SECTION 9 WRESTLING

Minisink Valley, Monroe Woodbury, and Wallkill Voted Top 15 NYS
The New York State Sportswriters Association released their final team rankings shortly before last weekend’s state championships and the Section 9 wrestling community should be very proud!  Minisink Valley was selected as the #1 in NYS and they were honored prior to the state finals in Albany.  Monroe Woodbury, last season’s #1 team, was voted as the #2 team this year while Wallkill finished off an impressive season by finishing #14 in NYS!  Also recognized by the NYSSWA were Cornwall and Red Hook; both teams received honorable mention selections.              NYSSWA Rankings

MV and MW Also Ranked Nationally
InterMat Wrestling’s most recent national poll recognizes both Minisink Valley and Monroe Woodbury as top 50 teams in the country.  The Warriors currently sit at #39 in the InterMat rankings while the Crusaders are ranked 44th.  Great job guys…the Section 9 wrestling community could not be prouder!    InterMat’s Fab 50

Nine Section 9 Wrestler Make the Medal Stand
A very nice showing as nine D1 wrestlers from Section 9 placed in the top 6 in the state.  For the first time in recent memory, every Section 9 D1 wrestler won at least one match….nobody went 0-2!!! Our D2 guys did not make out quite as well but we did see two small school wrestlers (Morgans and Suleiman) make it to the blood round which is one match away from placing.  Congratulations to the Section 9 placewinners!
120 – Gerard Daly (MV) 3rd place and Vinny Vespa (MW) 5th place
132 – Da’mani Burns (NFA) 3rd place and Evan Barczak (MW) 6th place
145 – Michael Raccioppi (MV) 2nd place and Ryan Ferro (Warwick) 3rd place
152 – Thomas Wightman (Warwick) 4th place
160 – AJ Aeberli (MV) 5th place
195 – Nick McShea (MW) 2nd place

Sectional Results
Our D1 team had a very solid 5th place showing in the sectional race.  Below are the top 5 sectional teams from each division.

Division 1 1. Section 11 – 312.5 points 2. Section 8 – 178 points 3. Section 5 – 172.5 points 4. Section 1 – 141.5 points 5. Section 9 – 121 points

Division 2 1. Section 3 – 278 points 2. Section 4 – 213 points 3. Section 5 – 175 points 4. Section 6 – 167 points 5. Section 2 – 119.5 points

Team Race
Awesome job by Minisink Valley and Monroe Woodbury for finishing in the top 5 in the team race.  Congrats also to Warwick who came in 15th and NFA for finishing in a tie for 27th!  Below are the top 5 teams from each division.

Division 1 1. Hilton – 71 points 2. Minisink Valley – 52 points 3. Hauppauge – 49.5 points 4. Ward Melville – 48 points 5.  Monroe Woodbury – 46 points

Division 2 1. Mexico – 104 points 2. Locust Valley – 99.5 points 3. Warsaw – 65.5 points 4. Norwich – 54 points 5. Holland Patent – 49.5 points

Individual Honors and Other Tidbits
Division 1 MOW – Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton, Section 5) – Yianni is now a 3X NYS champion and he is only a sophomore.  He is currently ranked 3rd in the nation at 120.  He also won this year’s Eastern States Classic.

Division 2 MOW – Jordan Bushey (Peru, Section 7) – Jordan has been absolutely dominating this season!  In the state finals he won via major decision over Trevor Allard – who is a defending state champ!  Bushey also won the Eastern States Classic by pinning Kevin Parker – this year’s D1 state champ!

Piccininni a 4X Champ – Congratulations to Ward Melville senior Nick Piccininni for winning his 4th state title this weekend.  He joins Troy Nickerson (5X), Jesse Jantzen, JP O’Connor, Alex Ekstrom, and Arik Robinson as the only NYS wrestlers to be crowned champion 4 times!

