Author: Mike Carey

Preview: Warwick, Monroe and Minisink at the UE Duals

Jon "Bones" Jones: Former Union Endicott wrestler, 2005 NYS Champ, and current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

The Union Endicott (UE) Duals has become the unofficial dual meet state championship tournament for New York.  All three of Section 9’s top-10 state-ranked teams (Warwick, MW, and MV) will be attending.  Let’s take a look at some of the potential highlights for the upcoming weekend.

Third-ranked Warwick will compete in Day 1 pool matches against Long Beach (Section 8), John Glenn (Section 11), and Chenango Forks (Section 4) on Saturday.  Marquee match-ups for Warwick may include Justin Corradino taking on Oral Allen from Long Beach at 120lbs and Shane Connolly squaring off against James Dekrone of John Glenn at 138.  

At a glance, it would appear that Monroe Woodbury received a very favorable draw being pooled with host Union Endicott (Section 4) and Half Hollow Hills West (Section 11).  Section 6’s Clarence was originally in the pool, but has decided to pull out of the tournament.  That being said…there are typically no easy matches at UE.  Union Endicott is ranked 20th in NYS and has some outstanding wrestlers.  AJ Voelker taking on UE’s Richie Lupo at 145 could be war!  HHHW is also not without it’s heavy hitters as Tyler Grimaldi is one of the best 160 lb. wrestlers in the state.

Of the three S9 teams, Minisink Valley appears to have drawn the “short straw.”  The Warriors have been pooled with Shenedehowa (Section 2), Brockport (Section 5), Johnson City (Section 4).   Shenendehowa, the top-ranked team in New York State, has already beaten Warwick 60-15 earlier this year.  Warwick, however, was not at full-strength at the time and Minisink is young, tough, and rapidly improving…matches aren’t wrestled on paper.  This pool may contain some true, highlight-reel matches.  Watch as undefeated Warrior Gerard Daly takes on Shenedehowa’s Kevin Parker at 99 pounds and Minisink’s 106 pounder Michael Raccioppi puts his 22-0 record on the line against defending Section 5 champion Barton Peters III of Brockport. 

The four teams that win their respective pools during Day 1 advance to a championship bracket on Sunday.  It the top 4 seeds were to advance, the semifinals would pit Monroe Woodbury against Shenedehowa and Warwick would take on perennial state powerhouse Spencerport (Section 5).  Good luck to all three Section 9 teams…go for the gold!!!

New NYS Team Rankings Released…Warwick #3, Monroe Woodbury #7, and Minisink Valley #10

The New York State Sportswriters’ Association has released their NYS Team Rankings #2 and Section 9, once again, is very well represented.  Warwick holds onto their position as the 3rd ranked team in the state.  Monroe Woodbury and Minisink Valley, meanwhile, have improved their standing.  Monroe, previously ranked #8, improved by one position and is now the 7th ranked team in NYS.  Minisink Valley also improved by one slot and the Warriors are now ranked #10.  Thank’s right….Section 9 now has 3 of the top 10 ranked Division 1 (large school) wrestling teams in New York State!  Great job guys!  Click for complete list.

In Division 2 (small school), Red Hook and Onteora have both been dropped from the top 20.  The season, however, is only about half over, so they have plenty of time to get back on the list! 

***Congratulations Section 9 Wrestling!!!***

Wednesday’s Results

Results from Wednesday 1/4 as the come in:

MV 54 PJ 26  Raccioppi(MV) beats Booth(PJ) 4-3…Sauschuck(PJ) pins Fennell(MV)
MW 46 PB 22 Smoot(MW) defeats Stramiello(PB) 16-11 … Cuccolo(PB) pins Vespa(MW)
Washingtonville 64 Monticello 11  Milisci(Wash) majors Evans(Mont)
NFA 51 VC 14  Bastone(NFA) pins Campbell(VC)…Cuilty(NFA) returns, beats Florio(VC)
Cornwall 59 Wallkill 14  Storer(Corn) dec Sebesta(Wall); Johnson(Corn) dec Crespi(Wall)
Chester 42 TriValley 36  TriValley 48 Liberty 21  TriValley splits in 1st ever home duals!
Onteora 53 Tuxedo 30 Onteora’s Leighton and Weigel both record falls
Onteora 49 Ellenville 27  Ellenville 43 Tuxedo 30  Ellenville splits tri-meet 
Saugerties 75 Goshen 9 Merenyi(Gosh) dec. Farrell(S) 9-3; Stanley(S) remains unbeaten
RV 78 Millbrook 0    RV 63 Burke 6  Rondout Valley pounds opponents
Red Hook 51 New Paltz 30   Red Hook 52 Eld-Falls 23  Red Hook sweeps tri-meet

10th Annual Eastern States Wrestling Classic is January 13 & 14…100 Teams Entered!!!

