Section 9 has once again delivered an incredible season for our local wrestling community. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from this past season starting with the Eastern States Classic and ending with the NHSCA High School Nationals. I’ve also decided to add a few awards – Senior Wrestler of the Year for Division 1, Division 2, and Girls! Each winner will receive a plaque!
22nd Annual Eastern States Classic – Boys
Year after year the Eastern States Classic shows why it is considered one of the toughest high school wrestling tournaments in the nation. This year was no exception. For the second time in three years, Minisink Valley won the team title. Wyatt Boice, a junior at Minisink, was our only champ. He defeated Connor Wilson from Our Lady of Lourdes in an all-Section 9 final at 175 pounds. Boice’s teammate Zach Filip was our only other Section 9 finalist taking second place at 215 pounds. Other place winners were Valley Central’s Dominic Giannoni (6th at 103), NFA’s William Soto (3rd at 110), Valley Central’s EJ Vass (3rd at 126), Monroe Woodbury’s Kelly Sullivan (4th at 126), Wallkill’s Marco Futia (3rd at 132), Monroe Woodbury’s Elijah Brown (5th at 144), Minisink Valley’s Jayden Pressley (4th at 190), and NFA’s William Coughlin (6th at 190). Special shout out to former NFA wrestler Cooper Merli, who now attends NYMA, for winning the title at 118 with a win over Dunia Sibomana from Long Beach.
Eastern States Classic – Girls
Minisink Valley junior Sara Pauls was our lone champion from Section 9 defeating a nationally ranked opponent in the finals. Port Jervis senior Chalie Wylie was the runner-up at 107 losing to the #1 ranked wrestler in the nation, Jaclyn Bouzakis from Wyoming Seminary, in the finals. The other Section 9 place winners were Valley Central’s Olivia Schmidt (6th at 107), Valley Central’s Rilee Kinsley (5th at 145), Middletown’s Hailey Lichtenstein (6th at 145), Minisink Valley’s Jaida Macaluso (4th at 152), Valley Central’s Arica Pearson-Leary (5th at 152), and Middletown’s Madeira Monchery (5th at 235).
Section 9 Duals – Division 1
Minisink Valley had a dominating performance at this season’s Section 9 Division 1 Dual Meet Championships. The Warriors began their run at the title with an 82-0 victory over Warwick in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Minisink was awarded a 1-0 criteria decision over Newburgh Free Academy before squaring off with Middletown in the finals. The Middies wrestled tough, but the Warriors won ten of the fourteen matches and won the title by a score of 47-16. Middletown, however, qualified for an at-large bid to the state duals so both Minisink Valley and Middletown punched their ticket to the NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Championships in Syracuse!
Section 9 Duals – Division 2
Not to be outdone by their neighbor to the east, Port Jervis once again showed why they are the top dogs in Section 9 Division 2. The Raiders received a bye into the semifinals at the Section 9 Division 2 Dual Meet Championships where they defeated Highland by a score of 76-6. In the finals, Port Jervis would take on Our Lady of Lourdes where they would win eleven of the fourteen matches and win by a score of 64-18, once again punching their ticket to the state dual meet championships in Syracuse.
NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Championships
Minisink Valley, Middletown, and Port Jervis all qualified for the state dual meet championships held at the SRC Arena and Events Center in Syracuse. All three Section 9 programs performed exceptionally well at the tournament. In the Division 2 tournament, Port Jervis would win their pool matches by scores of 48-25 over Gouverneur (Section 10) and 46-18 over Canisteo Greenwood (Section 5). In the semis, Port would fall to Section 11 power Shoreham Wading River 55-24. In the Division 1 tournament, Middletown went 1-1 in pool matches. They defeated Section 1 champion Yorktown by a score of 45-24 before dropping a heartbreaker to Section 2 power Shenendehowa 26-28 in a dual that was decided in the very last match! Minisink Valley dominated their two opponents in pool matches. The Warriors defeated Section 3 champs Carthage by a score of 50-17 and then rolled over Section 5’s Fairport by a score of 57-16. In the semifinals, Minisink would lose to eventual champion Massapequa 31-30 in what some are saying was the most exciting dual meet in the state this season. With their performance at the state duals, Minisink Valley keeps a very impressive streak alive. The Warriors have been to the state duals every year since the inception of the tournament in 2018 and have only suffered losses at the event to the eventual champions. Minisink has won the tournament three time!
Section 9 Division 1 Championships
Minisink Valley kept their stranglehold on the team title at the 2026 Section 9 Division 1 Championships winning the team title for 9th consecutive season – 15th overall. The Warriors placed fifteen wrestlers in the top 6, crowned five champions, and qualified eight wrestlers for the state championship tournament in Albany. They finished with 290 team points. Middletown places 2nd at the tournament with 223.5 points followed by Valley Central with 183 points. Let’s take a look at all of the Section 9 Division 1 wresters who qualified for the NYSPHSAA Individual Championships in Albany.
