Section 9 Individual Rankings #4 – January 16, 2020

Well we are now in the middle of January! The Eastern States Classic has come and gone and we are one month away from the Section 9 Championships. It’s safe to say that anyone who wanted to drop down a weight has done so already. Let’s take a look at the updated Section 9 Individual Rankings!

99 Pounds
1. Jordan Brown (Monroe Woodbury, 9th)
2. Alex Greco (Warwick, 9th)
3. Mason Ketcham (Washingtonville, 7th)
4. Anthony Tresch (Minisink Valley, 7th)
5. Trevor Tufano (Port Jervis, 10th)
As expected, Brown and Greco are both down at 99 now and take over the top 2 spots here. Both had nice runs at the ESC advancing to Day 2 and Brown placed 7th in a very tough bracket!. Ketcham has looked great this season and posted a 6-2 win over #4 Tresch from MV at the S9 Duals. Port’s Tufano has a few losses at 106 but dropped down the 99 for ESC and was one win away from stepping on the podium. This is going to be a great weight class to follow in the D1 Sections with wrestlers like Saenz from Middletown, Giumarra from Cornwall, Weeden from VC, and Futia from Wallkill adding considerable depth!

106 Pounds
1. Justin Morales (Middletown, 12th)
2. Jackson Merli (NFA, 10th)
3. Cole Cuppett (New Paltz, 9th)
4. Zackary McKernan (Minisink Valley, 9th)
5. Ryan Kirker (Red Hook, 9th)
Morales wrestled tough in a brutal weight at ESC but did not advance to Day 2. He is a 2X state qualifier and is undefeated in S9 so remains our clear #1 here. Merli also wrestled tough at ESC but had to injury default out during Day 1. Fortunately the injury was minor and Merli will be back in action soon. Cuppett has been under the radar but wins over kids like Ketcham and Futia have landed him at #3 here followed by MV’s McKernan who is very well battle tested and should be primed for a strong S9 tournament. Kirker from Red Hook is dangerous – he lost to McKernan but has a win over Deutsch from Mamaronack who just defeated Morales at ESC!

113 Pounds
1. Andrew Marchese (Washingtonville, 10th)
2. Jaden Hansen (NFA, 11th)
3. Nicolo Ricciuto (Valley Central, 11th)
4. Gabe Giumarra (Cornwall, 11th)
5. Ryan Ross (Port Jervis, 8th)
Marchese lost in the blood round at ESC to a wrestler from CT and his other loss was to some from Section 2…Stevo or something like that? No damage here, he’s still #1 at 113 in S9 followed by the ever improving Jaden Hansen who is sitting at #2. Ricciuto is tough, as is Giumarra who dropped a gritty 4-0 decision to Hansen at the S9 Duals. PJ 8th grader Ross makes the cut to 113 and will definitely be a contender for the D2 title in D2 but to do so he’ll need to beat Highland’s Peter Bender who earned a trip to Albany last year. Cornwall’s Tyler Reed pinned Bender at the Mid-Hudson and is definitely one to watch here at 113 as is Kenny Santiago from Middletown.

120 Pounds
1. Nick Picariello (Minisink Valley, 12th)
2. Jacob Chenier (Kingston, 12th)
3. Santos Ocasio (Monroe Woodbury, 12th)
4. Joey Curreri (Eldred, 11th)
5. Matt Davis (Wallkill, 11th)

Picariello makes the cut to 120 and has looked sharp at both The Clash and Eastern States making him our #1 at 120 followed by fellow state qualifier Chenier who sat out ESC. Ocasio took 3rd in the Kohl and is #3 followed by Curreri who is definitely one of the favorites to win the crown in D2. Wallkill’s Matt Davis had a great win over Crocco in a dual against New Paltz and he also picked up a win at ESC so he’s our new #5 but please don’t count out MV sophomore Sofia Macaluso who is having a great season and just won the 120 lb girls division at ESC. Grant Barczak from MW, Jayden Norris from Middletown and Erik Nilson from Warwick are all having solid seasons and should stay on our radar.

