103lbs
The Favorite
Marcarlo Mannello (BBHVW) is undefeated on the year and is the only returning state medalist at the weight. He’s also beaten Santino Pascarella (Hills East) who’s currently ranked #2 in the state.
Criminal Quarter Bracket
The bottom quarter bracket here is bananas and features state ranked #3 Velez (Hilton), #4 Eggleston (Shenendehowa), #9 Giannoni (Valley Central), and #10 Winseman (St. Francis). Even more bananas here is that #3 Velez and #4 Eggleston will wrestle in the Round of 16!
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Marcarlo Mannello (BBHW) vs #2 Santino Pascarella (Hills East)
#4 Trevor Eggleston (Shenendehowa) vs #5 Ayden Delgado (Levittown Division)
Commentary: We get an Eastern States Classic rematch in the semifinals here between Mannello and Pascarella where Mannello won 4-2. On the bottom side of the bracket we’re taking Trevor Eggleston, however, you could plug anyone in from that bottom quarter bracket and you’d probably be right. Whoever comes out of that bottom quarter bracket is our pick to make the finals.
Finals Matchup
#1 Marcarlo Mannello (BBHVW) vs #4 Trevor Eggleston (Shenendehowa)
State Champ: Marcarlo Mannello
110lbs
The Favorite(s)
A four horse race here between Xavier Seabury, Will Soto, Jonny Tutku, and Ethan Andreula. Both Soto and Tutku are returning state champs while Seabury and Andreula finished third a year ago. The carousel between this group is pretty crazy as Andreula beat Seabury, Seabury beat Soto, Soto beat Tutku, and Tutku just won a rematch with Andreula at the Section VIII tournament.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Xavier Seabury (North Babylon) vs #4 Ethan Andreula (Long Beach)
#2 Will Soto (Newburgh) vs #3 Jonny Tutku (Massapequa)
Sleeper Pick
Ethan Hauser (Connetquot) is currently the 15 seed but is currently ranked #6 at 110lbs with wins over Chase Berkowitz, Chase Phillips, and Carmine Catapano. Hauser has had very close matches with Xavier Seabury all year. Don’t be surprised if you see him on the podium.
Finals Matchup
#1 Xavier Seabury (North Babylon) vs #2 Will Soto (Newburgh)
State Champ: Will Soto
118lbs
The Favorite
Dunia Sibomana (Long Beach) is the odds on favorite to capture his third state title as he’s captured wins over Anthony LaGala-Ryan and Will Russell this year.
Criminal Quarter Bracket
The quarter bracket with Vincenzo Mannello (BBHVW) and Will Russell (Manhasset) is brutal as they’re both currently ranked #2 and #3 in the state, respectively. Winner guarantees themselves a spot on the podium.
The quarter bracket directly below them features #4 Tanner Catrabone (St. Francis), #5 Kymah Gummow (Indian River), #8 Alex Hernandez (Newfield), and #13 Lukas Yeager (Hilton). Brutal!
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Dunia Sibomana (Long Beach) vs #6 Brady Maneri (Auburn)
#2 Vincenzo Mannello (BBHVW) vs #4 Tanner Catrabone (St. Francis)
Finals Matchup
#1 Dunia Sibomana (Long Beach) vs #2 Vincenzo Mannello (BBHVW)
State Champ: Dunia Sibomana
126lbs
Who Wants It?
Anthony LaGala-Ryan (Longwood) was the favorite to win the weight before he had to miss the postseason due to an injury, which has now opened up the entire weight class. There is no clear frontrunner, and many of these kids have wins and common opponent matches against each other. Every match from the Round of 16 on should be a must see for everyone.
