Section 9 Championships – Recap

101 W. Soto (NFA)
108 C. Merli (NFA)
116 B. Judd (War)
124 L. Satriano (VC)
131 Mercado (NFA)
138 DJ Aviles (Midd)
145 Ketcham (Was)
152 L. Greiner (MV)
160 PJ Duke (MV)
170 Q. Morgan (MV)
190 Zach Filip (MV)
215 B. Tibbs (Midd)
285 Monchery (Mid)

EJ Vass (VC)
Marco Futia (Wall)
Jordan Busby (NFA)
Viktor Banda (Wall)
Jacob Roger (Midd)
Wyatt Boice (MV)
Anthony Tresch (MV)
Logan Pennell (PB)
Isaiah Hockx (Saug)
Musa Aljamal (Wash)
C. Herriman (FDR)
Jacob Dejesus (Wash)
R. Bradley (Midd)

Kelly Sullivan (MW)
O. Milmore (Wash)
S. Chrisjohn (Saug)
Elijah Brown (MW)
Nate Racz (MV)
Griff Petzold (War)
J. Goldberg (Wash)
Mike Accardo (War)
Liam Dakin (FDR)
A. Annacone (Wall)
J. Accardo (War)
Chris Leggett (NFA)
K. Crowe-Bailey (MV)

Boys – Division 2

For the 5th time in the last six years, Port Jervis has won the Section 9 Division 2 Championship tournament. The Raiders placed 11 wrestlers in the top-4, had nine finalists, and crowned three champions on their way to the team title. Earning title for Port Jervis were Ryan Ross at 160, Maddox McCormick at 190, and Matt Oosterom at 215. Ross is already a 2X Section 9 champ winning in 2020 and 2022 and is hoping his 3rd trip to Albany will end with him standing on the podium. His teammate Matt Oosterom has also been to the state tournament twice – and he placed both times! Oosterom finished 7th in the state as a sophomore and took 4th last season. This year he is looking to cap off his high school career by becoming Section 9’s first ever Division 2 state champion! McCormick will be making his 2nd trip to the state capitol and has a great shot of making it to the medal stand! Port Jervis won the team title handily amassing 242 points followed by Red Hook with 160.5, Chester with 136, Onteora with 119 and Highland rounding out the top-5 with 118 points.

Red Hook and Highland both had two champions. Red Hook’s Ewen Celestine, who is now a 2X Section 9 champion, won the title at 124 by defeating Port Jervis’ Justin Harrison in a match that was voted as the Most Exciting Finals Match by the coaches. Heavyweight Mark Paschal was Red Hook’s other champion. Highland had champions at 116 in Bradley Gatto and 152 in Quin Jones. Reese Greathouse, who is a Marlboro HS student but trains and competes with Highland, won the title at 131 pounds. Justin Coiteux from New Paltz is now a 3X Section 9 Division 2 champion and for the 2nd year in a row he was selected as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler! Thomas Shields from Onteora is now a 2X Section 9 champ winning the crown at 138 pounds. Chester 170 pounder Michael Franco needed to defeat a returning Section 9 champion, Ivan Figueroa from Port Jervis, in order to win his crown and punch his ticket to Albany. In a battle of 7th graders in the 101-pound final, Rondout Valley’s Matteo Walsh was victorious and will be heading to Albany as will Our Lady of Lourdes 108-pound sophomore Bryce Reilly who is his school’s first ever Section 9 champion.

Let’s take a look at the 13 Division 2 wrestlers who will be representing Section 9 at the state tournament in Albany!

Girls Division

It was a great weekend for Minisink Valley Wrestling! Much like the boys ran away with the Division 1 title on Saturday, the girls of Minisink Valley dominated the competition and took home the team title at the 2024 Section 9 Girls Wrestling Championships! The Lady Warriors sent nine wrestlers to the finals and crowned three champions enroute to 207 points and the team title. Saugerties finished 2nd in the team race with 85 points followed by Middletown (79 points), Port Jervis (72 points), and Monroe Woodbury (49 points). Minisink was led by now 2X Section 9 champion Jaida Macaluso who won the crown at 132 pounds. The two other Lady Warriors to take home “Gold” were Victoria Barbarini at 100 pounds and Leah Lofstedt at 165 pounds. The other Minisink Valley finalists were Amelia Patzelt (94), Makenna Matone (100), Peyton Matone (114), Sara Pauls (120), Ryleigh Jennings (126), and Patricia Deslandes (235).

In one of the more anticipated matchups of the tournament, Alyssa Reed from Port Jervis defeated Minisink Valley’s Sara Pauls in the finals at 120. Pauls was a Section 9 champion last year and also won the 2023 Girls Invitational in Syracuse. For her efforts Reed, who pinned all three of her opponents, was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler in a nearly unanimous vote. Valley Central’s Olivia Schmidt had to defeat returning champ Keira Filip from Minisink in the semis before beating Noelle Luke from Saugerties to with the title at 107 pounds. Savannah Tittelback (114) and Meredith Mills (145) helped Saugerties to their 2nd place team finish by winning their weight classes in convincing fashion! Liberty also had two champs as Zoe Kip won the crown at 152 and Cheyenne Graham took home the title at 165. Norma Avila from Middletown avenged her Eastern States Classic finals loss to MV’s Deslandes and won the bracket at 235 while Warwick’s Victoria Alvarado came all the way from the 8-seed to win the crown at 138. FDR’s Natalia Quinteros Tejada was the winner at 94 pounds and Jada Lee won gold at 126 for Monroe Woodbury.

Starting in the 2024-2025, Girls Wrestling will no longer be considered an emerging sport by the NYSPHSAA and will have a state championship tournament in Albany! Congratulations to all of the wrestlers who competed in yesterday’s tournament. You are paving the way for one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. Let’s take a look at the 2024 Section 9 Girls Wrestling champions.