Preview – 2023 Eastern States Classic

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, The Eastern States Classic is BACK!!! SUNY Sullivan will once again serve host to the ESC which will take place on Friday 1/13 and Saturday 1/14. Although the vast majority of the wrestlers are from New York, this year’s tournament will have wrestlers from eight states – NY, NJ, PA, CT, MA, RI, ME, and VA! Let’s take a look at a weight class by weight class breakdown of the 2023 Eastern States Classic!

102 Pounds
The lightweights are always an exciting weight class to follow at the ESC and this year will be no exception. One of the favorites at 102 is returning NYS D1 champion Dunia Sibomana from Long Beach. Dunia has three losses this year – all at the Beast of the East where he placed 8th. One of his wins at the Beast was against NFA’s Cooper Merli who will definitely be in contention here as will Hauppauge’s Connor Sheridan who went 1-2 in Albany last year. Merli is the defending S9 champ at 102 and made it to the blood round in Albany last year. 102 is deep this year at ESC! Others we need to watch here include Jack Silfies from Wyoming Seminary, William Soto from NFA, Jaron Barrientos from Starpoint, Brayden Kellison-Neglia from Newfane, Vincent Graulau from Mohonasen, Ethan Andreula from Long Beach, Christian Pote from Danbury, and Cullen Edwards from Frontier.

110 Pounds
Luke Satriano from Valley Central finished 4th in NYS D1 last season and is one of the favorites at 110 at this year’s Eastern States Classic. Satriano is undefeated thus far this season and just turned in a very impressive performance where he won the title and majored a nationally ranked wrestler, Raekwon Shabazz, in the finals! Like all of the weight classes at the ESC, 110 has no shortage of talent. Christopher Noto from Honeoye Falls-Lima placed 3rd in the NYS D2 tournament last year and his only loss this year has been a 2-1 utb loss to last year’s 102 D1 state finalist Ryan Ferrara at the Windsor Tournament. Another favorite at this weight will be D2 hammer Gavin Mangano from Shoreham Wading River. Mangano is undefeated this season and has wins over Keeney from Ballston Spa and Mangialino from Comsewogue who are going to 110-pound contenders this year! PSAL’s Evin Gursoy will also contend here. Gursoy placed 3rd in NYS last year and he is currently undefeated in 2022-2023. Ralph Keeney from Ballston Spa and Mason Mangialino from Comsewogue both placed in the state tournament last year and will be contenders here as will Jared Hood from Ponaganset, a Rhode Island state champion last year! Wyoming Seminary has two entries here who could be in the mix in Wyatt Fry who is ranked #6 in the middle school rankings and Hayden Haber who went 1-2 at the Beast of the East. Let’s also keep an eye on Brady Oulette from Noble, ME, Jason Euceda from Brentwood, and Deydon Soto from Danbury, CT.

118 Pounds
With no less than a dozen returning state place winners registered, 118 is going to be a meat grinder of a weight class! Let’s start with the returning, and currently undefeated, D1 and D2 state champions who are entered here – Matt Marlow from D1 Northport and Talan Hubbard from D2 Homer. Marlow has mowed through the competition thus far this year with only one victory not earning bonus points while Hubbard has been tested a few times yet still has an unblemished record in 2022-2023. Marlow and Hubbard are not the only state champions entered here – Joseph Mahoney from New Fairfield is going to make sure that people understand that a CT state crown carries some weight! Anthony Clem from Wantagh will definitely have something to say about the outcome of this bracket. Clem placed 4th in NYS D1 last season, and he is having a great year with his only losses coming at the Beast of the East and up at 126 to fellow Long Island hammer Ray Adams. One of his closest wins came via a 4-2 decision over Sean Campbell from Copiague who is definitely going to go deep at this year’s ESC. Gene Edwards from Central Valley Academy is going to open some eyes here too. Edwards placed 5th in NYS D2 last year and is having a great season sporting an unblemished record. Gabe English from Cobleskill-Richmondville placed 2nd in NYS D2 last season and can’t be overlooked and the same should be said for twin brother Liam who placed 7th in Albany in 2022. A few others to watch here include state placers Dillon Arrick from Arlington, Tyler Whitely from Burnt Hills, Jacob McVige from Honeoye Falls-Lima, Ryan Devins from Saranac, Shane Meenaghan from Chaminade, and Joe Tornambe from Yorktown. Shane Dobbins from Plainedge is worth keeping an eye on too – he’s tough! Section 9 has a handful of tough wrestlers entered here who will be looking to get on the podium in Rocco Futia from Wallkill, Nick Weeden from Valley Central, Wyatt Boice and JoJo Uhrig from Minisink Valley and Marco Piazza from Monroe Woodbury.

