Congratulations to Port Jervis graduate Joe Zitone and Highland graduate Vinny Barberfor finshing 1st and 2nd, respectively, at the Will Abele Invitational hosted by Ursinus. The two heaveyweight grapplers never actually wrestled as Barber had to medically forfeit out of tournament due to an injury sustained during his semifinal victory. Click here for complete brackets. Great job guys!
Wyoming Seminary made their Eastern States Classic debut in style! The prep school from northeastern PA crowned five champions and outscored runner-up Shenendehowa by 89 points. Quite simply, they were dominating. They brought 13 wrestlers to the tournament…12 of them placed in the top eight. No other team placed more than 5!
Seven Section 9 wrestlers stepped on the podium led by Ethan Stanley’s third place finish. The Saugerties heavyweight’s only loss was 1-0 decision (illegal clasp) in the semifinals to eventual champion Michael Johnson of Wyoming Seminary. Other local wrestlers who placed were Gerard Daly (Minisink Valley, 6th @ 99), Michael Raccioppi (Minisink Valley, 7th @ 106), TJ Kreider (Cornwall, 8th @ 113), Bret Sauschuck (Port Jervis, 7th @ 145), Jesse Corcoran (Eldred/Fallsburg, 8th @ 220), and Seth Stauble (Kingston, 7th @ 285).
Wyoming Seminary has quickly answered any and all questions about what kind of impact they would have at the Eastern States Wrestling Classic. After Day 1 of the 10th annual ESC, #8 ranked team in the nation has taken firm control of the team race by sending an astonishing 13 of 13 wrestlers into the quarter-final round….that’s right, not a single Sem wrestler has yet to lose a match!
Local wrestlers who have advanced to Saturday morning’s quarters include:
99 – Gerard Daly (Minisink Valley) & Vinny Vespa (Monroe Woodbury)
106 – Michael Raccioppi (Minisink Valley)
195 – Deon Edmond (Kingston)
285 – Ethan Stanley (Saugerties) & Seth Stauble (Kingston)
Quarter-finals are scheduled to begin at 9:00AM on Saturday. If you can’t be there in person, follow the action through updated brackets courtesy of Escape Sports. PAWRVideo will also be providing videos of select matches. Links to both are provided below.
2012 ESC Brackets 2012 ESC Videos
The day is finally upon us. The 10th Annual Eastern States Wrestling Classic is set to get underway at 10:40 this morning at SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake…580 wrestlers representing 101 schools covering 4 states! This tournament has rapidly grown in size and quality and is now considered one of the toughest high school wrestling tournaments in the country. For the second straight year it has earned the designation of being a FloMajor thus all winners receive an automatic birth to the prestigious FloNationals. The mats are rolled out and we’re almost ready to go!!!
Click on the link below for updated brackets throughout the tournament courtesy of Escape Sports. SectionIXWrestling.com will provide a Day 1 summary and will post quarter-final matchups at the completion of today’s wrestling. Here we go!!!!!
The Eastern States Wrestling Classic has quickly become one of the toughest high school wrestling tournaments in the country. With the addition of several top-notch teams, including national powerhouse Wyoming Seminary, this year’s event will be tougher than ever! The two-day tournament has 101 teams entered and begins Friday, January 13 at 10:30AM at SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake. Below are a few links that will provide some helpful and interesting information about the 10th Annual Eastern States Wrestling Classic!
Teams and Schedule Tournament Preview Fan Information
SectionIXWrestling.com has decided to put together an Eastern States Classic All-Star Team from the first nine years of the tournament (2003 – 2011). This year’s weight class changes made it an ideal time to do this. The number of big-time, marquee-name wrestlers who did not make this “team” is astonishing! Please feel free to comment. Enjoy!
Weight Name / School / Championship Year(s)
96 Jamie Franco – Monroe Woodbury (2005, 2008, 2009)
103 Arik Robinson – Peru (2009, 2011)
112 Lou Ruggirello – Valley Central (2004, 2005)
119 Steven Keith – Shoreham Wading River (2007, 2008, 2009)
125 Corey Jantzen – Shoreham Wading River (2006, 2007)
130 Cody Ruggirello – Valley Central (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
135 Andrew Lenzi – Fordam Prep (2010)
140 Mike Roberts – Colonie (2003, 2004)
145 JP O’Connor – Oxford Academy (2005, 2006)
152 Gregor Gillespie – Webster Schroeder (2005)
160 Dave McCarty – LaSalle (2004, 2005)
171 Tyler Beckwith – Greene (2009, 2010)
189 Austin Meys – Shenendehowa (2005, 2008, 2009)
215 Nick Gwiazdowski – Duanesburg (2011)
285 Terry Tate – Tyrone, PA (2003, 2004, 2005)
** BOLD indicates the year(s) the wrestler won the title in the weight class he has been selected**
Here is a list of all of the champions….make up your own team and submit it to us through comments!
