Team State Duals Preview

Photo: Paul Grassini, @grassinipaul on Instagram

INFORMATION CENTER
Location: SRC Arena and Events Center | Syracuse, NY
Date: Saturday, February 1st
Tickets: $12 including all fees (is an all digital ticketed event through GoFan)
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SCHEDULE
7:00AM: Weigh Ins
7:30AM: Doors Open for Public
8:45AM: Opening Ceremonies
9:00AM: 1st Round Matches
10:30AM: 2nd Round Matches
12:00PM: 3rd Round Matches
2:30PM: Semifinal Round
4:45PM: Championship Ceremonies
5:00PM: Dual Meet Championship Finals
Note: Awards ceremony to follow concluding the finals

DIVISION I TEAMS
Pool A
#1 Minisink Valley, #8 BBHVW, Niagara Wheatfield
Pool B
#4 Long Beach, #5 Webster Schroeder, West Genesee
Pool C
#3 Farmingdale, #6 Shenendehowa, Brockport
Pool D
#2 Horseheads, #7 Saratoga Springs, Sachem North
Note: Winners of Pool A and Pool B will wrestle in semifinal #1, while winners of Pool C and Pool D will wrestle in semifinal #2

DIVISION II TEAMS
Pool A
#1 John Glenn, #8 Chautauqua Lake, Peru
Pool B
#4 Seaford, #5 Unatego-UV-F, Nanuet
Pool C
#3 Plainedge, #6 Sherburne-Earlville, Port Jervis
Pool D
#2 Gouverneur, #7 Salem-Cambridge, Wayne
Note: Winners of Pool A and Pool B will wrestle in semifinal #1, while winners of Pool C and Pool D will wrestle in semifinal #2

DIVISION I TEAM STATE PREVIEW

Breakdown: Minisink Valley is loaded from 138 and up featuring PJ Duke and Anthony Tresch. BBHVW has a ton of talent on the bottom part of their lineup with Marcarlo Mannello, Vincenzo Mannello, Nicholas Fortugno, and Neil Paulercio. BBHVW is such a solid team, but unfortunately Minisink Valley has too much firepower and puts up tons of bonus points. Looks like Minisink's closest in-state dual this year has been to Iona Prep, where they still won by 14 points. Prediction: Minisink Valley +24.

Breakdown: Long Beach High School or as we like to call them "Lightweight University" with how much talent they pack down low with their Murderers Row in Powers, Andreula, Sibomana, Franklin, and Walpole. From 101 to 131 it isn't uncommon to see Long Beach put up 25 to 30 team points through those 5 weights. Webster Schroeder has a solid lineup featuring Virgil Joseph, Ethan Clark, Maximus Taylor, Thomas Reed, and Jeremiah House. From Webster Schroeder's perspective it is super important to limit bonus points down low (if possible) as they are favored from 138 lbs and up. On paper, Long Beach is favored in 5 matches and Webster Schroeder is favored in 5 matches with 3 toss ups, but Long Beach has more bonus potential. Webster Schroeder needs to win 7 or 8 bouts (essentially all the toss ups) to win the dual. Prediction: Long Beach +3.

Breakdown: Farmingdale came out on top in a loaded Nassau County while Brockport came out of a stacked Section V. Farmingdale is one of the most well-rounded teams in the state and all of their kids have positive records on the year, something that is difficult to do on Long Island. 4 ranked wrestlers on this team, while Brockport has 3 ranked wrestlers on their team and are headlined by Richard Wood, William Wood, and Dylan Fitzgerald. Potential matchup between #7 (152) Wood and #9 Wolf looms depending on how weight shifting goes, in addition to #16 Kama vs #15 Fitzgerald. There should be tons of good matches down low as well with competitors from both teams having less than 10 losses from 101 to 145. Prediction: Farmingdale +8.

Breakdown: Feature match here is #5 Taylor Beaury and #14 Jack Cusumano. Beaury took some lumps earlier in the year but has been red hot, including a win over #3 Finnegan O'Brien at Eastern States. Cusumano is also a solid competitor and holds a record of 31-2 so far on the year. Sachem North has some solid lightweights and expect them to get ahead early through 124. Similar to Farmingdale, Sachem North's starters also all have positive records on the year. Both of these teams are strongest from 131 to 170, so those matchups down the stretch are crucial with 131 and 138 being must-wins. Prediction: Sachem North +1.

Semifinal #1

Breakdown: A battle between two Murderers Rows here where Long Beach should bonus from 101 to 131 while Minisink Valley should take over after that from 138 to 190. Theme here is that Minisink Valley is just too good, and that holds true here as well. Prediction: Minisink Valley +12.

Semifinal #2

Breakdown: Our first battle of Long Island at the Team State Duals where Farmingdale takes on Sachem North. There are some sneaky good matchups in this one and most matches should be closer than expected as some of these kids train together at various clubs. Every single one of these matches should be close with minimal bonus points -- matchups we're most excited for are the big boys at 285 (Suwalski vs Pierre), Nick Miggliaccio vs Joseph Marotta, and Demarco vs Keegan. Prediction: Farmingdale +3.