126 Pounds
This weight has two nationally ranked wrestlers in the bracket so let’s start there. Max Gallagher from Bayport-Bluepoint was the NYS D2 champion last year and is currently ranked #5 in the nation by Flo and #4 by MatScouts. Gallagher, who will wrestle for Penn next year, placed 4th at this year’s Ironman and 3rd at the 2020 Eastern States Classic. The other nationally ranked stud registered at 126 is Jacob Joyce from Ponaganset, RI. Joyce is a 2X Rhode Island state champ and a 3X state finalist who will be attending Stanford in the Fall. This is definitely not a two-horse race though – just ask Joe Manfredi from Herricks! Manfredi is a 2X NYS D1 finalist and was the 2022 NYS champion at 110 pounds. Manfredi has been wrestling at 138 and 145 all season and is undefeated with every win being either a pin or technical fall. Not to be outdone by brother Anthony, Wantagh junior Joe Clem will also make some noise at the ESC this year. Clem, who placed 3rd in NYS D1 last year, is having an awesome year with his only two losses coming at the Beast of the East! Jaden Crumpler from Niagara Falls can do very well here along with his teammate Amarfio Reynolds – both placed in NYS last year! Ray Adams from Calhoun placed 4th in NYS last year and he’s having a great 2022-2023 campaign as is Andrew Spaulding from Honeoye Falls-Lima who was a D2 state runner-up last season. Others to watch here include Theo Townsend from Brentsville, VA, Cameron Hinchcliff from Ballston Spa, Dylan Sherman from Fairfield, CT, Cody Marchand from Noble, ME, and Nathan Sayers from Xavieran Brothers, MA.

132 Pounds
This will be a very competitive weight at the 2023 ESC however the clear favorite on paper is Tyler Knox from St. John’s Prep, MA. Knox is a 2X MA state champ, a New England champ, and the 2022 Beast of the East champion. Knox, who will wrestle for Stanford next year, is currently ranked #13 in the nation according to Flo and #6 by MatScouts. Two of the wrestlers expected to challenge Knox for the title here hail from Long Island – Jason Kwaak and Brayden Fahrbach. Kwaak is a sophomore from Brentwood who placed 3rd in NYS D1 last year and is currently undefeated this season. Fahrbach, also undefeated thus far this season, is a junior at Mt. Sinai who placed 2nd in NYS D2 last season and 3rd in 2020. Liam Carlin from Burnt Hills and Michael Giugliano from Millers Place are having great season and will definitely contend here as will Newfane sophomore Aiden Gillings who is a 2X state place winner in the D2 tournament. Other former state place winners to keep an eye on here are Kaden Dustin from Noble, MA, Dylan Devine from Schalmont, Patrick Grimsey from Lowville, Jazz Spaulding from Honeoye Falls-Lima, Jesse Defonce from Danbury, CT, and Cooper Reed from Central Valley Academy. Minisink Valley sophomore Anthony Tresch has three losses this year – two at Ironman and one at Kittatinny to nationally ranked Luke Stanich. Tresch can open some eyes here as may AJ Didas from Clarence, and Joseph Joyce from Ponaganset, RI.

138 Pounds
This is going to be a great weight to follow with at least four wrestlers with a legitimate chance to come out on top on Saturday night! Let’s start with our local wrestler Jordan Brown from Monroe Woodbury. JB is a 2X NYS D1 place winner and he is having a great season. He is currently undefeated in 2022-2023 and has a 7-2 win over state placer and wrestler to watch here, Renso Montalvo from Amsterdam. Another contender here is Nick Noto from Honeoye Falls-Lima. Noto is a 3X NYS D2 place winner and is currently having a great season. Noto has three losses on the season, but all three losses are by decision to excellent wrestlers – Cameron Catrabone, Casper Stewart, and Caden Bellis. Noto had a win over 2022 state place winner Gabe Goss from Burnt Hills who is also in this bracket and will do well! Wyoming Seminary has a very tough kid entered here in Matt Dimen. The PA sophomore made it to the blood round at the Beast of the East tournament. Another title hopeful here is Nick Lamorte from Rocky Point. Lamorte, who placed 4th in NYS D1 last year, is undefeated this year and rolled through the competition at the Mid-Hudson. Section 9 has a few other wrestlers to keep an eye on here – Alex Greco from Warwick is a 2X Section 9 champ and a former state place winner while Zak McKernan from Minisink Valley is a 2022 state qualifier who is having an outstanding season! We also can’t look past Griffin LaPlante from Starpoint who placed 5th in NYS last season and just went 2-2 at the ultra-competitive Powerade tournament. A few others to watch here include Thomas Bock from New Fairfield, CT, Max Watson from Iona Prep, Cameron Mayfield from Eagle Academy, and Jackson Stroud from Brentsville, VA.