Section 2 wrestling powerhouse Shenendehowa absolutely dominated the competition en route to capturing the title at the U-E Duals this past weekend. Over the years, this tournament has developed the reputation of being the unofficial dual meet championship for New York State. Shenendehowa rolled over perennial state power Spencerport (Section 5) by a score of 47 to 22 to win the title. Section 9 was very well represented at U-E this year having Warwick, Monroe Woodbury, and Minisink Valley all entered in the tournament.
Monroe Woodbury, currently ranked #7 in the state, made a strong case for cracking the top 5 for the next NYSSWA poll as the Crusaders finished in 3rd place. Monroe finished 3-1 for the tournament with their only loss coming to Shenendehowa. Vinny Vespa, Tom Murphy, and John Vandercliff all finished 4-0 for MW.
Warwick, still battling through some illness and injury, managed to go 3-2 for the weekend and finished 6th. The Wildcats posted victories over Chenango Forks (Section 4), Long Beach (Section 8), and Sayville (Section 11). Warwick’s losses came to John Glenn (Section 11) and Brockport (Section 5) who finished 4th and 5th respectively.
Minisink Valley received a very tough draw being pooled with eventual champion Shenendehowa and 5th place Brockport. The Warriors wrestled hard; however, they finished 1-4 for the tournament and failed to place. The biggest bright spot for Minisink came from their smallest wrestler. Minsink 99 pounder Gerard Daly finished the weekend 4-0 and posted convincing victories over a few state-ranked wrestlers. Against Shenendehowa, Daly pinned Kevin Parker in the third period. MW’s Vespa also pinned Parker later in the tournament. Daly’s most impressive match, however, was his dismantling of Steven Sewkumar from Long Beach. Sewkumar is considered by many to be one of the top two or three 99 pound wrestlers in the state.
Overall, it was a great couple of days for Section 9 wrestling…. not only at UE, but at all of the weekend tournaments. What better way to get ready for this coming weekend …The 10th Annual Eastern States Wrestling Classic!!!
Led by tournament MOW Ethan Stanley, Saugerties finished third of 14 teams at the Oneonta tournament on Saturday. After defeating a very tough Billy Holden from BGA in the second round, Stanley squared of with undefeated and state-ranked James Merritt from Owego in the finals. Stanley was thrown to his back and down 5-0 before staging a comeback and eventually pinning Merritt at the 2:26 mark of the second period. Biko Skalla(106),Chris Farrell(182), Keoni Nakapaahu(220) finished 2nd for Saugerties. Click here for all of Saugerties individual results.
Aaron Barkstrom (126) and Ricky Treu (145) won individual titles as Red Hook placed second out of 12 teams at the Ravena tournament. Red Hook at Ravena Austin Weigel of Onteora also won the title at 160 pounds.
Ian Morse (138) and Paul Sommer (152) earned first place honors as Rondout Valley finished seventh as a team at The 31st Stan Elinsky Tournament at Deposit. Also placing for Roundout Valley were John Hodes (2nd @ 120), Donavan Li (4th @220), Rudy Aguilar (4th @ 285), Eric Morse (5th @ 126), and Jonathan Nace (5th @ 113).
Cornwall defeated host Middletown by a score of 37-34 to cap off a perfect weekend going 6-0 as a team and winning the team title at the 2012 Middie Duals. Check out the below links for team results as well as all individual results.
Middie Duals Team Results Middie Duals Individual Results
Pine Bush’s Jordan Robles (132) and Chris Weston (152) both finished second in the extremely competitive Shoreline Classic Wrestling Tournament held in New Rochelle on Saturday. Also placing for Pine Bush were Johnny Stramiello (4th @ 106), AJ North (5th @ 99), and Patrick Sause (6th at 160).
Goshen’s results at the Roy C. Ketcham Duals (includes results against New Paltz, Highland, and Wallkill): Arlington 63 Goshen 15 Brewster 75 Goshen 6
Colonie 73 Goshen 6 Goshen 45 East Ramapo 36 Goshen 48 New Paltz 36
Highland 54 Goshen 36 JJEF 65 Goshen 24 Ketcham 69 Goshen 18
Wallkill 62 Goshen 17
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!!!
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
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.***