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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).

 

4 Locals Win Titles; Cornwall takes 2nd at 17-team Mid-Hudson

Section 9 was very well represented in what proved to be an extremely competitive and evenly matched Mid Hudson Tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday.  In the team race, Cornwall finished second to host Arlington.  Other Section 9 teams that finished in the top ten included NFA (5th), Valley Central (6th), and Rondout Valley (9th).  Kingston, Red Hook, Highland, and Pine Bush also had wrestlers compete in the tournament.  Four Section 9 wrestlers, two from Cornwall and two from Kingston, took home individual titles. 

Cornwall’s TJ Kreider capped off a dominating tournament by defeating NFA’s Sean Foshini for the crown at 113 pounds.  Kreider pinned Valley Central’s Hussain Hasan at the 5:50 mark in their semifinal  match-up.  Hasan defeated teammate Jimmy Clark, who only lost 8-6 OT to Foshini in the semis, to finish 3rd.  The Green Dragon’s other individual title came at 132 pounds where Luke Roth defeated Ketcham’s Mike Morabito via injury default.  Roth began Wednesday in impressive fashion by defeating Rondout Valley’s Colin Dimler by a 8-2 margin.  He then went on to beat Rob Rosenberg of Hewlett (Section 8, Long Island) by a score of 6 to 3.  Dimler wrestled back well to take 5th place. 

Kingston’s Deon Edmond navigated his way through an extremely tough 195 lb. weight class to take home first place honors.  After pinning Valley Central’s Krajl Haxhaj in the first round, Edmond defeated Arlington’s Matt Day 3-0 in the semis and Beacon’s Deondre Pierce 5-4 in the finals.  Seth Stauble gave Kingston their second individual title when he pinned Yorktown’s David Varian at the 4:56 mark of the 285 pound final.  Varian reached the final by squeaking out a victory over NFA’s Terrance Cheeks 2-1 in 2OT.  Stauble pinned his way through the bracket by also securing falls over Will Brammer of Red Hook and Vinny Guiel of West Springfield.  Cheeks finished 4th for the tournament.

All Top-4 Section 9 Placewinners including head-to-head S9 match notes:
  99 – Chris Cuccolo (Pine Bush, 2nd)  Andy Rivera (NFA, 4th)… Cuccolo beat Rivera 2-1 in semis
  106 – Austin Ingraham (Highland, 3rd)  Johnny Bastone (NFA, 4th)…Ingraham beat Bastone 3-2
  113 – TJ Kreider (Cornwall, 1st)  Sean Foshini (NFA, 2nd)  Hussain Hasan (VC, 3rd)  Jimmy Clark (VC, 4th)
  120 – John Hodes (Rondout Valley, 2nd)
  126 – John Derham (NFA, 3rd)
  132 – Luke Roth (Cornwall, 1st)
  138 – none
  145 – Ian Morse (Rondout Valley, 2nd) Ricky Treu (Red Hook, 3rd) Tyler Carlyon (NFA, 4th)
                    Morse mdec Treu 11-0….Treu dec Carlyon 8-2
  152 – Paul Sommer (Rondout Valley, 2nd)
  160 – Luke Zsido (Cornwall, 3rd)
  170 – Kyle McGuire (NFA, 2nd)  Ryan Gagnon (Cornwall, 4th)… McGuire dec Gagnon 6-1 in semis
  182 – Bilal Hasan (Valley Central, 2nd)
  195 – Deon Edmond (Kingston, 1st)  Andrew Giese (Cornwall, 4th)
  220 – Ben Zitz (Red Hook, 4th)
  285 – Seth Stauble (Kingston, 1st)  Terrance Cheeks (NFA, 4th)

Click below for all individual results

                                           Day 1 Pools                                        Day 2 Brackets
 

Washingtonville 2nd at Pearl River; Colin Casey Champ at 170!

Washingtonville finished second out of 14 teams at Wednesday’s Michael O’Connell Wrestling Tournament in Pearl River.  Section One’s Tappan Zee won the team title with 147 points to Washingtonville’s 112.5.  The Wizards placed eight wrestlers in the top four including the champion at 170, senior Colin Casey.  Also placing for Washingtonville were Bryan Mongiello (2nd @ 120), Luke Harrison (4th @ 132), Mark Milisci (3rd @ 138), Francesco Pichardo (4th @ 152), Andrew Bragado (4th @ 160), Sam Weinger (2nd @ 220), and Stephen Melgar (3rd @ 285). 

Ellenville and Tuxedo also competed in the tournament.  Tuxedo’s 106 pounder Dylan Lynn finished 2nd losing an OT decision in the finals.  Congratulations to all!

Raccioppi Champ, 5 Other Warriors Place at NJ Tourney!

Minisink Valley traveled into the wrestling rich state of New Jersey on Tuesday and placed 6th in the team race against some top-notch competition at the Cougar Classic held at Kittatinny High School.  The Warriors were led by freshman Michael Raccioppi who won the 106 pound weight class and remains undefeated on the season.  Also placing for the Warriors were Mason Rambrose (2nd @ 113), Devyn Fennell (4th @ 145), Anthony Sannella (3rd @ 182), Luke Durland (4th @ 195) and Shane Hanlon (3rd @ 220).

