane looked extremely impressive and might be the best 106 pounder in NYS D1 or D2!

113 Champion – Stevo Poulin (Shenedehowa, 11th)
In a rematch of last year’s 106 pound final, Poulin topped D2 state champ Geislinger by a 7-3 margin. Poulin looked awesome and showed why he’s been ranked in the top few at his weight for the past two seasons!

120 Champion – Jordan Titus (Center Moriches, 11th)
Another classic battle between two of the best wrestlers in NYS did battle as Titus defated rival Anthony Noto by a score of 9-4. MA hammer Hunter Adrian from Melrose made this weight exceptionally deep- he finished 3rd and knocked off three NYS place winners along the way!

126 Champion – Nic Bouzakis (Wyoming Seminary, 10th)
Bouzakis was on a different level than the rest of the field. He is the #1 ranked 126 pounder in the nation according to InterMat and he’s worth the price of admission. NYS had the next six place winners at 126 in Ivan Garcia (Port Chester), Anthony DiBartolo (Hauppauge), Rocco Camillaci (Hilton), Zack Ryder (Minisink Valley), Micah Roes (Lowville), and David Correa (Tottenville) finishing in places 2-7 respectively.

132 Champion – Zach Redding (Eastport South Manor, 12th)
Redding will definitely return to the national rankings after a very solid win over Ryan Jack from Danbury who is ranked as high as #2 in the nation by Intermat. One of the more anticipated matches in Albany could be a showdown between Redding and Section 5 Rush Henrietta stud Jayden Scott who placed 3rd and nearly knocked off Jack in the semis!

138 Champion – Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, 12th)
The Penn State bound Bartlett is now a 4X ESC champion. He is the top ranked 138 pounder in the nation by InterMat and he was awesome this weekend! His opponent in the finals was no slouch in NYS champ Ryan Burgos from Hilton who won a great semifinal match against last year’s ESC champ at 132 Justin McDougald from Niagara Wheatfield.

145 Champion – Lachlan McNeil (Wyoming Seminary, 12th)
McNeil won the Walsh Ironman and the Powerade and he’s the #1 145 pounder according to InterMat and FloWrestling! So he blew through this field, right….wrong! McNeil won a hard fought 5-4 decision against NYS finalist Willie McDougald from Section 6 Niagara Falls who is also ranked nationally at #18 by InterMat!

152 Champion – Tommy Askey (Pine Bush, 12th)
Askey is undefeated and has not been taken down this year. He was the top seed at this weight and he wrestled like a man on a mission! This is going to be a great weight to follow this February in Albany especially if defending state champ AJ Kovacs enters the fray here!

160 Champion – Jacob Null (Dolgeville, 11th)
Null is a great athlete! He defeated a very tough Brevin Cassella from Nashoba Regional, MA in the finals and topped Gavin Bell from Cold Spring Harbor in the semis in what could be a preview of the D2 state finals in NYS. Monroe Woodbury’s Joe McGinty was the highest finishing NYS D1 wrestler coming in 4th behind Bell.

170 Champion – Andrew Donahue (Wyoming Seminary, 10th)
Donahue was challenged by NYS D2 studs in the quarters and semis before teching Tyler Albis 15-0 in the finals. Donahue defeated Onteora’s Nate Ross 3-0 in the quarters and then topped Norwich’s Mikey Squires 6-3 in the semis. Donahue is only a sophomore!

182 Champion – Brock Delsignore (Shenendehowa, 11th)
The Section 2 hammer wrestled at 145 last year where he lost to Askey in the blood round in Albany. He is now a filled out 182 pounder and in going to be one of the favorites for a state title in February. Delsignore defeated fellow NYS D1 contender Ryan Stencel from Lancaster in the semis 10-3 before topping D2 stud and fellow Journeymen wrestler Ethan Cooper 3-1 in the finals.

195 Champion – Carson Licastri (Joel Barlow, CT, 12th)
Licastri was the #4 seed and knocked off the top seed Matt Kelly from Iona Prep in the semis 6-4 before majoring previously undefeated MA stud and #2 seed Darby McLaughlin 10-2 in the finals. Kelly was the top NYS finisher at #3 and followed by Nick Franco from Farmingdale and Joe Russell from NFA rounding out the top 5 in the weight.

220 Champion – Kolby Franklin (Wyoming Seminary, 10th)
That’s not a typo. The 220 pound ESC champion is only a sophomore. Franklin 2nd in PA last year before taking his talents to the national powerhouse prep school. He defeated Sebastian Garibaldi from White Plans by an 18-3 tech fall in the finals. McKee-Staten Island Tech’s Alex Semenenko was pinned in the opening round and then wrestled all the way back to 3rd place highlighted by a 1-0 decision in the medal match over the kid who pinned him in the opening round!

285 Champion – Sam Khodaparest (Massapequa, 12th)
Khodaparest recorded 3-2 wins over the #1 and #4 seeds in the quarters and semis – Myles Norris (Freeport) and Greg Harris (Springfield Central) respectively. He capped off his title run by beating Brentwood’s London Castillo 8-6 in the finals. Castillo defeated third seeded Adam Fenner from Minisink 7-6 in the semis. This will be a great weight to follow in Albany!