126 Pounds
1. Zack Ryder (Minisink Valley, 8th)
2. Matt Morris (Red Hook, 12th)
3. John Antonelli (Marlboro, 12th)
4. Drew Greco (Warwick, 11th)
5. Jacob Poppe (Washingtonville, 11th)
State finalist Ryder drops down to 126 and is our new #1 here. Ryder is having another incredible season and just finished 5th at the ESC which was absolutely loaded at this weight. Morris, Antonelli, and Greco hold steady at 2-4 but we have a new #5 in Jacob Poppe who is peaking at the right time. Poppe recently defeated Joe Ferro from Kingston who is definitely one to watch here as are Caleb Harrison from Port Jervis and Moises Diaz from Middletown.

132 Pounds
1. Jordan Suarez (Minisink Valley, 12th)
2. Josh Sam (Middletown, 12th)
3. Matt Romano (Valley Central, 12th)
4. Joey Amato (Port Jervis, 12th)
5. Eli Weinstein (Goshen, 12th)
The top four here all wrestled at the Eastern States and it made ranking them pretty simple. Suarez beat Sam 1-0, Sam Beat Romano 2-0, and Romano beat Amato 4-0. Weinstein is having a great year too making this a very solid weight especially in D1. PB freshman Brayden Pennell is coming on strong and definitely adds depth here as does VC’s Travis Phillips.

138 Pounds
1. Sean Savacool (Minisink Valley, 12th)
2. Eric Tigue (Port Jervis, 10th)
3. Gabe Galarza (Pine Bush, 12th)
4. Brian Lombardi (Minisink Valley, 11th)
5. Dan Downs (Monroe Woodbury, 11th)
This is an awesome weight and a difficult one to rank! Flip a coin basically between Savacool and Tigue but we’ll go with the MV senior as #1 for now. Galarza has a few great wins and is our #3 followed by Lombardi and Downs. Warwick’s Liam Eberlein, Kingston’s Christian Francisco-Agostin and Red Hook’s Alex Lopez are all having great years and will be in the medal hunt!

145 Pounds
1. Jaccob Gonzalez (Minisink Valley, 11th)
2. Ethan Palanca (New Paltz, 11th)
3. Aiden Cuppett (New Paltz, 12th)
4. Dylan Burgos (Pine Bush, 11th)
5. Isaiah Price (Goshen, 12th)
With teammate Savacool making the cut to 138, Minisink Valley’s Jaccob Gonzalez becomes our new #1 at 145. 2018 S9 D2 champ Palanca comes in at #2 and he’s followed by teammate Cuppett who is having a great year. Burgos is our #4 – he has wrestled very tough at 145 and will definitely contend here. Our new #5 is Goshen senior Isaiah Price who has recently notched a nice win over Kingston’s Gavin Richter who will also be a factor here. Red Hook’s Tyler Benincasa continues to have a great year and will definitely contend for the D2 title!

152 Pounds
1. Tommy Askey (Pine Bush, 12th)
2. Nick Ross (Onteora, 11th)
3. Jace Hirsch (Minisink Valley, 11th)
4. Chris Fini (Goshen 12th)
5. Andrew Filip (Minisink Valley, 9th)
Askey is undefeated and has not been taken down this season! He also just won the ESC – yeah he’s our #1 at 152. Nick Ross is as tough as nails and is going to contend for a D2 state title. Jace Hirsch dropped down to 152 for MV’s trip to The Clash and he’s our new #3 followed by Goshen’s Fini who is having a great year. MV freshman Filip looks good at 152 and stays at #5 but has guys like MW’s Mike Zrelack, New Paltz’s Levi Wynn, and Highland’s Logan Smith nipping at his heals!

160 Pounds
1. Joe McGinty (Monroe Woodbury, 12th)
2. Patrick Ross (Onteora, 11th)
3. Elijah Price (Goshen, 12th)
4. Elijah Timbrouck (Kingston, 11th)
5. Bryce Horner (Port Jervis, 12th)
McGinty looked great and placed 4th at the ESC. He has 4 losses this season but yet to lose to a D1 wrestler this year! Patrick Ross made it to the quarters and placed 6th at ESC. Ranking #’s 3, 4, and 5 was tough! Price beat Timbrouck … Timbrouck beat Horner…Horner beat Price. We went with the most recent win and gave #3 to Price. Aiden Maduro from Highland is having a great season but has been out since Mid-Hudson so he’s HM for now.

