This is an outstanding opportunity for any wrestler who would like to compete at the collegiate level. The Alfred State wrestling program has very strong ties to Section 9. The head coach, Justin Signorelli, is a Highland graduate and was a 3X Section 9 champion! On the 2022-2023 roster, Alfred State has five former Section 9 wrestlers including Jaden Hansen (Newburgh Free Academy), George Racz (Minisink Valley), Elijah Timbrouck (Kingston), Henry Villodas (Goshen), and Christian Castellanos (Warwick).
Alfred State has also just announced that they will be adding Women’s wrestling as a sport starting in the 2023-2024 season! This prospect clinic is open to men and women wrestlers!!!
Anyone interested in attending should contact Coach Signorelli at signorjm@alfredstate.edu.
Congratulations to 2022 Minisink Valley graduate Sofia Macaluso for taking home the silver medal at 57 kg at the U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Macaluso is a 2X Section 9 place winner for the Warriors taking 3rd as a freshman in 2019 and 2nd at the 2022 tournament in February as a senior. Sofia will be taking her talents to East Stroudsburg University where she will join her older sister Mia on a team coached by another former Section 9 wrestler, Ellenville graduate Anibal Nieves. Anibal was an Olympic wrestler for Puerto Rico in 1992 and 1996 and won silver medals at the 1991 and 1995 Pan American Games.
World Silver Medalist Sofia Macaluso
Macaluso’s journey to the silver medal was nothing short of epic! In the round of 16 Sofia pinned 2021 Junior World bronze medalist Sito Sito from India in 5:52, then stuck Junior World silver medalist Aurora Russo from Italy in 2:10 in the quarters! In the semis Macaluso locked horns with 2021 Junior World 5th Melda Dernecki from Turkey. Sofia left no doubt – she was leading 12-3 before recording her third consecutive pin of the tournament, this one at the 2:36 mark, and punched her ticket to the finals. In the gold medal match, Macaluso would leave it all on the mat but would fall a little short losing 6-1 to 2019 Cadet World gold medalist Ruka Natami from Japan. Sofia still has a year left of U20 eligibility left and will look to take home the gold next year at the World Championships in Warsaw, Poland.
To say that the Minisink Valley wrestling program had a great summer would be the understatement of the year! The fact that they only lost four wrestlers to graduation must have Coach Gallagher and Coach Hendershot excited for another incredible season! Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the Warriors starting all the way back in January!
In-Season Highlights 2022 NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Champions 2022 NYSPHSAA Individual Tournament Champions – set team points record PJ Duke – 138lb state champion Zack Ryder – 160lb state champion Ethan Gallo – 215lb state champion Mikey Altomer – 170lb state 2nd Eric Tigue – 152lb state 3rd Andrew Filip – 189lb state 4th 4 other NYS Tournament qualifiers (Boice, Tresch, McKernan, and Greiner)
Post Season Highlights Sofia Macaluso – U20 World Silver Medalist @ 57kg Zack Ryder – U17 World Bronze Medalist @ 80kg PJ Duke – Fargo 16U Freestyle Champion @ 138lbs Mikey Altomer – Fargo Junior Greco Champion @ 182lbs; Pan Am Champ @ 82kg
Current High School National Rankings PJ Duke – #4 @138 Flo / #2 @ 138 MatScouts Zack Ryder – #2 @ 182 Flo (#6 P4P) / #2 @ 182 MatScouts (#17 P4P) Ethan Gallo – HM @ 220 Flo / #12 @ 220 MatScouts
World bronze medalist Zack Ryder from Minisink Valley with his club coach Khaled Dassan
Congratulations to Minisink Valley’s Zack Ryder for earning a bronze medal in freestyle at 80kg at the 2022 U17 World Championships held in Rome, Italy. Ryder, about to enter his junior year, is already a 2X NYS Champion and also won the 2021 Journeymen NYS Championship title – the year that the NYSPHSAA did not have a wrestling championship tournament due to COVID. Ryder now adds a World bronze to the Fargo title that he won last season to his Olympic style accolades – pretty impressive for a wrestler with less than 18 months of experience in freestyle wrestling!
Ryder’s experience at the Worlds did not start off smoothly. He drew the wrestler from Iran right out of the gate! Iran is an international power in wrestling. Zack inexperience, and perhaps some nerves, may have affected him in his opening match where he was defeated via technical superiority by his opponent 10-0. International wrestling does not have full wrestle backs like we are accustomed to here in the USA – only the wrestlers who have lost to the eventual finalists are pulled back into the repechage rounds for a chance at a bronze medal. Fortunately for Ryder, the Iranian wrestler reached the finals, so Zack was given a new life and a chance to wrestle back for a bronze.
To nobody’s surprise, Ryder made the best of this opportunity! In order to win a bronze medal, Zack needed to defeat the other three wrestlers who were also defeated by the Iranian. With the support of his club coach Khaled Dassan as well as U17 team coach James Green in his corner, Ryder reeled off three straight wins without surrendering a single point on Day 2 of the tournament and brought home a coveted world medal. He defeated the wrestler from Bulgaria 2-0, he downed Kazakhstan 10-0, and won the bronze with a dominating 8-0 victory over his opponent from Tajikistan. Never satisfied for less than the best, Ryder made it very clear that he intends on taking home a gold medal next year!
The 2022 World Championships were record setting for Coach Green and his U17 freestyle team. Of the ten weight classes, Team USA took home four gold, three silvers and two bronze medals. USA won the team title and set a record for the most points ever scored by a team in tournament history! Great job Team USA!!!!
45 kg – Domenic Munaretto – GOLD 48 kg – Christian Castillo – SILVER 51 kg – Luke Lilledahl – GOLD 55 kg – Jaxen Forrest – SILVER 60 kg – Kyler Larkin – DNP (went 1-1 and only lost 2-1 to the bronze medalist) 65 kg – Tyler Kasak – SILVER 71 kg – Joe Sealey – GOLD 80 kg – Zackary Ryder – BRONZE 92 kg – Maxwell McEnelly – BRONZE 110 kg – Koy Hopke – GOLD