145 Pounds
All of the weights at the Eastern States Classic will be competitive however if there is one bracket with a heavy favorite it would have to be 145. Williamsville North-East senior Cameron Catrabone is a 3X NYS D1 state place winner and is currently ranked #14 in the nation by FloWrestling and #11 by MatScouts. Catrabone just placed 2nd at Powerade where he notched a win over Vince Bouzakis in the semis. Catrabone, still only a junior, has committed to wrestle for the University of Michigan where his dad Jeff was a 3X All-American. Looking to pick off Catrabone will be 2X Maine state champion Derek Cote from Noble. Cote is currently undefeated this season as is Owen Hicks from Fonda-Fultonville-Johnstown. Hicks placed 4th in the NYS D2 tournament last season, and he has scored bonus points in every victory this season. His closest match all season was a 10-2 major over Colin Carlin from Burnt Hills who will be competitive here. Canisteo-Greenwood sophomore Colton Havens placed 6th in NYS D2 last year and is a wrestler to watch here as is Kyle Barber from Bayport Bluepoint who was a D2 state placer. Kieren Cullen from Greenville was a D2 state place winner two seasons ago so we should keep an eye on him, but we really should keep Luke Greiner from Minisink Valley on our radar! Griener was a D1 Section 9 champ last year and went 1-2 at the state tournament. He is currently 15-3 on the season with two of his losses coming at Ironman and the other being a 5-2 loss to Jordan Brown. Greiner just pinned his way through the Kittatinny tournament. One of Greiner’s losses at the state tournament last year was to Daniel Parker from Ithaca who is entered here. Parker is undefeated this year and will make some noise here at 145. A few others to watch here are Jesse VanOrden from Wantagh and Kenneth Leverich from Smithtown West.

152 Pounds
The 152 bracket is loaded with talent and will be a great weight class to follow at the 2023 Eastern States Classic. One of the favorites at this year’s event will be Casper Stewart from Section 5. Stewart, from Attica-Batavia, is a 2X NYS D1 state place winner who is undefeated this year with quality wins over Renso Montalvo, Nick Noto, and Colton Havens. Wyoming Seminary’s Nolan Liess placed 7th at the Beast of the East a few weeks ago and he will definitely be in the hunt here. Ponaganset senior Jason Hood placed 4th in the New England tournament and will definitely be in the mix here as will Connor Gregory from Ballston Spa who placed 7th in D1 NYS last season. Gregory’s only loss this season came to the best 152-pound wrestler in the nation, PJ Duke from Minisink Valley who is out with an injury. Recent Hofstra commit Frankie Volpe from Hauppauge placed 3rd in NYS D1 last season and his only two losses this year were at Ironman so we should definitely keep our eyes on him, and let’s not forget about 2X D2 NYS state placer Sixx Cook from Central Valley Academy. Gouverneur junior Vandavian Way placed 4th in NYS D2 last year and will compete for a medal here as will Sean Tansey from the Collegiate School who was a state placer in 2022. A few others to watch here include Cole Cuppett from New Paltz, Charles Grippo from Delbarton, Devon Downes from Plainedge, and Charles Foster from Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.

160 Pounds
Perhaps one of the most wide-open weight classes at the 2023 ESC, 160 should provide plenty of fireworks for wrestling fans! There are several wrestlers registered here with a legitimate shot at winning the title but let’s start with Jack Forte from Clarke HS. Forte finished 3rd in NYS D1 last year and is currently undefeated in 2022-2023 with every win earning bonus points. One of the wrestlers expected to push Forte both here and in Albany is Tyler Reed from Cornwall. Reed was a state qualifier last year but seems to have taken his game to the next level this year. Reed is currently undefeated and just ran the table in a very tough weight in winning the Mid-Hudson tournament. Another wrestler to watch here is Andrew Reall from Ponaganset, RI. Reall was a RI state champ last season and a NE tournament place winner. Gage LaPlante from Starpoint is another wrestler with the potential to be the last man standing on Saturday night. LaPlante placed 7th in the D1 NYS tournament last but has level jumped this year and recently placed 8th at the very tough Powerade tournament! Joe Mattei from Herricks placed 8th at the NYS D1 tournament last year so we shouldn’t overlook him and let’s not forget about Sean Degl from Iona Prep who is only has one loss this year and that was an 8-6 decision to state placer Tansey during the opening weekend of the season. Wyoming Seminary has a very tough kid entered here in Jake Bacon who went 1-2 at the Beast of the East. A few other to watch here are Sam Ricci from Victor, Michael Syposs from Niagara Falls, and Jack Clough from Watertown.