103 Pounds
1st – Evan Gomez (Valley Central)
2nd – Dominic Giannoni (Valley Central)
3rd – Alberto Morris (Minisink Valley)
110 Pounds
1st – William Soto (NFA) – Tournament MOW
2nd – Andrew Uszenski (Valley Central)
3rd – Evan Bryant (Middletown)
118 Pounds
1st – Greg Schaefer (Goshen)
2nd – Francis Segura (Middletown)
3rd – Ian Gentles (Valley Central)
126 Pounds
1st – EJ Vass (Valley Central)
2nd – Kelly Sullivan (Monroe Woodbury)
3rd – Owen Milmore (Washingtonville)
132 Pounds
1st – Marco Futia (Wallkill)
2nd – Anthony Noboa (Middletown)
3rd – Colin Matone (Minisink Valley)
138 Pounds
1st – Caleb Brown (Monroe Woodbury)
2nd – Luke Dakin (FDR-Hyde Park)
3rd – Gianni Gennaro (Washingtonville)
144 Pounds
1st – Elijah Brown (Monroe Woodbury)
2nd – Alex Nigro (Minisink Valley)
3rd – Carlos Contreras (Middletown)
150 Pounds
1st – Joseph Uhrig (Minisink Valley)
2nd – Maximus Smith (Valley Central)
3rd – Evan Weeden (Goshen)
157 Pounds
1st – DJ Aviles (Middletown)
2nd – Thomas Caufaglione (Wallkill)
3rd – Michael Giannoni (Valley Central)
165 Pounds
1st – Liam Hayes (Monroe Woodbury)
2nd – Aaden Scott (Middletown)
3rd – Colton Parese (Kingston)
175 Pounds
1st – Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley)
2nd – Liam Dakin (FDR-Hyde Park)
3rd – Mateo Morell (NFA)
190 Pounds
1st – Jayden Pressley (Minisink Valley)
2nd – William Coughlin (NFA)
3rd – Malachi Courtois (Monroe Woodbury)
215 Pounds
1st – Zachary Filip (Minisink Valley)
2nd – Dion Knight (Monticello)
3rd – Justin Stewart (Pine Bush)
285 Pounds
1st – Timmy Duke (Minisink Valley)
2nd – Patrick Curran (Pine Bush)
3rd – Cashmiere Curtis (FDR-Hyde Park)
Section 9 Division 2 Championships
Port Jervis continued their domination in the Division 2 tournament capturing their 8th team title in the last nine seasons. Port also captured four team titles when there was only one division making it twelve total titles for the Raiders. Port Jervis had sixteen wrestlers place in the top 6 and crowned five champions finishing with 323 team points. Red Hood placed second with 185 points followed by Our Lady of Lourdes with 169 team points. Let’s take a look at all thirteen Section 9 Division 2 champions who qualified for the NYSPHSAA Championships in Albany.
103 – Landon Hotaling (Red Hook)
110 – Carmello Massey (Red Hook)
118 – Bryce Reilly (Our Lady of Lourdes)
126 – Justin Jones (Port Jervis)
132 – Everett Giorgio (Red Hook)
138 – Trent Edwards (Chester)
144 – Markus Ferrara (Port Jervis)
150 – Jacob DeClair (Highland)
157 – Amato Natale (Port Jervis)
165 – Grady Collin (Our Lady of Lourdes)
175 – Connor Wilson (Our Lady of Lourdes) – Tournament MOW
190 – Benjamin Rivera (Port Jervis)
215 – Emanuel Celaya Lavariega (Red Hook)
285 – Nick Oosterom (Port Jervis)
Section 9 Girls Freestyle Championships
Now in its 2nd season as a sanctioned championship sport, girls freestyle wrestling is rapidly growing in Section 9! For the 2nd season in a row, Minisink Valley captured the team title at the Section 9 Girls Freestyle Championships. The Lady Warriors crowned four champions, qualified six for the state tournament, and amassed 237 points on their way to the team title. Middletown place second in the team race with 193.5 points followed by Valley Central with 106.5 points. Let’s take a look at all of the Section 9 wrestlers who qualified for the NYSPHSAA Girls Freestyle Championships in Albany! Because of the strength of Section 9 girls freestyle wrestling, we qualified two wrestlers at 107, 114, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 165, and 185. The Section 9 champion is listed first.