170 Pounds
1. Nate Ross (Onteora, 12th)
2. Joe Velazquez (Middletown, 12th)
3. Marcus Brown (Monroe Woodbury, 11th)
4. Alden Hathaway (Wallkill, 12th)
5. Chris McLaughlin (Minisink Valley, 12th)
Nate Ross had an impressive ESC. His only loss was a 3-0 decision to eventual champ Donahue from Sem but then needed to med fft out during Day 2. Velazquez also looked great at ESC and placed 6th in a tough weight! Brown stays at #3 but we flip Hathaway and McLaughlin at #4 and #5 as the Wallkill senior seems to be getting hot at the right time. There is a lot of depth here with wrestlers like Max Wernicki from Monroe Woodbury, Nate Patterson from NFA, Vincent Gennaro from Washingtonville, Meijas Tanner from Kingston, Max Winkler from Goshen, Brandan Douthit from Burke, and Henry Peters from E/L/SW.

182 Pounds
1. Ethan Gallo (Minisink Valley, 9th)
2. Jeremy Mazzella (Warwick, 12th)
3. Logan Michael (New Paltz, 12th)
4. Steve Felice (Monroe Woodbury, 12th)
5. Graeme Knisell (Saugerties, 12th)
MV freshman Gallo is having an outstanding season and just placed 8th at the ESC. One of his wins at ESC was a 5-1 decision over a very tough Mazella who is our #2 followed by NP senior Logan Michael at #3. Steve Felice dropped to 182 and is our new #4 followed by Knisell from Saugerties who will be strong contender for the S9 D2 title. Paravati from MW and Lyle from Wallkill are also worth keeping an eye on here as are Quick from Port Jervis and Banegas from NFA.

195 Pounds
1. Joe Russell (Newburgh Free Academy, 11th)
2. Scott Geysen (Minisink Valley, 11th)
3. Brian Giacchi (Middletown, 12th)
4. Carson Henry (Minisink Valley, 11th)
5. Connor Boyer (James I. O’Neil, 11th)
Russell is on fire and just placed 5th in a very tough weight at the Eastern States Classic. The NFA junior is no longer flying under the radar on the state level! We have some changes at 195 for slots 2-5. Geysen from MV pinned Giacchi from Middletown at S9 Duals but Giacchi then defeated Henry from MV in a tight 5-4 match one week later. Connor Boyer from James I. O’Neil has been wrestling very tough and he’s our new #5 here. Others to watch at 195 include Zavier Bennet from Kingston, Teddy Szymanski from Chester, Ben Swart from Highland and Dom Siracusa from Goshen.

220 Pounds
1. Maxx DeCapua (Newburgh Free Academy, 12th)
2. James Oosterom (Port Jervis, 12th)
3. JC Cabrera (Minisink Valley, 12th)
4. Armel Duke (Middletown, 12th)
5. Stephon Holmes (Kingston, 12th)
Big changes at 220 for this week’s rankings! DeCapua competed in the ESC and made it to the quarters but had to med fft out. He beat the kid who placed 4th so we’ll move him back to #1 and drop D2 state placer Oosterom to #2. MV spot starter JC Cabrera pulled off a huge upset and defeated previous #3 Armel Duke 12-7 in a dual meet so Cabrera is the new #3 followed by Duke. Kingston senior Holmes is our #5 here. A few others to watch here are Chester’s Dylan Bullock are Highland’s Jon Perez.

285 Pounds
1. Adam Fenner (Minisink Valley, 11th)
2. Stephan Monchery (Middletown, 8th)
3. Frankie Hernandez (Monroe Woodbury, 12th)
4. Bruce French (Middletown, 12th)
5. Logan Hickey (Warwick, 12th)
This is actually one of the easier weights to rank! Fenner is the clear #1 and just took 3rd at the ESC. He has defeated #2 Monchery – Monchery had beaten Hernandez…Hernandez topped French…French has a win over Hickey. Others to watch at heavyweight include Devin McGovern from Chester and Shamar Gittens from Highland.