Section 9 Rankings #5

With the Section 9 Championships less than two weeks away, things are really starting to get interesting!  Kendall Elfstrum from Monroe Woodbury and Connor Greiner from Minisink Valley have returned to action and it looks like they have no signs of rust!  Several wrestlers have still yet to decide which weight class they will enter for sections – and if history is any indication of what to expect, we won’t know until the 11th hour!

As always it’s worth mentioning that these rankings are just for fun and their purpose is to create conversation, “a buzz,” about our sport.  Please keep in mind that rankings are not the same as seedings.  Rankings are merely the opinions of a small group of people and they are subjective.  Seedings for the Section 9 tournaments are done by a formula and they are completely objective.  Respectful comments and suggestions are always welcomed at sectionixwrestling@gmail.com. Enjoy!

99 lbs.
1. Justin Morales – Middletown, freshman
2. Nick Picariello – Minisink Valley, freshman
3. Jordan Suarez – Pine Bush, freshman
4. Colby Amell – Saugerties, sophomore
5. Christian Prokosch – Cornwall, junior
6. Jacob Chenier – Kingston, freshman
I feel like a broken record but I truly believe that this is the deepest, most talented 99 pound weight class we have seen in Section 9 in quite some time!  Morales is your new #1 with his 6-4 win over Picariello while Picariello has a close win over Suarez.  Amell is definitely worth watching here.  He seems to be improving every week and recently pushed state ranked Dennis Robin from Section 1 to the limit before losing 11-8.  Prokosch and Chenier are both having great seasons as are D2 favorites Nikko Walsh from Rondout Valley and Matt Morris from Red Hook.  We also need to keep our eye on MW freshman Nicky Scancarello who went in the utb before dropping a heart breaker to #2 Picariello.  

106 lbs.
1. Dylan Earl – Monroe Woodbury, junior
2. Ryan Burgos – Monroe Woodbury, sophomore
3. Greg Fischer – NFA, junior
4. Kevin Urena – Pine Bush, sophomore
5. Cameron Green – Middletown, freshman
6. Ethan Palanca – New Paltz, 8th grade
Earl is still our #1 and it looks like his closest competition may come from his teammate Burgos who is our new #2 after defeating NFA’s Fischer.  Urena won the title at the Big 10 and has looked tough. Middletown freshman Cameron Green defeated Wade Harris at the Gene Brigham and becomes out new #5 one spot over New Paltz 8th grader Palanca who has also defeated Harris but has been inactive of late.  The D2 race should be very fun to watch with four legit title contenders in Palanca, Harris, Marlboro’s Antonelli, and Onteora’s Pat Ross!

113 lbs.
1. Marco Vespa – Monroe Woodbury, sophomore
2. Matthew Romano – Valley Central, freshman
3. Jimmy Heinlein – Saugerties, sophomore
4. Liam Bullock – Chester, junior
5. Avery Ellison – Wallkill, senior
6. Lucas Fischer – NFA, freshman
Vespa notched his 2nd win over Lynch this season in dramatic fashion by winning a 3-1 sv decision in the final match to give his team the win over MV at the inaugural “Brawl for the Belt.” The match took place at 120 which is where Lynch will now be ranked. VC freshman Romano recently won the Beacon Bulldog and he’s yet to lose to a S9 opponent at 113; he’s your new #2.  Heinlein took 3rd in Beacon and his only local loss at 113 has been by decision to Romano.  Bullock lost a 11-10 decision in the finals of the Big 10 for his first defeat of the season and moves up to #4.  Ellison has been steady and strong all year and just went 5-0 at the NFA Duals.  Lynch’s departure opens the door for NFA freshman Lucas Fischer to return to the board at #6.

120 lbs.
1. Tyler Lynch – Minisink Valley, senior
2. James Faison – Wallkill, freshman
3. Nick Conetta – Chester, senior
4. Patrick Owens – Monticello, senior
5. Joe McGinty – Monroe Woodbury, freshman
6. Tommy Askey – Pine Bush, freshman
This was definitely the most difficult weight class to rank.  Lynch is a returning Section 9 champion and he placed 6th at the Eastern States Classic.  He did however suffer a recent loss to Owens at the Gene Brigham.  Owens has losses to #2 Faison and #3 Conetta who both look very strong right now! It looked like Lynch was nursing an injured elbow so we’ll keep him at #1 for now but this weight will definitely be interesting to follow.  MW’s McGinty has been very tough all year as has PB frosh Askey.  Bouton from Kingston and Savacool from MV aren’t in the top 6 here but definitely have the potential to finish high on the medal stand at sections! This is a great weight to follow.