How Tough Is The Eastern States Classic You Ask??? – 11 of the 15 weight classes at the ESC were won by NYS wrestlers who are competing at the same weight for the state tournament.  Of those 11 wrestlers, 10 went on to be crowned NYS champions.  Only Edwin Rubio did not win and he lost in the state finals in the UTB.  In 4 weight classes, the Eastern States Classic finals was contested by two wrestlers who were crowned D1 and D1 state champions this weekend!
145 – Dutton & Rifanburg
152 – Restrepo & Garcia
170 – Parker & Bushey
195 – Araneo & Rose

So here we go!  We are about ready to start the finals and Section 9 has two wrestlers going for gold.  Minisink Valley senior Mike Raccioppi will take on Section 11’s Thomas Dutton at 145 while Monroe Woodbury junior Nick McShea will battle Section 11’s Christian Araneo for the title at 195.  The Warriors and the Crusaders both performed extremely well as a team also!  Minisink sits in 2nd place in the team race behind Hilton from Section 5 while Monroe is currently in 4th a few points behind 3rd place Hauppauge.

Finals –  Matchups and Results

Division 1                                               Division 2

99 – Busiello (11) maj 11-1 Baker (4) 106 – Teemer (8) utb 4-3 Silverstein (11) 113 – Arceri (11) dec 3-2 ot Albis (1) 120 – Diakomihalis (5) pin Pappas (8) 126 – Piccininni (11) dec Lamantia (C) 132 – Arujau(8) dec  Dellavecchia(11) 138 – Gissendanner(5) dec D’Angelo (11) 145 – Dutton (11) maj Raccioppi (9) 152 – Restrepo (8) dec 8-4 Bell (5) 160 – Deprez (5) dec 7-3 Benderoth (1) 170 – Parker (2) dec 5-1 Schwab (6) 182 – Hamil (11) dec 9-4 Ashcraft (2) 195 – Araneo (11) maj 13-4 McShea (9) 220 – Hemida (1) dec 5-2 Feola (11) 285 – Terrence (10) dec 2-1 ot Rubio (11)

Burkhart (4) dec  3-2 Anderson (2) Gomez (8) dec 8-6 Nolan (7) Powers (3) pin Heberlein (5) Overhiser (4) dec 6-2 Spann (3) Devlin (6) tech Kurzhals (1) 18-2 Casella (8) dec 2-1 McGregor (6) Richard (3) dec 8-7 Ward (8) Rifanburg (4) tech Mitchell (3) Garcia (4) dec 5-1 Shomers (6) Herringshaw (3) maj Hoffman(2) Bushey (7) maj 12-4  Allard (3) Woolson (4) dec Engle 2-1 Rose (P) maj 12-4 Foster (3) Sampo (3) pin Hall (6) 3:53 Dean (4) dec 5-3 Appley (3)

Medal Matches
120 – Daly (9) dec  Matyka (11) 3-2  for 3rd!!!
120 – Vespa (9) dec Argentieri (6)  2-0 for 5th!!!
126 – Kelly (9) loses 3-1 to Lancie (5) finishes in 8th place!
132 – Burns (9) maj Szymanski (11) 8-0 for 3rd place!!!
132 – King (3) beats Barczak (9) 4-0 …Evan takes 6th place!
145 – Ferro (9) dec Einbinder (8) 3-2 for 3rd place!!!
152 – Porter (2) dec Wightman (9) 8-3 … Wightman takes 4th!
160 – Aeberli (9) dec Mauriello (11) 3-1 for 5th place!  Great way to get your 100th win!

Consolation Semifinals
120 – Daly pins Argentieri and will go for 3rd!
120 – Vespa loses to Matyka and will go for 5th
132 – Burns beats King 3-2 and will go for 3rd
132 – Szymansky dec Barczak 2-1 utb..Evan goes for 5th
145 – Ferro dec Murphy 5-0 and will go for 3rd
152 – Wightman 5-0 over Ielan and will go for 3rd
160 – Aviles beat Aeberli 3-1 …AJ goes for 5th

Saturday morning is without question the most exciting round at this tournament!  The semifinals will take place on the inner mats while the “blood” matches take place on the outer mats.  For those of you not familiar with this the term, the winning wrestler in the “blood” round is guaranteed a top 6 finish and thus a spot on the podium while the loser is eliminated…yeah it’s pretty intense!!!  Good luck boys, let’s make it happen!!!