Finals

Breakdown: Tons of potential matches we could see at the state tournament in a potential team state duals finals match. These top matches include #3 Wyatt Boice vs #9 Eric Wolf, #7 Zach Filip vs #16 Josh Kama, and #10 Uhrig vs HM Nicholas Migliaccio. This should be one of Minisink's closer in-state duals on the year, but again Minisink Valley the heavy favorite here. Prediction: Minisink Valley +10.

DIVISION II TEAM STATE PREVIEW

Breakdown: John Glenn is undefeated on the year with 7 wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in Division II, while Chautauqua Lake holds a 17-6 record and has notable wins over Letchworth and Webster Schroeder. Biggest potential matchups in this dual are between #9 Aidan Lee and #11 Gavin Buchanowski, a possible matchup we could see at the individual state tournament next month. Another one is #2 Mason Maring vs #9 Elijah Porpora, another matchup that we could see at the individual state tournament. 145 lbs, 170 lbs, and 190 lbs all toss-ups. Walter Lukasiak is ranked 10th and unfortunately sits behind at tough Mason Maring. Prediction: John Glenn +12.
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Breakdown: Unatego-Unadilla Valley-Franklin should be the favorite coming out of Pool B after winning the Section IV duals in a loaded Section. This is also their first state duals appearance! Expect Seaford to let Wilhelm take the forfeit at 108 and bump Diaz to 116 to wrestle LeFever. Depending on how lineup shifts go, you could see #18 Murphy vs either #9 Zaggout or #13 Nordberg. Prediction: Unatego-UV-F +14.

Breakdown: Plainedge is the returning Division I Team State Champions and have now dropped to Division II this year. The Red Devils out of Nassau County are anchored by #1 Luke Nieto (LIU Commit) and #1 Devin Downes (Maryland Commit) with three other ranked wrestlers including Joe Manfre, Kyle Carter, and Dylan Fella. Sherburne-Earlville's lineup is boasted with big man #3 Landon Andrade who has 17 pins on the year so far. Down low the Timberwolves have some young talent in 7th grader Andrew Telesky. Predicting Plainedge makes it back to the team state semifinals, this year in a different division. Prediction: Plainedge +9.

Breakdown: Wayne lost to Honeoye Falls-Lima by what was 20+ points at the Section V Duals and got into the tournament after HFL weighed in two individuals who did not have enough matches and/or weigh ins to compete (essentially HFL was disqualified from the Section V duals). As the new champions out of Section V this is their first team state duals appearance. Out of Section II we have Salem-Cambridge where it is also their first team state duals appearance. We have two top 15 matchups early (if the lineup shifting allows for it) between #10 Kurt Ziegler and #14 Jonah Stevens, in addition to #4 Braiden Salter and #13 Luke LeBlanc. Ideally Salem-Cambridge bumps away and trades 6 team points for 6 team points at one of the weights (108 & 116) if possible. This should be a close dual that comes down to the wire. Prediction: Salem-Cambridge +1.

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Semifinal #1

Breakdown: Key for John Glenn here is maximizing bonus points out of their seniors Tommy Aiello, Carmine Gerbino, and Elijah Porpora in a potential semifinal matchup with Unatego-Unadilla Valley-Franklin. Unatego's middle weights are strong in the Zaggout brothers (Abdul-Jamil, Ahmet, Abdeen) and Gavin Nordberg. Predicting an upset at 160 with #17 Wyatt Meade pulling a win out over #11 Bulger. Expect the unbeaten junior Drapaniotis to pickup a fall at 190 lbs as well. Should be an interesting dual start to finish, with John Glenn coming out on top. Prediction: John Glenn +5.

Semifinal #2

Breakdown: Ultimately this dual between Plainedge and Salem-Cambridge will come down to limiting (and maximizing bonus points). On paper we have Salem-Cambridge winning 7 of 13 matches, however, Plainedge earns enough bonus points to pull out a win and get themselves back in the finals. Important matches to watch are at 108, 116, 145, 160, and 170. If either Stevens or LeBlanc lose for Salem-Cambridge then that puts Plainedge in the driver's seat (on paper, at least). Plainedge joins John Glenn in the finals in what will be the Battle of Long Island. Prediction: Plainedge +3.

Finals

Breakdown: The Battle of Long Island for the Division II Team State Duals title! Both John Glenn and Plainedge have big hitters in completely different weight classes. A potential lineup shift Plainedge could make here is moving #1 Devin Downes to 215 against #5 Carmine Gerbino, and stick in junior Ryan Heffernan at 190 instead to limit the loss of bonus points. If Downes can get bonus points at 215 against Gerbino, that helps out Plainedge a ton. Look for this to be a back and forth dual with John Glenn picking up a ton of points early down low with #1 Aiello, #9 Lee, and #17 Presti and then Plainedge should keep it close and claw back once you get into 145 lbs territory. Predicting a DePhillips over Bulger upset at 160 lbs as well. Prediction: John Glenn +2.