Wrestler of the Year

Griffin LaPlante, Sr. (St. Francis – C)

The Wrestler of the Year Selection is awarded to the most outstanding senior within the confines of New York State. That being said, over the course of the last 12 months, the NC State commit has established himself as the top senior New York has to offer. Anyone who pays attention to wrestling year-round has likely noticed that if there is a tough tournament somewhere in the country, chances are that LaPlante is likely competing in said tournament.

This past summer we saw LaPlante go undefeated at Junior Duals where he also dominated Justus Heeg (IL), who is currently ranked #2 in the country and won Super 32 back in October. We also saw LaPlante make the blood round of Fargo in the Junior Freestyle division, which was littered with incoming college freshman. LaPlante only lost to individuals who earned All-American honors at Fargo.

During the preseason, LaPlante competed at both the Journeymen Fall Classic and Super 32. He would find the top of the podium at the Journeymen Fall Classic, and would soundly beat two individuals who were ranked ahead of him in the national rankings at the time in #7 Lorenzo Alston (NC) and #4 Reagan Milheim (PA). Fast forward to Super 32, he would earn his second All-American finish at that tournament where he took 4th. In the process he would tech Billy Tyler (VA) who was ranked inside the top 15 nationally alongside another win over a top 10 opponent in Liam Kelly (IL).

We would see LaPlante in action at the coveted Ironman and Powerade tournaments during the regular season, accompanied by tough trips to the DCC Super Duals and St. Edward Quad Duals. At Ironman he would notch a win over another nationally ranked opponent in #23 Justin Wardlow (IL), and at Powerade he would once again beat nationally ranked Billy Tyler (VA). Fast forward to the DCC Super Duals and he would beat former Fargo National Champion, Super 32 Finalist, and #7 ranked Blake Cosby (MI). He would also push the #4 pound-for-pound wrestler in the USA in Melvin Miller (PA) to the brink at the same tournament when St. Francis wrestled Bishop McCort, as LaPlante would notch the first takedown and would lead most of that match.

The most impressive thing about LaPlante has to be how uber consistent he is despite the frequency in which he competes and the tough schedule he wrestles, which is rare considering many these days save themselves for a couple tournaments each year. There are no “duds” he wrestles, and he is always ready to roll when he toes the line. He has constantly travelled to the best tournaments, consistently wrestles the best the country has to offer, and the guy simply gets it done.

LaPlante would go on to win his second consecutive state title for St. Francis, and will head off to NC State where he will wrestle for New York legend Pat Popolizio (Niskayuna ’01).

He will finish his career as the #1 recruit in the Class of 2026 here in New York State, and is currently the #53 recruit in the country in the Class of 2026 by MatScouts. At 165lbs, he is ranked 7th in the nation.

LaPlante’s Resume
– 2x New York State Champ (5-X-2-1-1)
– 2x Super 32 All-American (8th, 4th)
– 2x Powerade Medalist (7th, 3rd)
– Grappler Fall Classic Medalist
– Journeymen Fall Classic Champion
– NHSCA National Champion (8th, 4th, 1st)
– Ironman Medalist (6th)
– Fargo Junior Freestyle Blood Rounder
– #1 Recruit in New York State (Class of 2026)
– #53 Recruit in Country (Class of 2026, MatScouts)
– #7 Ranked Wrestler in Nation at 165lbs (MatScouts)

First Team

103 Marcarlo Mannello, 8th. (BBHVW – I)

Marcarlo Mannello (BBHVW) became the youngest wrestler to win a NYSPHSAA state championship this year as he was 13 years and 4 months old after he beat Ayden Delgado (Levittown Division) 7-2 in the Division I state finals. This record was previously held by New York legend PJ Duke, who was 13 years and 7 months old when he won his first state title. Mannello capped off his 8th grade season undefeated, and there were only three bouts contested on the year where he did not earn bonus points. His quest for five state titles has begun.

110 Ethan Andreula, So. (Long Beach – VIII)

What a year it was for Sophomore standout Ethan Andreula of Long Beach. In January, Andreula would run the gauntlet at the Eastern States Classic and win a weight that had four nationally recognized individuals competing (Ethan Andreula, Jonny Tutku, Will Soto, Xavier Seabury). Andreula would beat Seabury 3-1 in the Eastern States Classic finals. After that, he would hold down the top spot in the state rankings until the Section VIII tournament where he dropped a 1-0 match to returning New York State Champion Jonny Tutku (Massapequa). At the NYSPHSAA State Championships, Andreula would make the finals before dropping that finals match to Xavier Seabury (North Babylon) 1-0. Fast forward a month later and it was Andreula beating Seabury in the consolation semifinals of NHSCA Nationals. Alas, Andreula is our first team selection at 110lbs.