Semifinals                                                     Blood Matches

Division 1 120 – Diakomihalis (5) pin Daly (9) 120 – Pappas (8) dec Vespa (9) 1-0 132 – Arajua (8) pin Barczak (9) 132 – Dellavecchia (11) pin Burns 145 – Dutton (11) maj Ferro (9) 145 – Raccioppi dec Einbinder (8) 152 – Restrepo (11) dec Wightman 195 – McShea (9) pin Ratzikis (8)

Division 1 120 – Goldman (8) dec Kelly (9) 3-1 sv 138 – Warren (8) dec Truglio (9) 10-8 160 – Aeberli (9) pin Barnes (2) 170 – McPherson (3) dec Zsido (9) 285 – Jessell (3) dec Serrano (9) Division 2 132 – LeClaire (2) dec Suleiman (9) 182 – Brancati (2) dec Morgans (9)

Wrestleback #2

Let’s see who wants to make it to tomorrow’s “blood” round…
126 – Kelly (9) dec Woodworth (3) 5-1
132 – Suleiman (9) dec Chesman (1) 6-4 SV
138 – Truglio (9) dec Rodriguez (C) 5-2
160 – Aeberli (9) dec Hughes (8) 7-4
170 – Zsido (9) dec Race (3) 9-5
182 – Morgans (9) dec Nolan (11) 4-2
285 – Serrano (9) dec Delahanty 14-9

Wrestleback #1

And those who are still alive are…..
99 – Vespa (9) dec Ewbanks (C) 9-6
106 – Greiner (9) pins Crawford (C) 2:11
113 – Rosales (9) dec Gramuglia (2) 7-2
113 – Feliciano (9) dec Goddeau (7) 2-0
126 – Kelly (9) dec Day (6) 2-0
126 – Benson (9) dec Donnelly 6-3
132 – Suleiman (9) dec Rifanburg (4) 10-9
152 – Cuppett (9) maj Milone (10)
160 – Heslin (9) pinned Phelps (10)
170 – Guevara (9) dec Arkow (8) 1-0
170 – Mapes (9) dec Ball (10) 9-2
170 – Zsido (9) pin Buser (C)
182 – Elfstrum (9) dec DuBuque (2) 5-0
182 – McLee (9) dec Crow (4) 7-3
195 – Beyers (9) major Stevenson (11) 11-1
220 – Mascaro (9) dec Renfro (C) 4-1
285 – Beal (9) pins Gomez (P)

S9 D1 ran the table in this round…great job!  D2 grabs 7 wins as well…nice job now lets keep the ball rolling!!!

Congrats to Gerard Daly, Vinny Vespa, Evan Barczak, Da’mani Burns, Michael Raccioppi, Ryan Ferro, Tom Wightman, and Nick McShea for advancing to the semis!  Making the semis guarantees a top 6 finish and a spot on the medal stand!!!  Great job guys!

QUARTERFINALS

120 – Daly  (9) dec Devine (2) 7-6
120 – Vespa (9) dec Argentieri (5) 4-3
132 – Burns (9) dec Barker (5)
132 – Barczak (9) dec King (3)
138 – Burke (4) dec Truglio (9) 8-2
145 – Raccioppi (9) dec Murphy (1) 5-1
145 – Ferro (9) dec Taddeo (11) 6-1
152 – Wightman (9) dec Engebretson (3) 4-2
160 – Benderoth (1) dec Aeberlie (9) 4-3
182 – Engle (3) dec Morgans (9) 2-0
195 – McShea (9) dec Pjetri (1) 5-2
285 – Terrance (10) pin Serrano (9)

ROUND 16

                     Division 1                                                                      Division 2

99 – Seaver (6)  pin Vespa (9) 2:39 106 – Cox (11) pin Griener (9) 1:54 113 – Cirillo (11) dec Rosales (9) 4-0 120 – Vespa (9) pin Cameron (10) 120 – Daly (9) dec Ashkar (3) 5-4 126 – Piccininni (11) tech Kelly (9) 132 – Burns (9) pin Brown (10) 3:38 132 – Barczak (9) dec Szymanski (11) 138 – Truglio (9) dec Bachelder (8) 145 – Ferro (9) pin Corfine (4) 3:45 145 – Raccioppi (9) pin Amo (10) 152 – Wightman (9) pin Prello (11) 160 – Aeberli (9) dec Mendez (11) 3-2 170 – Puca (11) dec Zsido (9) 16-7 170 – Fitzsimmons (8) dec Guevara 182 – Hamil (11) pin McLee (9) 182 – Bromley (8) dec Elfstrum (9) 195 – McShea (9) pin Gould (4) 1:41 195 – Braunscheidel (C) dec Beyers 220 – Newman (C) dec Mascaro (9) 285 – Serrano (9) pin Warren (2)