The field is nearly set for the 1oth annual Eastern States Wrestling Classic (ESC).   The tournament takes place on Friday, January 13th and Saturday, January 14th in the Paul Gerry Fieldhouse on the campus of SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, NY.  As of this moment, there are a mind-blowing 100 teams entered in this year’s event including squads from NY, PA, CT, and VA! 

Already considered one of the most challenging tournaments in the country, the Eastern States Wrestling Classic just seems to get tougher and tougher every year…this year’s event is certainly no different!  Take a look below at just a few of the teams making their inaugural ESC appearance at this year’s tournament.

Wyoming Seminary:  8th ranked team in the US; 4 wrestlers ranked top 20 in nation 
Wantagh:  NY power from Long Island; ranked #42 in the country and co-#1 in NY
Phoenix: Coached by 2X NCAA Champ Gene Mills; ’11 NYS Champ Nick Tighe is at 126
Iroquois: Coached by ’03 NYS Champ & VC grad Pat Lloyd; ’11 NYS Champ Kloc @ 145

                2012 ESC Teams                    Fan Info Packet                ESC Past Champions

Busy Week Ahead for Section 9 Wrestling!!!

Fans of Section 9 wrestling have an outstanding week of high school wrestling about to unfold in front of them.  Below I have highlighted a few of the upcoming matches and tournaments.  For your convenience I have also “linked” a complete, printer-friendly schedule for the entire week ahead. 

Tuesday 1/3 – Goshen @ Cornwall
Wednesday 1/4   PJ @ MV … Alumni Night 6:30 start…Booth vs Raccioppi
                                                     Muller/Sauschuck vs Fennell, Edwards/DeCarlo vs Mayo???
                               VC @ NFA …Cambell vs. Bastone???
                              MW @ PB …Vespa vs Cuccolo, Smoot vs Stramiello, Murphy vs Robles
                                                       Vandercliff vs Weston, Milano vs Sause???
Friday 1/6 and Saturday 1/7… Middie Duals …Middies, PJ, Corn, King and Tri-Valley
Saturday 1/7 and Sunday 1/8…UE Duals…Warwick, MW, and MV
                                                         Russ Cordell Invitational…Saugerties’ Ethan Stanley to face
                                                                   Owego’s James Merritt (17-0)!!!!
                                                         Shoreline Tournament at New Rochelle….Pine Bush

Complete Printable Schedule
 1-2-2012 to 1-8-2012

***Mark your calendar…The Eastern States Wrestling Classic is less two weeks away!!!  This years event wil take place on Friday (1/13) and Sat (1/14) at SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, NY.*** 

Rankings #5….Who’s Dropping…Who’s Not???

Happy Holidays to you and your families!  Can it be true?  Is the Eastern States Classic less than two weeks away?  Are Warwick, Monroe Woodbury, and Minisink Valley all going to the UE Duals this weekend?  Time to get serious boys and girls!  Rankings #5 are up…let’s get it on!!!!

Remember that rankings are announced live, every Monday night, on the Section 9 Wrestling Talk Show at http://www.kjbroadcasting.com/ at 7:00 PM.  The show is archived for on-demand listening within 24 hours of original airing.

Wt.          First                       Second                        Third                     Fourth___
99         Daly (MV)               Vespa (MW)              Cuccolo (PB)               Rivera (NFA)    106       Stramiello (PB)      Raccioppi (MV)        Ingraham (High)       Bastone (NFA) 113        Kreider (Corn)       Smoot (MW)             Rambrose (MV)        Vargas (Mont)   120       Corradino (War)   Jackson (Midd)        Hodes (RV)                Mongiello (Wash)    126       Brown (Midd)        Derham (NFA)         Andreakis(Wash)      Johnson (Corn)      132       Murphy (MW)        Roth (Corn)              Dimler (RV)               Robles (PB)           138       Connolly (War)      Morse (RV)              Milisci (Wash)            Curley (MW) 
145       Wierzbicki (War)    Muller (PJ)              Voelker (MW)           Fennell (MV)   152        Sauschuck (PJ)      Weston (PB)            Sommer (RV)            Vandercliff (MW)
160       Bedross (War)        Edwards (PJ)          Milano (MW)             Weigel (Ont)
170       Casey (Wash)          Sause (PB)               DeCarlo (PJ)              Mayo (MV)          182       Sannella (MV)        Hasan (VC)              Sakac (War)               Seth (MW)
195       Edmond (King)      Kelly (MW)              Leavell(War)             Giese (Corn)
220      Goreloz (War)        Winters (Wall)         Ortiz (Midd)              Vasco (MW)
285      Stanley (Saug)        Stauble (King)         Cheeks (NFA)            Corcoran (El-Fa) 

