Now that we are done with the holiday tournaments I think it’s a good time to post some updated rankings. Many, but not all, wrestlers have dropped down a weight class because of the +2 so there is have been a lot of changes! Since I had some extra time over the holidays I decided to post the rankings in a slightly different format and provide some notes for each weight class.
As always, I apologize if I have overlooked anyone and please feel free to send respectful feedback to sectionixwrestling@gmail.com. Let’s take a look at the top guys in each weight…
99 lbs.
1. Nick Picariello – Minisink Valley, freshman
2. Colby Amell – Saugerties, sophomore
3. Christian Prokosch – Cornwall, junior
4. Justin Morales – Middletown, freshman
5. Jacob Chenier – Kingston, freshman
The 99 pound weight class in Section 9 is as deep as I can ever remember! Picariello’s only losses have been in NJ at 106 pounds. Amell just had an impressive showing at the Mid Hudson including a pin over Prokosch who he lost to earlier this season. Morales just made the cut to 101 and placed at the very tough Massapequa Holiday Tournament where he picked up a win over MW’s Nicky Scancarello who is definitely a wrestler to watch here. Chenier is a tough freshman with a lot of upside. This weight may become even tougher if Pine Bush freshman Jordan Suarez makes this weight!
106 lbs.
1. Dylan Earl – Monroe Woodbury, junior
2. Greg Fischer – NFA, junior
3. Jordan Suarez – Pine Bush, freshman
4. Pat Ross – Onteora, 8th grade
5. Wade Harris – Red Hook, senior
Earl has looked great and just picked up the title at the Massapequa tournament. Fischer looked awesome at the Mid Hudson! He took 3rd however he was dominating the eventual champ in the semis 7-0 before getting caught in tight headlock and pinned. Suarez gave Earl all he could handle a few weeks ago and might be even tougher if he drops to 99! Ross made it to the finals of the Mid Hudson by defeating Harris – a 2X Section 9 champion! If MW’s Ryan Burgos can make it to 108 he will definitely be a factor here!
113 lbs.
1. Marco Vespa – Monroe Woodbury, sophomore
2. Matthew Romano – Valley Central, freshman
3. Ryan Burgos – Monroe Woodbury, sophomore
4. Jimmy Heinlein – Saugerties, sophomore
5. Lucas Fischer – NFA, sophomore
Vespa has been dominating this year but we can’t sleep on Mid Hudson champion Romano who is undefeated thus far! Burgos has been very impressive as has Heinlein who made the cut to 113 for the Mid Hudson where he finished 2nd to Romano. Fischer makes his way into the top 5 here with a 3rd place finish at the Mid Hudson where he beat teammate Tyler Dellatorre 5-3 in OT in their medal match. Pine Bush sophomore Kevin Urena will also be in the conversation here.
120 lbs.
1. Tyler Lynch – Minisink Valley, senior
2. James Faison – Wallkill, freshman
3. Joe McGinty – Monroe Woodbury, freshman
4. Nick Conetta – Chester, freshman
5. Carson Sauschuck – Port Jervis, junior
Lynch looked great taking the title in Kittatinny, NJ! Faison (5th at Mid Hudson) and McGinty (3rd at Massapequa) also had great holiday tournaments. Conetta and Sauschuck have had great years thus far as have Tommy Askey from Pine Bush and Brandon DeLaRosa from NFA. 120 is shaping up to be a very solid weight in Section 9!
126 lbs.
1. Andrew Davis – Wallkill, senior
2. Cameron Wernicki – Monroe Woodbury, senior
3. Derrick Magsamen – Pine Bush, junior
4. Nate Ross – Onteora, freshman
5. Emanuel Ward – Monroe Woodbury, senior
Like 120, this weight class will also be pretty deep on the D1 side. Davis made it to the semis of the Mid Hudson before forfeiting out to 4th place. Wernicki placed 4th at the Massapequa Holiday Tournament where his teammate Ward went 2-2 and was one win from placing. Ross has only lost to Davis, Conetta, and a tough S11 kid and has a pin over Nick Curreri who made it to the semis at the Windsor Tournament and should not be overlooked. Minisink Valley’s Connor Greiner, a 2X Section 9 champion, should be returning to action very soon and will definitely be a factor here!