94 – Shane Dharaleen (Middletown)
100 – Natalia Tejada (FDR-Hyde Park)
107 – Charlie Wylie (Port Jervis) – Tournament MOW
107 – Olivia Schmidt (Valley Central)
114 – Keira Filip (Minisink Valley)
114 – Isla Smith (Middletown)
120 – Gigi Sullivan (Monroe Woodbury)
126 – Sara Pauls (Minisink Valley)
126 – Allison Carman (Port Jervis)
132 – Rebecca Brennan (New Paltz)
132 – Kenzie Welch (Minisink Valley)
138 – Jada Lee (Monroe Woodbury)
138 – Hailey Lichtenstein (Middletown)
145 – Victoria Alvarado (Warwick)
145 – Rilee Kinsley (Valley Central)
152 – Arica Pearson-Leary (Valley Central)
152 – Isabella Dipaola (Kingston)
165 – Caitlin McIlroy (Minisink Valley)
165 – Aleeya Soto (Middletown)
185 – Jaida Macaluso (Minisink Valley)
185 – Olivia Carroll (Minisink Valley)
235 – Madeira Monchery (Middletown)
NYSPHSAA Championships – Division 1
Although we were not able to win the sectional team title for a fifth consecutive season, Section 9 still had a very strong showing at the state championship tournament. As a section we crowned two champions and had ten wrestlers place in the top 8 of their weight class. We finished 5th in the sectional race, however because of our strength over the past three seasons, Section 9 will still send their top three division one wrestlers in each weight to the state tournament next season! In the high school team race, Minisink Valley had another very strong showing and finished in second place behind CHSAA power St. Francis. Let’s take a look at all ten of our state medalists and special congratulations to our state champions – Marco Futia from Wallkill and Wyatt Boice from Minisink Valley.
103 – Evan Gomez (Valley Central) – 7th place
110 – William Soto (NFA) – 3rd place
126 – Kelly Sullivan (Monroe Woodbury) – 2nd place
126 – EJ Vass (Valley Central) – 4th place
132 – Marco Futia (Wallkill) – NYS Champion
144 – Elijah Brown (Monroe Woodbury) – 3rd place
150 – Joseph Uhrig (Minisink Valley) – 5th place
150 – Maximus Smith (Valley Central) – 6th place
175 – Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley) – NYS Champion
215 – Zachary Filip (Minisink Valley) – 2nd place
NYSPHSAA Championships – Division 2
Our Section 9 Division 2 squad was led by state finalist Connor Wilson from Our Lady of Lourdes. Wilson was the first state finalist from our small school division since 2020. Our team was young and the future is bright. Only three of the fourteen state qualifiers from division two were seniors! Two of these underclassmen, Carmello Massey (Red Hook) and Justin Jones (Port Jervis), made it to the blood round this year.
175 – Connor Wilson (Our Lady of Lourdes) – 2nd place
NYSPHSAA Girls Freestyle Championships
Girls freestyle wrestling is here to stay in NYS! Now in its second season as a sanctioned championship sport, girls freestyle wrestling is growing and improving at a very impressive rate. Section 9 sent a very strong contingent of wrestlers to Albany this season and our ladies delivered! Section 9 crowned two state champions and had a total of thirteen state medalists. We also had two teams finish in the top 5 in the high school team race – Minisink Valley placed 3rd and Valley Central finished 4th. Shenendehowa won the team race followed by Bellport. Let’s take a look at all thirteen of our state medalists with special congratulations to our champions, 2X state champion from Port Jervis Charlie Wylie and Sara Pauls from Minisink Valley.
100 – Natalia Tejada (FDR-Hyde Park) – 6th place
107 – Charlie Wylie (Port Jervis) – NYS Champion
107 – Olivia Schmidt (Valley Central) – 4th place
114 – Keira Filip (Minisink Valley) – 6th place
120 – Gigi Sullivan (Monroe Woodbury) – 2nd place
126 – Sara Pauls (Minisink Valley) – NYS Champion
132 – Rebecca Brennan (New Paltz) – 6th place
138 – Jada Lee (Monroe Woodbury) – 4th place
145 – Victoria Alvarado (Warwick) – 2nd place
145 – Rilee Kinsley (Valley Central) – 5th place
152 – Arica Pearson-Leary (Valley Central) – 3rd place
185 – Jaida Macaluso (Minisink Valley) – 3rd place
235 – Madeira Monchery (Middletown) – 6th place
NHSCA Nationals
Several Section 9 wrestlers made the trip to Virginia Beach to compete at the high school nationals, and we had six return home as All-Americans!
Girls Division
Sara Pauls (Minisink Valley) – 3rd at 126 pounds
Middle School Division
Marco Minelli (Minisink Valley) – 2nd at 85 pounds
Freshman Division
Caleb Brown (Monroe Woodbury) – 8th at 132 pounds
Sophomore Division
EJ Vass (Valley Central) – 6th at 126 pounds
Junior Division
Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley) – 5th at 175 pounds
Senior Division
Marco Futia (Wallkill) – 5th at 126 pounds
2026 SectionIXWrestling.com Senior Wrestlers of the Year
Division 1 – Marco Futia (Wallkill)
Division 2 – Connor Wilson (Our Lady of Lourdes)
Girls – Charlie Wylie (Port Jervis)