118 Dunia Sibomana, Sr. (Long Beach – VIII)

There isn’t much that Dunia Sibomana hasn’t done, and what a story he has. He closes the books on his high school career as a 3x New York State Champion, Fargo National Champion, NHSCA National Champion, and Super 32 All-American. The list will inevitably get longer as Sibomana keeps competing. He has been a mainstay in the national rankings since 2024, and has hovered around the 10-20 range by most outlets at 120lbs. The Long Beach standout was tabbed as the 109th ranked recruit in the country in the Class of 2026 by MatScouts. His next stop is Chapel Hill, where he will wrestle at North Carolina for Rob Koll and Tony Ramos.

126 Anthony Valls, Jr. (Chenango Valley – IV)

After missing his sophomore season due to injury, Anthony Valls posts an undefeated record as a junior to end his season as a New York Division II State Champion at 126lbs. There were only three matches all year that did not result in bonus points for Valls, with only one of those coming at the state tournament. Valls is now a 3x New York State Medalist (8th, 2nd, 1st), a Fargo All-American (2025 Greco 5th), and an NHSCA All-American. He is currently committed to wrestle at the University of Pennsylvania.

132 Chris Noto, Sr. (Honeoye Falls-Lima – V)

Noto shut the books on an outstanding high school career when he won his second consecutive NYSPHSAA State Championship in February. Throughout the course of this year he spent much of his time challenging himself against the best in the midwest. He competed at the Grappler Fall Classic in September, Super 32 in October, Ironman and Windsor in December, then the Eastern States Classic in January. Ironman would be one of his “breakout” tournaments, as that performance propelled him into the national rankings where he has hovered around the top 20 most of the year. Similar to brother Anthony, Chris will head off to Lock Haven in the fall as he hunts down more titles.

138 Landyn Shaffer, Jr. (Deposit-Hancock – IV)

The Binghamton commit built off of a breakout 2025 summer and turned in an impressive 2026 high school season that ultimately ended with Landyn Shaffer’s first state title. All in all, Shaffer dominated this season and was a bonus point machine. There were only three wins he churned in where there were not bonus points involved, and he only had one loss on the season to Jake Nieto. Shaffer would end up outplacing Nieto at NHSCA Nationals, where Shaffer won the tournament and Nieto took 6th. Stay tuned for more from the Section IV stud, as he will surely be active this summer and look to improve on his Fargo National Finals appearance from a year ago.

144 Gavin Mangano, Jr. (Shoreham-Wading River – XI)

After getting injured in the state finals a year ago, Mangano was on the mend and came back just in time for the fall big hitter tournaments. The junior out of Shoreham-Wading River would improve on his 6th place finish at Super 32 in 2024, and would finish 3rd at 138lbs in 2025. During the high school season we saw him active at both Ironman and Eastern States, where he would finish in 7th at Ironman and won Eastern States. Perhaps his most impressive performance was a 17-3 major over Cornell commit and fellow New York State Champion in Sammy Staley. The two went head-to-head in the Eastern States finals back in January, where Staley dropped down to 144lbs to get the match with Mangano. The Section XI standout is currently ranked inside the top 10 nationally at 144lbs, and is a perennial top 10 recruit in the Class of 2027 currently committed to Penn State.

150 Samson McKissick Staley, Sr. (Pittsford – V)

After two state runner-up finishes as a sophomore and junior, the Section V product ended his senior year on top of the podium. Staley’s only loss on the year was to Gavin Mangano, and Staley would end up bonusing his way through the state tournament series which included tech falls over Max McCarthy and Joseph Uhrig alongside a 14-4 major over Nick Debellis. Outside of the high school season, Staley put together a solid performance at Super 32 where he made the blood round, and also put together a solid 4-2 showing at Fargo in the Junior Freestyle division. He will head off to Cornell in the fall, and closes his career ranked 22nd in the nation at 150lbs and is the 134th prospect in the Class of 2026 by MatScouts.

157 Camryn Howard, So. (Bellport – XI)

Only a sophomore, Howard is now a 4x New York State Medalist and now a 2x New York State Champion. He has now placed 8th as a 7th grader, 3rd as an 8th grader, and 1st as a freshman and sophomore. Sounds crazy to say, but Howard still has two more years and has already accomplished most of the things wrestlers like to “check off the list.” There was not a single match he wrestled all year that did not result in either a pin or tech, and only three matches in total went beyond the first period. He won Fargo this past summer when he moved up three weights from 138 to 157, then followed that up by winning Who’s #1 and has held a #1 national ranking all year long. He is currently the #2 prospect in the entire country in the Class of 2028, and the sweepstakes for Cam Howard will commence on June 15.