With six finalists, and no fewer that 10 place-winners, host Kittitinny ran away with the team title.  Although a relatively small tournament in terms of numbers (usually around 10 teams), the Cougar Classic has had its share of superstar individual performers.  Over the past several years, some of the champions of this tournament have included:
        *  Damion Hahn – 2X D1 NCAA Champ for University of Minnesota
        *  Matt Valenti – 2X D1 NCAA Champ for University of Pennsylvania
        *  Will Livingston – 2X D3 All American (Livingston pinned Jordan Burroughs in HS!)
        *  Derek Valenti – NCAA D1 All American at University of Virginia! 
 

Onteora Goes 4-0; Defends Title at Midnight Madness

Fresh off their debut as the 20th ranked D2 wrestling program in New York, Onteora headed upstate on Friday and successfully defended their title at Oneonta Midnight Madness Duals.  Christian Smith, Kyle Vanvalkenburg, Austin Weigel, and Dustin Mackenzie all went 4-0 for Onteora.  Congratulations to Lou Chartrand and the Onteora wrestling program!

Onteora 42 Oneonta 33                     Onteora 54 Cooperstown 28
Onteora 66 Mt. Markham 12            Onteora 42 Oxford Academy 30

NFA defeats Cornwall 40-27 in historic dual!

Don Blaine, Jeff Cuilty, and Wayne Carroll

For the past 23 years, head wrestling coaches Jeff Cuilty of NFA and Don Blaine of Cornwall have watched their respective teams go to battle dozens of times.  On Thursday, however, they faced each other for the first time as NYS Wrestling Hall of Fame members.  In fact, is was one of the few times ever that Hall of Fame coaches have squared off in a dual meet in New York State.  Coach Cuilty and Coach Blaine, along with long-time Section 9 referee Wayne Carroll, were inducted into the HOF during the NYS Championship Tournament held in Albany last February.

Thursday’s dual meet was won by NFA by a score of 40-27; NFA won 9 of the 15 bouts including two pins and two forfeits.  In a bout between ranked wrestlers at 126 pounds, NFA senior John Derham defeated Cornwall sophomore Brett Johnson by an 8-3 margin.  The anticipated showdown between Cornwall’s Sean Sweeney and NFA’s Johnny Bastone never happened as Sweeney did not dress for the dual meet.      NFA 40 Cornwall 27 

Warwick 54 PJ 25; Connolly beats Muller 2-0, Bedross edges Edwards 3-2

Although the outcome of the dual meet was never in question, there were a few marquee match-ups, as well as a great charity event, which made for an exciting evening of wrestling at Warwick on Thursday.  Proceeds from the dual went to “Pinning Down Cancer.”

On the strength of 4 pins and 4 forfeits, Warwick, the #3 ranked team in NYS, dominated Port Jervis 54-25.  The dual meet, however, did feature two marquee match-ups between ranked wrestlers; both matches lived up to their billing.  At 145 pounds, Warwick’s Shane Connolly defeated Port’s Dylan Muller by a score of 2-0.  Connolly, a 4X Section 9 champion, scored the only points of the match with a takedown at the end of the first period.  At 160 pounds, Warwick’s Ryan Bedross narrowly defeated Travis Edwards 3-2.  The other potential headline match could have taken place at 152 pounds where many in attendance anticipated a showdown between Warwick’s Kyle Weirzbicki and Port’s Bret Sauschuck.  Weirzbicki was injured, however, and did not dress for the dual.  Click below for complete boxscore.

Warwick 54 Port Jervis 25

Five Section 9 Teams Ranked in the Top 20 in New York State!!!!!

The New York State Sportswriter’s Association has released their initial team rankings for the 2011-2012 wrestling season.  It is with great pride that I report the release of these state rankings as there are three D1 Section 9 teams ranked in the top 11 and two D2 Section 9 teams ranked in the top 20!!!  Warwick Valley #3, Monroe Woodbury #8, and Minisink Valley #11 all cracked the large school rankings, while Red Hook #19 and Onteora #20 made the list for small schools.  Congratulations to all these programs…you are putting Section 9 back on the map!!!  Below is the complete list of both the D1 and D2 rankings as compiled by Glen Irving of the Sportswriter’s Association. 

   Large School – D1                                           Small School – D2
1.  Wantagh – 8 (tie)                                                  1.  Phoenix – 3
1.  Shenedehowa – 2  (tie)                                        2.  Fredonia – 6
3. Warwick – 9                                                        3.  Peru – 7
4.  Fox Lane – 1                                                          4.  Midlakes – 5
5.  Spencerport – 5                                                     5.  Warsaw – 5
6.  Fulton – 3                                                               6.  Greene – 4
7.  Sachem East – 11                                                   7.  Palmyra Macedon – 5
8.  Monroe Woodbury – 9                                   8.  Holland Patent – 3
9.  Longwood – 11                                                       9.  Royalton-Hartland – 6
10. Hauppague – 11                                                    10.  South Jefferson – 3 
11. Minisink Valley – 9                                          11.  Oyster Bay – 8
12. Queensbury – 2                                                     12. BGA – 4
13. St. Anthony’s – CHSAA                                       13.  Locust Valley – 8
14. Connetquot – 11                                                    14.  Hudson Falls – 2
15. Columbia – 2                                                         15.  Beekmantown – 7
16. MacArthur – 8                                                      16.  Holley – 5
17. Eastport-South Manor-11                                   17.  Bayport-Blue Point-11
18.   Brentwood-11                                                     18.  Windsor-4
19.   Indian River-3                                                    19.   Red Hook-9
20.   Penfield-5                                                           20.   Onteora-9
tie   Webster Schroeder-5                                         tie   Duanesburg-2
tie   Union-Endicott-4                                               tie   Corinth-2