172 Pounds
One of the top contenders at the 172 pound weight class at this year’s Eastern States Classic is Justin Soriano from Clarke HS on Long Island. Soriano placed 3rd in NYS D1 last season and is currently undefeated in his 2022-2023 campaign. Another wrestler to watch here at 172 is Braidon Woodward from Canisteo-Greenwood. Woodward placed 3rd in NYS D2 last season and is also undefeated thus far this year with every match ending in pin or technical fall. Minisink Valley senior Andrew Filip finished 4th in NYS D1 last year and his only losses this year were at Ironman. Filip will definitely contend here as will Ponaganset’s Nicholas Baccala who is a 3X Rhode Island state finalist. Rafael Knapp from Algonquin Regional, MA placed 3rd in New England and he was a NHSCA All-American so we definitely need to keep an eye on him, and we should also look out for Sam Szerlip who is mowing through competitors this season! A few others to watch here include Will Johnson from Brentsville, VA, Leo Venables from Carmel, Henry Forte from Delbarton, and Robert Cunningham from Millers Place.

189 Pounds
With Minisink Valley’s Zack Ryder a few weeks away from returning to the mat, the 189-pound weight class at the ESC is wide open! One of the favorites here has a last name that we are very familiar with – Diakomihalis. Hilton sophomore Elijah Diakomihalis placed 3rd in NYS D1 last season as a freshman and is undefeated this season with every match ending by fall or technical fall. Eric Carlson from Manhasset is another wrestler to watch here. He placed 3rd in NYS D1 last year and is also sporting a perfect record this year including the title at the Windsor tournament. Ethan Randall from Central Valley Academy placed 2nd in NYS D2 last year and is having a great season this year as is Ponaganset’s Preston Marchesseault who finished 3rd in RI last year. Section 9 has two very talented wrestlers registered here who could definitely end up on the medal stand on Saturday night. Pine Bush senior Brayden Pennell was a state qualifier last year and his only loss this year was to Andrew Filip from Minisink Valley. Middletown junior Bryson Tibbs was also a state qualifier last year and he has pinned every opponent he’s faced this season! A few others to watch at 189 this year are Alexander Berisha from Fox Lane and Kwasi Bonsu from Baldwin.

215 Pounds
This weight class has no shortage of talent, but all signs point to a showdown between last year’s D1 NYS champion Ethan Gallo squaring off with last year’s D2 NYS champion Sam Sorenson! Gallo, a senior from Minisink Valley, is currently ranked 11th in the nation by Flo and 17th by MatScouts is having a tremendous senior season! He placed 5th at the Ironman and dominated everyone at the Kittatinny tournament. Sorenson, a senior from Homer High School in Section 3, is also undefeated this year and won the title at the Windsor tournament a few weeks ago. By no means is 215 going to be a two-horse race at this year’s Eastern States Classic! Trent Sibble from Bolivar-Richburg was a state finalist last year narrowly losing to Sorenson and he is having an awesome 2022-2023 which includes a win over 285 hammer Stephan Monchery. Darrien Insogna from Ballston Spa will definitely contend here. Insogna has only one blemish on his record this year – a 6-1 loss to Gallo during the first weekend of the season. The state of Connecticut is well represented in this bracket with James Duhancik from Stratford and Jhonnyel Ramirez from Danbury who finished 2nd and 4th respectively last year in the CT state tournament. Matt Oosterom from Port Jervis has been dominating opponents this year and will definitely be in the mix as will Evan Day from Salem-Cambridge, Matt Caldwell from Starpoint, Ben Velsquez from MacArthur, Dominic Jones fromMount Markam, and Gavin Furst from Cornwall.

285 Pounds
Some of the most memorable finals matches in the history of the Eastern States Classic have come from the heavyweights! This year has the potential to add to that legacy. Two of the best D1 285-pound wrestlers in NYS this year, Sebastian Regis and Stephan Monchery are entered here. Regis, a junior from East Islip placed 2nd in NYS D1 last season and he is undefeated this season. Monchery, a junior from Middletown, has suffered one loss this year, an 8-4 decision to Trent Sibble during the first weekend of the season. They say that styles make matches, and this bout can potentially become another instant heavyweight classic from the ESC! Connecticut has two state placers entered here. Doug Trainor from New Fairfield finished 2nd in CT last year while Nuh Adjindoski from Danbury placed 3rd. Christian Solano from Eagle Academy-Bronk was a D2 NYS place winner last year and we also should keep an eye on Gabe Garibaldi from Iona Prep who is having a great season. A few others to watch here include Logan Ormond from New Paltz, Aiden DeEntremont from Goshen, and Ty Radar from Victor.