99 – McGarvey (1) pin Harris (9) 1:39 106 – Walz (3) pin Artrip (9) 5:53 113 – Abe (1) dec Feliciano (9) 10-8 ot 120 – Lauricello (5) dec Ross (9) 126 – Freole (11) dec Benson (9) 6-4 132 – Devincenzo (11) tech Suleiman (9) 138 – Garrehy (4) pin Mathews (9) 3:02 145 – Micek (6) dec Curreri (9) 7-6 ot 152 – Griffith (5) dec  Cuppett (9) 160 – Breckenridge (3) dec  Heslin (6) 170 – Nolan (6) maj Mapes (9) 182 – Morgans (9) dec Aslov (P) 195 – Wilshire (5) pin Williams (9) 220 – Perez (P) maj Chichkov (9) 285 – Andrews (6) pin Beal (9)

 

Friday February 27 & Saturday February 28
Times Union Center
Albany, NY
  Division 1 Preview                                        Division 2 Preview

Tournament Schedule

Friday 2/27 – Session 1 8:30 – Gates Open 9:30 – Parade of Champions 10:00 – 2:00 – Preliminaries 2:00 – 4:00 Quarterfinals 4:00 – 6:00 Wrestlebacks Rd. 1 6:00 – 8:00 Wrestlebacks Rd. 2

Saturday 2/27 – Session 2 8:30 – Gates Open 9:45 – National Anthem 10:00 – 12:30 – Semifinals (inner mats) 10:00 – 12:30 – Blood Round (outer mats) 12:30 – 2:00 – Consolation Semifinals 2:00 – 3:30 – Consolation Finals Saturday 2/27 – Session 3 5:00 – Gates Re-Open for Finals 5:30 – Videoboard 5:45 – Recognition Awards 6:00 – Finals

99 Pounds

Division 1
Marco Vespa
Monroe Woodbury, 8th Grade
Record: 34-5
Against the Field: 0-2 (Kyle Mosher, Joe Albegore)
Opening Round Opponent: Kyle Mosher (Southside, S8)

Division 2
Wade Harris
Red Hook, Sophomore
Record: 27-8
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Sean McGarvey (Pearl River, S1)

106 Pounds

Division 1
Connor Greiner
Minisink Valley, Freshman
Record: 40-1
Against the Field: 0-1 (Randy Earl)
Opening Round Opponent: Thomas Cox (Deer Park, S11)

Division 2
Dean Artrip
Tuxedo, Sophomore
Record: 16-0
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: CJ Walz (Central Valley Academy, S3)

113 Pounds

Division 1
Pedro Rosales
Middletown, Senior
Record: 33-8
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Anthony Cirillo (Rocky Point, S11)

Division 2
Mike Feliciano
Highland, Senior
Record: 33-8
Against the Field: 0-1 (Satoshi Abe)
Opening Round Opponent: Dane Heberlein (Alexander, S5)

120 Pounds

Division 1
Gerard Daly
Minisink Valley, Senior
Record: 37-3
Against the Field: 2-2 (wins Gurerro, Vespa; losses Vespa 2X)
Opening Round Opponent: Audey Ashkar (Liverpool, S3)

Division 1
Vinny Vespa
Monroe Woodbury, Senior
Record: 40-1
Against the Field: 2-1 (wins Daly 2X; loss Daly)
Opening Round Opponent: Skyler Cameron (Massena, S10)

Division 2
Dillon Ross
Onteora, Freshman
Record: 25-6
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Jon Lauricella (Leroy, S5)

126 Pounds

Division 1
Kevin Kelly
Monroe Woodbury, Junior
Record: 40-1
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Nick Piccininni (Ward Melville, S11)

Division 2
Taylor Benson
Red Hook, Sophomore
Record: 32-5
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Brett Frole (Babylon, 11)

132 Pounds

Division 1
Evan Barczak
Monroe Woodbury, Sophomore
Record: 36-3
Against the Field: 2-2 (wins Grippi, Burns; losses Burns 2X)
Opening Round Opponent: James Szymanski (SWR, S11)

Division 1
Da’mani Burns
Newburgh Free Academy, Senior
Record: 42-2
Against the Field: 5-2 (wins Barczak 2X, Seitz, Szymanski, Powell; losses Arujau, Barczak)
Opening Round Opponent: Michael Brown (Massena, S10)

