SECTION 9 WRESTLING

Well it’s 4th of July weekend so what else is there to do other than put together a list of the top returning seniors in Section 9!  This season’s senior class may not have the accolades that we are accustomed to seeing, however there may be more depth than we’ve seen in the past!

Lightweights
Dylan Earl from Monroe Woodbury was the Section 9 Champion at 106 pounds and he finished 5th at the NYS tournament in Albany. He is the lone returning NYS place winner from Section 9.  His opponent in the Section 9 finals last year was Greg Fischer from NFA.  Greg was a wildcard entry in the NYS tournament last year where he went 0-2 however both of his losses were in sudden victory. Minisink Valley’s Connor Greiner is no stranger to the NYS tournament!  Connor missed most of last season due to an injury but was able to make it to the Section 9 finals.  He was the S9 champion, however, in 2016 and 2015.  Expect Greiner to come back with a vengeance this season!

Middleweights
Rondout Valley’s Ian Houck was the Division 2 Section 9 champ at 132 last season. He has put in a lot of extra work this off season and we could expect to see him place in Albany this coming season!  One of Houck’s losses last year was to the D1 S9 132 champion Vinny Vetrano from Minisink Valley who will be returning for his senior campaign.  Vinny’s twin bother, Dominic Vetrano, is a 2X S9 champion and is hoping to finish his career on the medal stand in Albany. Onteora’s Zach Chartrand was the D2 champ at 145 last year and should be primed for another great year, and we should expect Pine Bush’s Shaun Burgos to improve upon his runner-up finish at D1 145 last season. Chartrand’s teammate Dillon Ross was the D2 152 pound champion last season and he went 1-2 at states.  His losses however were 4-1 and 4-2 to the kids who finished 2nd and 4th in the state.  Expect Ross to get on the podium this year!  One of Ross’s toughest competitors last season was Red Hook’s Tristen Schiafo who should also have a monster season! Minisink Valley’s Tim Ganuncio was the S9 finalist at 160 pounds last year.  He lost 8 matches to NYS wrestlers last season – all 8 of those wrestlers were NYS place winners!

Heavyweights
Middletown’s Adonis Morano was the Section 9 champion at 170 last season and could definitely make some noise in Albany this season!  One of the wrestlers to defeat Morano last year was Minisink Valley’s Joey Yanis who finished 2nd at 182 last season.  Yanis received an at-large birth into the state tournament where he went 2-2 and was one win away from placing!  John Goodell from Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West was the D2 S9 champ at 220 and should have a great senior season as should Minisink Valley 285 pounder Andrew Fenner who has finished 3rd and 2nd, respectively, the last two seasons at heavyweight!

Check out this great opportunity to improve right here in Section 9!

Vision Wrestling Camp Flier

Former Cornwall wrestler Glenn Waller’s son Jaxon can use help from the Section 9 Wrestling community.

https://www.gofundme.com/jaxonwaller

Tale a look at the local wrestlers who will be competing at the MAWA Nationals in Maryland this weekend.  Results will be posted here!

Youth Divisions
Joseph Uhrig -Minisink Valley
Jayden Brown – Middletown
Luke Satriano- Valley Central
Maddox McCormick – Port Jervis

School Divisions
Jacob Chenier – Kingston
Justin Morales – Middletown
Elijah Babb – Middletwon
Liam Bullock – Chester
Nathan Garcia – Middletown
Adam Fenner – Minisink Valley
Andrew Fenner – Minisink Valley

Open Divisions
Stephen Lynch — Otisville
Austin Brock – Goshen
Jason Lichenstein – Middletown
Joe Humphries – Middletown
Pedro Morales – Middletown
Paul Green – Middletown

FS9 WRESTLING CLUB 

Several Section 9 wrestlers competed in the Journeymen World Classic on Saturday.  This freestyle event showcased some of the best talent from not only the USA but from several other countries as well!

Evan Barczak – 3rd Place in the 152A Pool
The Drexel bound Monroe Woodbury senior went 3-1 and took 3rd place in the top pool at 152 pounds.  He recorded convincing victories over NYS place winners Matt Grippi and Zach Lawrence before dropping a close match to Phil Conigliaro of MA.  In his medal match, Barczak teched Canadian wrestler Gunnar Sales 14-4 to take home bronze!

This weight was won by 4X NYS champion Yianni Diakomihalis who made his return to action from elbow surgery in convincing fashion.  The 2X Cadet World Champion notched a :20 wbf, a :35 tech, a :39 tech and then a 10-0 1st period tech over Conigliaro in the finals!  Welcome back Yianni!

Marco Vespa – 8th Place in the 120A Pool
This pool was loaded but Marco wrestled hard and finished 8th out of 12 wrestlers. To put it in perspective, the 9th, 10th, and 11th place finishers in 120A finished 5th, 3rd, and 3rd respectively in the NYS tournament this year (Gonyea, Redding, Sciotto).  Vespa went 1-3 on the day with his win coming by pin over Michigan state champ Corey Gamet.

Noah Curreri – 3rd Place in the 170B Pool
The Eldred senior went 3-2 on the day and took 3rd place in the B pool at 170 pounds.  Curreri, who will be wrestling at Queens University for newly hired head coach Ken Chertow in the fall, recorded impressive wins over Ryan Devivo (13-8) and Bryson Alsteen (10-4).