132 lbs.
1. Ian Houck – Rondout Valley, junior
2. Robert Satriano – Valley Central, senior
3. Brad Bonner – Wallkill, senior
4. Anthony Sountis – Monroe Woodbury, senior
5. Patrick Owens – Monticello, senior
Houck made it to the finals of the Mid Hudson and notched wins over Satriano and Bonner along the way. Bonner finished 4th and Satriano 5th at the Mid Hudson but I’ve kept Satriano over Bonner because of his early season head to head over him. Sountis made it to the finals of the Massapequa tournament and Owens has been solid all year.
138 lbs.
1. Louis Libutti – Monroe Woodbury, senior
2. Vinny Vetrano – Minisink Valley, junior
3. Robert Randall – NFA, senior
4. Kyle Ripa – Wallkill, senior
5. Mat Malherio – Highland, sophomore
In one of the most exciting matches of the year, Libutti defeated Vetrano in SV at the Section 9 Duals. Randall had a great Mid Hudson Tournament finishing in 2nd place and had a win over #5 Malherio, who finished 6th. Ripa has been solid all year and took 4th in the Mid Hudson. The landscape of 132, 138, and 145 could change if the Vetrano twins decide to drop down a weight…we shall see!
145 lbs.
1. William Harrison – Port Jervis, sophomore
2. Dominic Vetrano – Minisink Valley, junior
3. Tom Fini – Monroe Woodbury, senior
4. Shawn Burgos – Pine Bush, junior
5. Tyler Serafini – NFA, sophomore
Harrison grabs the top spot with a hard fought win over Vetrano at the Jim Wilson Duals. Fini grabbed 3rd at the Massapequa tournament and Burgos has been very tough all year losing only one match to a kid from Section 1. Serafini has had an excellent season thus far but has several other kids nipping at his heels for the #5 spot including Cornwall’s Gazzillo, Wallkill’s Pushman, and Onteora’s Chartrand. Might we see Bobe from Washingtonville here in the very near future???
152 lbs.
1. Evan Barczak – Monroe Woodbury, senior
2. Brandon Bobe – Washingtonville, senior
3. Nijee Noble – Kingston, senior
4. Tristen Schiafo – Red Hook, junior
5. Dillon Ross – Onteora, junior
Barczak is nationally ranked by Flo at #20 and has committed to wrestle at D1 Drexel. His only loss this year has been to a kid from Canada who recently placed 4th at the Beast of the East. Bobe has been dominating his opponents! He is undefeated with every win being either pin or tech fall. Noble was very impressive in taking first at the Mid Hudson where he avenged a day 1 pool match loss to Schiafo be defeating him 3-1 in the day 2 finals. Schiafo defeated Ross in the semis in OT.
160 lbs.
1. Ryan Ferro – Warwick, senior
2. Noah Curreri – Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West, senior
3. Timmy Ganuncio – Minisink Valley, junior
4. Lucas Wightman – Warwick, senior
5. Zachary Beam, Valley Central, senior
Ferro was last year’s NYS champion at 152 and he’s been an absolute buzz saw this year! Curreri has been a force as well having just taken 1st at the Windsor Christmas Tournament. Ganuncio is 18-2 this year with no losses to Section 9 opponents and Wightman’s only S9 loss has been to Barczak. Beam grabbed the #5 spot but there were several others in contention including Saugerties frosh Graham Knisell and Cornwall’s Thomas Cook.
170 lbs.
1. Mike Fekishazy – Wallkill, senior
2. Mark Ohanian – Valley Central, senior
3. Adonis Morano – Middletown, junior
4. Brian Mascaro – Wallkill, junior
5. Jason Butler – Port Jervis, junior
Fekishazy has been awesome this year notching wins over Evan Frank from Section 1 (3rd NYS D1) and James Hoeg of Section 11 (4th NYS D2) – both at 182! Ironically, the only blemish on Fek’s record this season has been a loss at 170…it will be interesting to see where he goes in February! Ohanian has been a beast. He’s undefeated and has scored bonus points in every match except a 9-6 win over #4 Mascaro. Morano is having a great year as well and just placed 4th in a very tough weight at the Massapequa Tournament. Butler’s only S9 loss has been to Morano and he recently picked up a win over Minisink’s Demetrius Moore who is another wrestler to watch here.