165 Danny Dacey, Sr. (Saratoga Springs – II)

After finishing 5th as a junior, Dacey closed his high school career by giving Griffin LaPlante a run for his money under the lights on Saturday night in MVP Arena. While most had put it in park when they wrestled LaPlante throughout the year, Dacey threw the kitchen sink and (almost) shocked the country in the state finals. Outside of the state tournament series this year, Dacey won the Windsor Christmas Tournament before a “down” performance at Eastern States that we haven’t seen in awhile. He bounced back throughout the rest of the year, proving that it was just a bad tournament, and avenged one of those losses from Eastern States in the state semifinals. Perhaps Dacey’s best win of the year was a high scoring 14-9 win over Iona Prep’s George Johnson, who ended up being a state finalist at 157lbs this year. Dacey is still uncommitted, and would be a great pickup for any school searching for a gritty wrestler who simply gets it done.

175 Wyatt Boice, Jr. (Minisink Valley – IX)

Undefeated as a junior in a weight that included two other Division I commits is none other than Minisink Valley standout Wyatt Boice.

190 Tavio Hoose, Sr. (Southwestern – VI)

Hoose began the year competing for St. Francis and would go 1-2 at Ironman before putting together a solid performance at Powerade where he finished 4th. It was after this tournament where he would transfer and close out his high school career where it began, which was at Southwestern. After he lost to Josh Jorgge in 2025 at the CHSAA Championships, he did not qualify for the 2025 NYSPHSAA State Championships. He also had not won a state title since his freshman year. Three years later, after heading back to Southwestern, Hoose would put together a phenomenal postseason run and end his career on top of the podium. Two of the kids in his way were phenomenal competitors – Yanni Drapaniotis had a great Super 32 this fall where he beat Judah Heeg (top 150 senior in the country) and Liam English was a state runner-up from a year ago. Nonetheless, Hoose would beat both of them to secure his second state title. He closes his career as the 212th ranked prospect in the Class of 2026, and will be wrestling at Lehigh.

215 Devin Downes, Sr. (Plainedge – VIII)

It was a three peat for Devin Downes as he secured his third consecutive state title this year, this time at 215lbs. Within the confines of New York State, Downes bonused all but one of his opponents throughout the year and pinned his way through the state tournament. Earlier this year he earned Super 32 All-American honors, and was the first New York wrestler since 2015 (Christian Araneo, Wantagh) to All-American at the 190/195lbs weight. He would also place 8th at Ironman, 4th at Beast of the East, and would win the Eastern States Classic. He closes out his career as the 63rd ranked recruit in the Class of 2026, and will wrestle for Alex Clemson at Maryland in the Big 10.

285 Chris Belmonte, Sr. (New Hartford – III)

Belmonte had kept inching his way up the ladder as he finished 3rd as a sophomore and 2nd as a junior. It was only right that his senior year would finally culminate with a state title, and that it did. Belmonte would pin his way through the postseason, with his longest match being in the finals of the Section III tournament and lasting all of 2 minutes and 34 seconds. When wrestling New York foes, Belmonte was crushing the competition. His only loss on the year came in the finals of the Eastern States Classic was an NHSCA National Finals Rematch where he wrestled Kaz Morosetti. He has told New York Wrestling News that he plans to attend Spire Academy next year as a postgrad.

Second Team

103 Santino Pascarella, So. (Half Hollow Hills East – XI)
110 Xavier Seabury, So. (North Babylon – XI)
118 Will Russell, Sr. (Manhasset – VIII)
126 Brennan Sprague, Sr. (Monsignor Farrell – C)
132 Marco Futia, Sr. (Wallkill – IX)
138 Jake Nieto, Jr. (Massapequa – VIII)
144 Ashten Haley, Jr. (Cobleskill-Richmondville – II)
150 Maverick Beckwith, Jr. (Norwich – IV)
157 George Johnson, Sr. (Iona Prep – C)
165 Ryker Cox, Jr. (Coxsackie-Athens – II)
175 Rory White, Sr. (St. Francis – C)
190 Zach Caldwell, Sr. (St. Francis – C)
215 Dominic Darch, Fr. (St. Francis – C)
285 Willy Wortkoetter, Sr. (St. Francis – C)