Division 2
Andrew Suleiman
Highland, Senior
Record: 32-6
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Tristin DeVincenzo (Port Jeff, S11)

138 Pounds

Division 1
Chris Truglio
Minisink Valley, Senior
Record: 40-0
Against the Field: 3-0 (Toutant, Sweeney, Matias)
Opening Round Opponent: Owen Bachelder (Hewlett, S8)

Division 2
Isaac Mathews
Marlboro, Sophomore
Record: 18-8
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent:  Kobe Garrehy (Maine Endwell, S4)

145 Pounds

Division 1
Ryan Ferro
Warwick, Sophomore
Record:  36-4
Against the Field: 2-2
(wins Raccioppi 2X, losses Murphy, Taddeo)
Opening Round Opponent: Julian Korfine (Ithaca, S4)

Division 1
Michael Raccioppi
Minisink Valley, Senior
Record: 39-3
Against the Field: 2-3
(wins Murphy, Frederick; losses Dutton, Ferro 2X)
Opening Round Opponent: Austin Amo (Massena, S10)

Division 2
Noah Curreri
Eldred/Liberty/Fallsburg, Sophomore
Record: 36-6
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Jed Micek (Maple Grove, S6)

152 Pounds

Division 1
Thomas Wightman
Warwick, Senior
Record: 39-2
Against the Field: 1-2 (win Laura; loss Porter 2X)
Opening Round Opponent: Matt Porello (John Glenn, S11)

Division 2
Ben Cuppett
New Paltz, Sophomore
Record: 27-2
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Josh Griffith (Warsaw, S5)

160 Pounds

Division 1
AJ Aeberli
Minisink Valley, Junior
Record: 40-1
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Brandon Mendez (Huntington, S11)

Division 2
Liam Heslin
Tuxedo, Junior
Record: 15-4
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Simon Breckenridge  (VVS, S3)

170 Pounds

Division 1
Quinn Zsido
Cornwall, Senior
Record: 41-2
Against the Field: 4-2
(wins Guevara 3X, Race; losses Parker, Schwab)
Opening Round Opponent: Joe Puca (Huntington, S11)

Division 1
Alec Guevara
Wallkill, Senior
Record: 37-5
Against the Field: 0-3 (Zsido 3X)
Opening Round Opponent: Anthony Fitzsimmons (Calhoun, S8)

Division 2
Theodore Mapes
Highland, Senior
Record: 26-7
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Howie Nolan (Maple Grove, S6)

182 Pounds

Division 1
Kendall Elsftrum
Monroe Woodbury, Sophomore
Record: 33-6
Against the Field: 1-0 (McLee)
Opening Round Opponent: Tyreek Bromley (Long Beach, S8)

Division 1
Bruce McLee
Washingtonville, Senior
Record: 33-4
Against the Field: 0-2 (Elfstrum, DiNardo)
Opening Round Opponent: David Hamil (Deer Park, S11)

Division 2
Kevin Morgans
Liberty (Eldred Fallsburg), Junior
Record: 28-4
Against the Field: 0-2 (Marszal, Brancati)
Opening Round Opponent: Meroj Aslov (RKA, P)

195 Pounds

Division 1
Nick McShea
Monroe Woodbury, Junior
Record: 38-0
Against the Field: 2-0 (Beyers, Bosco)
Opening Round Opponent: Caleb Gould (Chenango Forks, S4)

Division 1 
Bryan Beyers
Washingtonville, Senior
Record: 32-1
Against the Field: 0-1 (McShea)
Opening Round Opponent: Jake Braunscheidel (St. Francis, C)

Division 2
Zach Williams
Tuxedo, Senior
Record: 13-3
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Phil Wilshire (Attica, S5)

220 Pounds

Division 1
Brandon Mascaro
Wallkill, Senior
Record: 29-2
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Mike Newman (Monsignor Farrell, C)

Division 2
Stefan Chichkov
Red Hook, Senior
Record: 24-5
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Miguel Perez (Eagle Academy, P)

285 Pounds

Division 1
Isaac Serrano
Newburgh Free Academy, Senior
Record: 40-3
Against the Field: 2-1 (wins Delahanty 2X; loss Dee)
Opening Round Opponent: Jake Warren (Burnt Hills, S2)

Division 2
John Beal
Highland, Senior
Record: 28-6
Against the Field: 0-0
Opening Round Opponent: Jeff Andrews (Randolph, S6)