               *** Printer-friendly version with full names and classes***
Week 5 Rankings

Sauschuck 2nd, Port Jervis Finishes 8th at 22-Team Christmas City Holiday Tournament at Bethlehem Catholic

Port’s Sauschuck battles Bethlehem Catholic’s  Todora in the 152lb. final of the 44th Annual Christmas City Wrestling Tournament.

Led by Bret Sauschuck’s second place performance, Port Jervis finished 8th out of 22 teams at the 44th Annual Tony Iasiello Christmas City Tournament held at Bethlehem Catholic High School.  With their 10 finalists and 7 champions, host Bethlehem Catholic High (Becahi) ran away with the team title with 308 points. Palmerton finished second with 125.5 points, followed by Wallenpaupack (114.5), Southern Lehigh (114) and Wyoming Valley West (110). Bethlehem Catholic is a national wrestling powerhouse; they are currently ranked 12th in the country by Intermat.  Sauschuck lost in the finals 9-4 in a hard fought match with Ryan Todora of Becahi.

Along with Sauschuck’s stellar tournament, Port Jervis also had 3 other wrestlers place in the top 4 in their weight class.  Dylan Booth suffered his first defeat of the season but wrestled back to a third place finish at 106 pounds.  At 145 pounds, Dylan Muller finished 3rd and at 170 pounds, Dan Decarlo earned 4th place honors.

Saugerties’ Stanley, Farrell Champs at Somers Tourney

Ethan Stanley

Saugerties crowned two individual champions en route to a fifth place team finish at the 33rd Annual Eric D’Agnese (Somers) Tournament.  Section 2 power Columbia won the team title followed by host Somers (Section 1) and St. Anthony’s (CHSAA – Long Island).

In the marquee match-up of the finals, Saugerties heavyweight Ethan Stanley defeated Columbia’s El Shaddai Gilmore-Vanhoesen 4-3 in quadruple overtime.  Stanley scored an escape with three seconds left in the ultimate tie breaker period to secure the victory.  Both Stanley and Gilmore-Vanhoesen are expected to be in contention for a state title in February.  Sawyer 182 pounder Chris Farrell also earned an individual title via his round-robin performance.  Andrew Mentz(170), James Bethel(195) , and Keoni Nakapaahu(220) all finished second for Saugerties.

Click here for final team standings as well as final individual results.

Warwick’s Corradino, MW’s Voelker & Kelly Win Titles at Massapequa

Section 9 powers Warwick and Monroe Woodbury both crowned individual champions at Thursday’s Massapequa Holiday Tournament in Long Island.  With a very well-balanced performance (only 1 champion, but 10 top-4 finishers), Section 11’s Connetquot won the team title outscoring runner-up Massapequa and Section 1 power Fox Lane.  Monroe Woodbury finished in 5th while Warwick, who only brought a partial team, finished 8th.  Click here for complete brackets.

In one of the more impressive individual performances of the day, Warwick senior Justin Corradino won the title at 120 pounds, perhaps the toughest weight class in the tournament. Corradino earned the title by defeating 2010 NYS Champion Mark West of Hauppauge in the finals.  West made it to the finals by defeating Sean McCabe of Connetquot.  McCabe finished 3rd in NYS last year.  Other Warwick place finishers were Shane Connolly (4th @ 138), Conor Leavell (2nd @ 195), and Chris Giordano (4th @220).  

Not to be outdone by their Section 9 rival, Monroe Woodbury crowned two individual champions and had a third finalist.  Crusader AJ Voelker made a successful drop to the 145 pound weight class earning his title by defeating Division-Levittown’s Jon Maldonado 7-4.  Sophomore sensation Rob Kelly continued his impressive season by capturing the 195 pound title with a 5-2 victory over Warwick’s Connor Leavell.  Monroe Woodbury freshman Vinny Vespa made it to the finals at 99 pounds before losing by pinfall at the 5:39 mark to Steven Sewkumar of Long Beach.  Sewkumar is the top-ranked 99 pound wrestler in Long Island’s Section 8.  Other Crusaders who placed in the top 4 were PJ Smoot (4th @ 106), Brandon Lewis (4th @ 126), John Vandercliff (3rd @ 152), Evan Psathas (3rd @ 170), and Jorge Vasco (3rd @ 220).