Dylan Earl – 2rd Place in the 120B Pool
The NYS placer from Monroe Woodbury took 2nd out of 5 wrestlers in a very tough 120B pool.  His only loss was to Joseph Manginelli from NJ.  Earl notched wins over Ethan Ferro, Stone Lewis, and Pedro Quiros and won by fft finishing 4-1 for the day!

Joe McGinty – 7th Place at 132A
This weight had only one pool and it was pretty loaded!  The Monroe Woodbury freshman wrestled hard but lost both of his matches for the day.  This was definitely a great learning experience for McGinty though.

As part of the non-profit Pearl River Wrestling Association, we are giving back to our community by Hosting the Bald and Fat Classic Wrestling tournament in Pearl River, NY. This tournament is dedicated to help support Liam through his recovery process.

Liam Frawley has, for the past 11 years been the Athletic Director for South Orangetown Central School District.

Now, he needs our help.

Last year, Liam suffered through a traumatic brain aneurysm shortly after climbing Mount Washington with his son. He is currently facing a very long and painful rehabilitation and needs all the support he can get.

This tournament is 19+ and is geared for guys who just want to get on the mat after a long time off. Its for those who love the sport of wrestling and everything it teaches. Families and wrestlers from all around will be attending this event to watch their loved ones wrestle and have fun for a good cause. Most of all it’s a fundraiser for Liam, and is  designed specifically to be a fun and rewarding day of friendly competition for the whole community to participate in.

On behalf of the Pearl River Wrestling Association, it is my pleasure to extend an invitation to you to The Bald & Fat Classic wrestling tournament. Your friends, family, and anyone involved in your community is invited to this event. This will be a great event filled with food, friends, family, and of course… wrestling!

If you are not able to attend or participate in the tournament I would greatly appreciate if you could share Liam’s story with your community. As the athletic director, your support is invaluable and can help us raise our profile, increase our attendance, and make this a successful event.

WHERE: At Pearl River High School in Pearl River, NY
WHEN: May 13, 2017 9:30AM

To learn more about Liam Frawley and our fundraiser the Bald and Fat Classic, please visit www.pearlriverwrestling.com/BFC for details, sign up information and more.

Pinning Down Autism
Congratulations to Goshen senior Ryan Ellefsen and Monroe Woodbury sophomore Marco Vespa for being selected to represent Team NY at this year’s Pinning Down Autism All-Start Duals!  This year’s event was a tri-meet between New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  Team NJ put together the most decorated team in the field and rolled through the competition defeating NY by a score of 41-9 and Team PA 44-13.  Team PA defeated NY by a score of 28-24.  Both local had a tough day going a combined 0-4 but it was an honor to be selected for the team and for suporting a great cause!

Gene Mills Eastern Nationals
I went through the brackets to identify 1st and 2nd place finishers from Section 9. My apologies if I missed anyone…please feel free to add in comments or email me at sectionixwrestling@gmail.com.

Schoolboy
90: Nikko Walsh (Rondout Valley) – 2nd Place
UNL: Adam Fenner (Minisink Valley) – 1st Place

Cadet
185: Joey Yanis (Minisink Valley) – 1st Place
UNL: Andrew Fenner (Minisink Valley) – 2nd Place

Varsity
160: Tristen Schiafo (Red Hook) – 2nd Place
195: Joey Yanis (Minisink Valley) – 1st Place
285: Andrew Fenner (Minisink Valley) – 2nd Place

MAWA Districts @ Middletown HS
Middletown High School hosted a MAWA North District tournament on Saturday. Click HERE for full results!

Congratulations to Eldred wrestler Noah Curreri for taking 6th place at 160 pounds at FloNationals!  Curreri went 5-3 in an extremely competitive bracket which was won by Trent Hidlay from PA, the #3 ranked 160 pounder in the nation!  All three of Curreri’s losses were to wrestlers who also placed (#2, #4, and #5).  Curreri is also a 2X NYS placewinner and finished 2nd in Albany this year. Awesome job Noah!

Monroe Woodbury junior Dylan Earl also competed this weekend and went 1-2!  Great job Dylan!

Below are the results for both Noah and Dylan.

Dylan Earl (Monroe Woodbury)
Rd 32: Earl dec 9-6 Seibert (unattached)
Rd 16: Rohrbaugh (Team Nauman) wbf 3:15 Earl
Consi Rd 16 #2: Witmer (Bison Legend) tech 16-0 Earl

Noah Curreri (Eldred)
Rd 64: Curreri dec 8-1 Bradley (Athens)
Rd 32: Curreri dec 4-3 Giantonio (VA Elite)
Rd 16: Curreri maj 11-1 Dempsey (Flat River Wrestling)
Quarters: Hastings (unattached) maj 9-0 Curreri
Consi Rd 8 #2: Curreri  dec 12-5 Kata (Seagulls)
Consi Rd 4: Curreri dec 5-4 Giantonio (VA Elite)
Consi semis: Tiongson (Ground Control) dec 8-3 Curreri
5th Place Match: Cuomo (Iowa Style) dec 3-0 Curreri