182 lbs.
1. Joey Yanis – Minisink Valley, junior
2. Ben Cuppett – New Paltz, senior
3. Maxx DeCapua – NFA, freshman
4. Kyle Strauss – Monroe Woodbury, senior
5. Will Leonard – Cornwall, sophomore
Yanis was a D1 sectional finalist at this weight last season and has been very good this year. His only loss was in the finals of the Linn Crawn Tournament in Kittatinny, NJ. Cuppett is a 2X defending S9 D2 champ but has had very limited action this year so he’s at #2 for now. DeCapua placed 3rd in the sections at 170 as an 8th grader last year and has been very tough this year. He took 4th at the Mid Hudson where Leonard took 5th with a win over the aforementioned Mascaro.
195 lbs.
1. Tom Kearns – Goshen, senior
2. Andrew Covais – Minisink Valley, senior
3. Alex Leonty – Washingtonville, senior
4. Henricus Van Heedstede Obelt, senior
5. Thomas Keller – Cornwall, senior
This was by far the most difficult weight class to rank. Covais was a S9 D1 finalist at this weight last year and has been dominating the competition this year including a 1st place finish at Kittatinny. He did recently lose to John Cassidy from Cornwall however so Covais slides to #2 behind Kearns who is undefeated and has a nice win over Oquendo from Middletown. Cassidy and Oquendo didn’t crack the top 5 yet but are definitely wrestlers to watch. Leonty from Washingtonville has looked tough and only has one loss to a S9 opponent and that was at 220 to Port Jervis’ Scyler Phillips. Leonty’s teammate VHO has only one loss (Covais) and has a pin over Cornwall’s Keller who sits at #5 after taking 4th at the Mid Hudson. Wallkill’s Billy Kras finished 5th at the Mid Hudson and shouldn’t be overlooked.
220 lbs.
1. Ryan Ellefsen – Goshen, senior
2. Samson Perez – Monroe Woodbury, senior
3. Horace Duke – Middletown, senior
4. Scyler Phillips – Port Jervis, senior
5. James Ball – Saugerties, senior
Ellefsen was a state finalist last year and has committed to wrestle at D1 Clarion next year. He has pinned every opponent this year. We were hoping to see Duke vs Perez at Massapequa but Perez was ill and did not wrestle; Duke finished 4th. We’ll keep it Perez #2 and Duke #3 for now but I have a feeling that match-up could go either way. Scyler Phillips is having a nice year with wins over Leonty and Ball and he also made it to the semis at the holiday tournament in Bethlehem Catholic, PA. Ball dominated the competition at the Mid Hudson taking home the title by pinning his opponent from S11 Longwood in the finals! John Goodall from Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West is also having a great year and could definitely re-enter the top-5 soon while Minisink Valley’s Andrew Slagle’s only S9 losses have been to Perez, Duke, and Leonty and should also not be overlooked!
285 lbs.
1. Andrew Fenner – Minisink Valley, junior
2. Norris Gipson – Middletown, senior
3. Guy Soumah – New Paltz, senior
4. Austin Taylor – Warwick, senior
5. Will McCartney – NFA, senior
Fenner was a Section 9 D1 finalist at this weight last season and has been very impressive this year! He has not been beaten by a S9 wrestler and just pinned his way to the title at the Linn Crawn in Kittatinny, NJ. Gipson’s only S9 loss has been to Fenner and he has wins over #3 Soumah and #4 Taylor. Soumah’s only S9 loss has been to Gipson and posted a nice 7-2 win over McCartney earlier this season. Taylor’s only local loss has been to Gipson and also has a win over MW’s Havison who is not ranked but definitely worth keeping an eye on! The #5 spot was a toss-up between McCartney and Leser from Saugerties. I gave McCartney the not based on a strong showing at the Mid Hudson where he took 2nd. Leser had to injury default out of the Mid Hudson after a quarterfinal loss however he does have an early season win over McCartney and shouldn’t be overlooked. Washingtonville’s Max Kissack, VC’s Bryce Moore, and Cornwall’s Owen Astigarraga are all also very solid heavyweights!