126 lbs.
1. Connor Greiner – Minisink Valley, junior
2. Robert Satriano – Valley Central, senior
3. Andrew Davis – Wallkill, senior
4. Cameron Wernicki – Monroe Woodbury, senior
5. Nick Albornoz – Minisink Valley, sophomore
6. Nate Ross – Onteora, freshman
2X defending Section 9 champ Greiner returns to action and debuts at #1 followed by VC senior Satriano.  Andrew Davis from Wallkill has been solid and is at #3 followed by Wernicki from MW at #4. MV sophomore Albornoz has looked great at 126 and came in 2nd at the Gene Brigham with his only loss coming to Greiner in the finals.  Nate Ross has looked very good all year but has not wrestled much since ESC so we have him at #6.

132 lbs.
1. Vinny Vetrano – Minisink Valley, junior
2. Ian Houck – Rondout Valley, junior
3. Brad Bonner – Wallkill, senior
4. Anthony Sountis – Monroe Woodbury, senior
5. Robert Estevez – Monroe Woodbury, sophomore
6. Tyler Matos – Middletown, senior
Vinny Vetrano has been on fire!  Within the past two weeks he has posted victories over Houck (5-0), Sountis (7-3), and Satriano (7-1…who may be going 132) so he is our new #1!  Houck, Bonner, and Sountis are all having great seasons and are at 2, 3, and 4.  Estevez does not have a great record however most of his matches have been outside of S9 against very tough kids!  He does have a 7-0 win over #6 Matos from Middletown.

138 lbs.
1. Dominic Vetrano – Minisink Valley, junior
2. Louis Libutti – Monroe Woodbury, senior
3. Dylan Greer – Pine Bush, junior
4. Robert Randall – NFA, senior
5. Kyle Ripa – Wallkill, senior
6. Mat Malherio – Highland, sophomore
Dom Vetrano has looked very tough at 138 and he remains our #1.  Libutti had a nice win over #4 Randall and came in 3rd at the Ridgefield CT tournament and is at #2. Greer posted a win over Matos plus he finished 3rd at the Big Ten up in Albany and remains #3.  Randall looked good at NFA Duals going 4-1 and Ripa went 3-2 at the same event so we’ll keep them at 4 and 5.  Malherio is having a great year and looks to be the favorite at 138 for D2.

145 lbs.
1. Brandon Bobe – Washingtonville, senior
2. Shaun Burgos – Pine Bush, junior
3. Tom Fini – Monroe Woodbury, senior
4. Tyler Serafini – NFA, sophomore
5. William Harrison – Port Jervis, sophomore
6. Mike Kubik – Goshen, senior
Bobe has been rolling right along!  He notched a few very impressive wins including one over former state placer Zach Lawrence and he pushed state ranked Kiernen Shanahan from Shen to the limit before losing 5-2. Harrison suffered a loss to Cornwall’s Gazzillo and drops a few spots. Gazzillo has a few very nice wins this year (Harrison, Pushman, Randall) and is definitely one to watch. Burgos pinned Fini in a dual and is now #2 with Fini right behind him at #3.  Serafini went 5-0 at NFA Duals.  Kubik looked good at the Gene Brigham finishing 3rd with his only loss being a 9-7 decision to the eventual champ from Guilderland.

152 lbs.
1. Evan Barczak – Monroe Woodbury, senior
2. Lucas Wightman – Warwick, senior
3. Nijee Noble – Kingston, senior
4. Dillon Ross – Onteora, junior
5. Nathaniel Garcia – Middletown, senior
6. Tristen Schiafo – Red Hook, junior
Barczak has been a buzzsaw this year and has his sights set on nothing less than a state title.  Wightman backed up his ESC placing by going 5-0 at NFA Duals.  Noble still looks very tough at 152 and will definitely make some noise here. Ross notched another win over Schiafo in a recent dual and stays at #4 but Garcia beat Schiafo in a great match at the Gene Brigham so they flip spots.

160 lbs.
1. Ryan Ferro – Warwick, senior
2. Noah Curreri – Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West, senior
3. Timmy Ganuncio – Minisink Valley, junior
4. Owen Daly – Pine Bush, senior
5. Zachary Beam – Valley Central, senior
6. Lester Larkai – Washingtonville, senior
Ferro has pinned his last 10 opponents and still sits firmly at #1 in Section 9 at 160.  Curreri beat Ganuncio in the finals of the Gene Brigham so he returns to #2 and the MV junior is now #3.  Daly has picked up a few nice wins over Garcia (#5 at 152) and MW’s Vargas so he stays at #4 while Beam and Larkai are right behind him at #5 and #6.