Third Team

103 Ayden Delgado, Fr. (Levittown Division – VIII)
110 William Soto, Jr. (Newburgh – IX)
118 Kymah Gummow, So. (Indian River – III)
126 Kelly Sullivan, So. (Monroe Woodbury – IX)
132 Justin Mullis, Sr. (Hudson Falls – II)
138 Anthony Severino, Sr. (Lindenhurst – XI)
144 Ryan Munn, Sr. (Carthage – III)
150 Owen Clark, Jr. (Lansing – IV)
157 Devon Weber, So. (Greece – V)
165 William Wood, Sr. (Brockport – V)
175 Gabe English, Sr. (Berne Knox Westerlo – II)
190 Yanni Drapaniotis, Sr. (Unatego-UV-Franklin – IV)
215 Zach Filip, Sr. (Minisink Valley – IX)
285 Michael Mauro, Sr. (John Jay East Fishkill – I)

Honorable Mention

103 – Hunter Phillips, 8th. (Ward Melville – XI); Ben Marino, Fr. (Bay Shore – XI); Chrystian Velez, Fr. (Hilton – V); Evan Gomez, Fr. (Valley Central – IX); Dominic Giannoni, 7th. (Valley Central – IX)
110 – Jonny Tutku, Fr. (Massapequa – VIII); Declan McKee, Jr. (Tioga – IV); Adrian Torres, Sr. (Southwestern – VI); Mason Dellapenta, Jr. (Eden – VI); Wyatt Sartori, So. (Dansville-Wayland Cohoctan – V)
118 – Vincenzo Mannello, Fr. (BBHVW – I); Chase Phillips, Jr. (Ward Melville – XI); Vincent Orandello, Sr. (MacArthur – VIII); Connor Guffey, Jr. (Webster Thomas – V); Liam Lin, Jr. (North Rockland – I)
126 – Tristan Levin, Sr. (Tottenville – P); EJ Vass, So. (Valley Central – IX); Austin Campsey, Jr. (East Hampton – XI), Vincent Mastrianni, Sr. (Colonie – II), Luca Popolizio, Jr. (Christian Brothers – II)
132 – Rocco DeStefano, Sr. (East Islip – XI); Eliezer Sanchez, Sr. (Central Islip – XI); Cullen Edwards, Sr. (St. Francis – C); Brody Franklin, Sr. (Long Beach – VIII); Jon Testa, Sr. (Hilton – V)
138 – Greg Green, Jr. (Shenendehowa – II); Jayden Duncanson, Sr. (Tioga – IV); Joe Scott, So. (Letchworth – V); Justin D’Arce, Jr. (Center Moriches – XI); Shane Degl, So. (Iona Prep – C)
144 – Matt McDermott, So. (Smithtown East – XI); Elijah Brown, So. (Monroe Woodbury – IX); Joshua Thomas, Jr. (Sachem North – XI); Justin Reiss, Sr. (Tappan Zee – I); Chace Morris, Jr. (Oceanside – VIII)
150 – Trevor Dellapenta, Sr. (Eden – VI); Gene Edwards, Sr. (Central Valley Academy – III); Nick Debellis, Jr. (Horace Greeley – I); Niko Marnika, Jr. (Commack – XI); Michael McGuinness, Jr. (Walt Whitman – XI)
157 – Jacob McVige, Sr. (Honeoye Falls-Lima – V); Chris Nocca, Sr. (Horace Greeley – I); Joseph Brooks, Sr. (Massapequa – VIII); Sebastian Mejia, Sr. (Clarke – VIII); Bryce Dellapenta, Sr. (Eden – VI)
165 – Luke Ryan, Sr. (Fox Lane – I); Zachary Schrage, Sr. (Horseheads – IV); Peter Mikedis, So. (Bellmore JFK – VIII); Cadin Creeley, Sr. (Newark Valley – IV); Brody Heckman, Sr. (Alexander – V)
175 – Connor Wilson, Sr. (Our Lady of Lourdes – IX), James Capasso, Jr. (Ballston Spa – II); Quentin Getzin, Sr. (Ithaca – IV); Thomas Vecchio, Sr. (Sachem North – XI); Will Roden, Jr. (Clarkstown North – I)
190 – Liam English, Sr. (Berne Knox Westerlo – II); Ryan Brown, Sr. (Syracuse – III); Trent True, Sr. (Holland Patent – III); Patrick Braley, Jr. (Falconer – VI); Devin Bierfeldt, Jr. (Nyack – I)
215 – Justin DePietro, Jr. (Sewanhaka East – VIII); Rocco Lore, Sr. (Yorktown – I); Gianni Velazquez, Sr. (Geneva – V); Manaen Capellan, Sr. (Brentwood – XI); Kaydin Welch, Jr. (Cicero-North Syracuse – III)
285 – Zach Kuelling, Sr. (Williamson-Marion-Sodus – V); Mason Naple, Sr. (Victor – V); James Mulhern, Sr. (Massapequa – VIII); Richard Tinyes, Jr. (Lynbrook – VIII); Binak Bruncaj, Sr. (Tappan Zee – I)