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The Friends of Section 9 held its annual end of the year awards banquet on Sunday night at Kuhl’s Highland House in Middletown. The top 4 D1 and top 2 D2 wrestlers in each weight class were recognized for their outstanding 2015-2016 wrestling season. There were also several “special” awards given out. A complete list of all the award winners is available by clicking on the below link. Some of the winners included:
Troy Bouzakis Senior Wrestler of the Year – AJ Aeberli (MV)
Frank Tschan Team of the Year – Monroe Woodbury
FS9 Coach of the Year – Jason Lichtenstein (Middletown)
Mark Faller Coach of the Year – Kevin Gallagher (MV)
FS9 Person of the Year – Josh Conklin
Comeback Wrestler of the Year – Oscar Lainez (Middletown)
FS9 Most Courageous Wrestler – Kevin Morgans (ELS)
D’Aliso Scholarship – Gus Formato (Wallkill)
2016 Friends of Section 9 Banquet Award Winners
2015-2016 Season Highlights
2 NYS Champions
Ryan Ferro (Warwick) at 152
AJ Aeberli (Minisink Valley) at 160
Other NYS Placewinners
Ryan Ellefsen (Goshen) 2nd at 220
Joe Humphrey (Middletown) 3rd at 285
Kendall Elfstrum (Monroe Woodbury) 4th at 182
Charlie Johnson (Warwick) 5th at 138
Noah Curreri (Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan West) 5th at 152
Nick McShea (Monroe Woodbury) 5th at 220
Evan Barczak (Monroe Woodbury) 6th at 145
Liam Heslin (Chester) 6th at 160
Mike Fekishazy (Wallkill) 6th at 170
Theo Chazkel (New Paltz) 6th at 182
Team Accolades – Rankings According to NYSSWA
#2 D1 Monroe Woodbury
#7 D1 Minisink Valley
#22 D1 Wallkill
#28 D2 New Paltz
HM: Chester, Red Hook, Newburgh, Warwick, Onteora, E/L/SW
Coaching Honors – Awarded at 2016 NYS Tournament
Kevin Gallagher (MV) – NWCA Coach of the Year 2014-2015
Scott Hendershot (MV) – NWCA Assistant Coach of the Year 2014-2015
Let’s Keep The Train Rolling!
As a section we have made some incredible strides over the past few seasons….Let’s not stop! The progress that we have made did not happen by luck! Whether it’s in wrestling or in real life, hours and hours of hard work, sacrifice, and commitment will pay dividends. Am I suggesting wrestling 24/7 for 12 months? Absolutely not! Wrestling is a tough sport mentally and physically. Allow yourself time to heal…Play another sport…Get a summer job! However, that said, our goal as a section is to improve. The only way that we improve as a section is by you improving as an individual. Let’s be aware of some of the off-season training opportunities and tournaments that are open to us.
Post Season Tournaments – NHSCA Nationals in VA Beach and FloNationals in PA are awesome, but they are not for everyone. Let’s be honest, not every wrestler is skilled enough to enter these events. We have had NYS champs go 0-2 at Flo. Let’s get out there and find a few events that will allow us the opportunity to improve. NYWAY States were this past weekend… MAWAs are coming up…there are events out there, we just need to get out there and find them.
Friends of Section 9 Wrestling Club – Now in it’s 2nd season, the FS9 Wrestling Club is a great local option to improve your skills. The tougher we make this room, the better S9 Wrestling will become – it’s just that simple. If you are still worried about practicing with kids during the summer that you may be competing against during the season, well you just don’t get it – pardon my frankness.
2016 FS9 Wrestling Club Registration Form
Freestyle and Greco – Some of us need to step out of our comfort zone and embrace the international styles. Trust me, spending a few months in the summer focusing of the the Olympic styles will make you a better folkstyle wrestler! Polls are taken every year at the NCAA’s asking the competitors about the tournaments they entered while in high school. Year in and year out, the tournament that the highest percentage of them attended ….Fargo, by a landslide! Can they all be wrong?