170 lbs.
1. Mark Ohanian – Valley Central, senior
2. Adonis Morano – Middletown, junior
3. Maxx DeCapua – NFA, freshman
4. Brian Mascaro – Wallkill, junior
5. Jason Butler – Port Jervis, junior
6. Jeffery Kiluba – Red Hook, senior
This definitely going to be one of the most interesting weights to follow for the Section 9 D1 tournament.  Earlier in the year is seemed as though Ohanian and Morano were the clear top 2 however there are several others who have recently shown that they can contend for the title.  DeCapua, Mascaro and Butler keep rolling along and we definitely need to watch for MV’s Moore who recently lost a 5-4 nailbiter to top ranked Ohanian in a dual.  Moore actually drops out of our top 6 here due to his loss to Kiluba at the Gene Brigham.  Kiluba seems to be the favorite on the D2 side.

182 lbs.
1. Kendall Elfstrum – Monroe Woodbury, senior
2. Mike Fekishazy – Wallkill, senior
3. Joey Yanis – Minisink Valley, junior
4. Brody Harris – Chester, senior
5. Ben Cuppett – New Paltz, senior
6. Kyle Strauss – Monroe Woodbury, senior
2X Section 9 champion Kendall Elfstrum has made his return and debuts at #1.  Although he finished 4th in NYS at 182 last year, placing him at #1 was not a “no-brainer” because our #2 ranked wrestler here is Mike Fekishazy from Wallkill.  Fekishazy finished 6th in NYS at 170 and has several very impressive wins this season including two over Evan Frank who defeated Elfstrum for 3rd in NYS last year in Albany.  MV junior Joey Yanis is a pinning machine and should not be overlooked here.  Cuppett is a 2X Section 9 D2 champ and is having another good year however he was beaten by Brody Harris from Chester at the Big Ten…we definitely need to watch Harris!  Strauss from MW and VHO from Washingtonville are also having strong seasons!  Cornwall’s Leonard is also having a nice year and will contend for a medal here.

195 lbs.
1. Andrew Covais – Minisink Valley, senior
2. Samson Perez – Monroe Woodbury, senior
3. Billy Kras – Wallkill, senior
4. James Ball – Saugerties, senior
5. Tom Kearns – Goshen, senior
6. Alex Leonty – Washingtonville, senior
Covais has been wrestling very well and is looking like the #1 at 195.  He defeated #2 Perez in the “Brawl for the Belt” by a score of 7-1 and defeated #5 Kearns 9-2 at the Gene Brigham.  Kras is the new #3 after an impressive win over #4 Ball who hung hight with state ranked Davis from Beacon.  Ball also notched a win over Phillips form PJ who is #3 at 220.  Leonty looked good at the Wizard Duals with his only loss coming to Davis from Beacon.  Cornwall has two wrestlers who may compete here – Keller and Cassidy.  We have ranked Cassidy at 220 for now.

220 lbs.
1. Ryan Ellefsen – Goshen, senior
2. Horace Duke – Middletown, senior
3. Scyler Phillips – Port Jervis, senior
4. John Cassidy – Cornwall, senior
5. Andrew Slagle – Minisink Valley, senior
6. Tyler Bohenko – Valley Central , senior
Ellefsen has looked awesome!  He pinned #2 Duke in the Gene Brigham finals and #3 Phillips in a dual.   We have moved Cassidy to #4 at 220 for now but he may end up at 195.  MV’s Andrew Slagle enters the rankings.  He has been looking great recently including a pin over #6 Bohenko.  Harrison Parrelli from Warwick has been wrestling tough too and needs to be watched here!

285 lbs.
1. Andrew Fenner – Minisink Valley, junior
2. Norris Gipson – Middletown, senior
3. Will McCartney – NFA, senior
4. Austin Taylor – Warwick, senior
5. Max Kissack – Washingtonville, junior
6. Will Sutherland – Rondout Valley, senior
Fenner keeps winning. Since our last ranking he has recorded a pin over Gipson, and wins over Kissack, Moore, Sutherland, and Havison.  Gipson took 4th at a tough weight at the Peter Caruso in Mahopac and stays #2. McCartney has been wrestling well and slides up to #3 while Taylor is right behind him at #4.  Kissack has now beaten Leser 2X and enters the rankings at #5 and Rondout Valley senior Sutherland is our new #6!  Leser from Saugerties, Moore from VC, Smith from PB, and Havison from MW are all capable of placing in the D1 tournament.