Criminal Quarter Bracket
#2 EJ Vass (Valley Central), #6 Luca Popolizio (Christian Brothers), and #7 Brennan Sprague (Monsignor Farrell) are all in the bottom quarter bracket and we will get Popolizio vs Sprague in Round of 16. Something interesting to note here is that Brennan Sprague has only been wrestling since his freshman year of high school, and he missed his entire sophomore year due to injury with a broken neck. He’s a great greco guy and has #BigMove potential. Vass did notably beat Popolizio 5-2 earlier in the year, but Popolizio has notched plenty of ranked wins himself. Whoever comes out of this quarter bracket likely gets Carlos Salazar (Hewlett) in the semis.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Vincent Mastrianni (Colonie) vs #5 Austin Campsey (East Hampton)
#7 Brennan Sprague (Monsignor Farrell) vs #3 Carlos Salazar (Hewlett)
Finals Predictions
#5 Austin Campsey (East Hampton) vs #7 Brennan Sprague (Monsignor Farrell)
Commentary: I think that Campsey avenges the 4-3 loss to Mastrianni earlier in the year and Sprague capitalizes off his sole state finals appearance, goes on a run, and makes the finals. Who likes chalk predictions anyway? Let’s make it interesting.
State Champ: #7 Brennan Sprague (Monsignor Farrell)
132lbs
The Favorite(s)
Cullen Edwards (St. Francis) comes in ranked #1 at 132lbs but got fielded the #7 seed this week despite not taking an in-state loss this year. He also finished 4th in a state bracket a year ago that had four Division I college commitments plus Reinard, Vass, Palmeri, Levin, and Popolizio.
Marco Futia (Wallkill) is ranked #2 and has wins over Ryan Ball, Jon Testa, Rocco DeStefano, and Anthony Noboa. Don’t count him out either.
Criminal Quarter Bracket
#1 Cullen Edwards (St. Francis), #3 Jon Testa (Hilton), #6 Matt Peterson (Islip), and #13 Colin Matone (Minisink Valley) all sit in the bottom quarter bracket. Edwards took 4th at 116lbs a year ago while Testa took 4th at 124lbs. Peterson has had tight matches with DeStefano and beat Division II state placer Aidan Lee (John Glenn) earlier in the year. #1 Edwards and #6 Peterson will go down in the Round of 16!
Whoever comes out of this quarter bracket likely gets the winner of #4 Rocco DeStefano (East Islip) and #7 Santiago Chrisjohn (Christian Brothers).
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Cullen Edwards (St. Francis) vs #4 Rocco DeStefano (East Islip)
#2 Marco Futia (Walkill) vs #5 Brody Franklin (Long Beach)
Finals Predictions
#1 Cullen Edwards (St. Francis) vs #2 Marco Futia (Wallkill)
State Champ: Cullen Edwards (St. Francis)
138lbs
The Favorite(s)
The favorites in the bracket both hail from long island with #1 Jake Nieto (Massapequa) and #2 Anthony Severino (Lindenhurst) being the frontrunners. Nieto won Eastern States and beat Fargo Finalist Landyn Shaffer in the semifinals, while Severino made the finals himself at 132lbs. After deep state tournament runs two years in a row, can Severino end his career on top?
Sleeper Pick
Danny Jones (Burnt Hills) made it out of Section II after beating out Luke Stoutenburg (Saratoga Springs) who made the blood round of the state tournament last year. He’s currently ranked 12th in the state but is always ultra competitive. He will likely draw Greg Green (Shenendehowa) who has beaten him every time they’ve wrestled this year, but winning against the same person again and again gets more difficult. Can Jones close the gap and make it interesting?
Semifinal Predictions
#2 Anthony Severino (Lindenhurst) vs #4 Greg Green (Shenendehowa)
#1 Jake Nieto (Massapequa) vs #3 Trey LeChase (Fairport)
Finals Predictions
#2 Anthony Severino (Lindenhurst) vs #1 Jake Nieto (Massapequa)
State Champ: Jake Nieto (Massapequa)
144lbs
The Favorite(s)
#1 Ryan Munn (Carthage) and #2 Matt McDermott (Smithtown East) are the two big favorites here at 144lbs. Munn beat McDermott 4-2 at Eastern States earlier in the year to take over the top spot at the weight. Also keep an eye on Elijah Brown (Monroe Woodbury) who took 6th last year and had a close 4-3 loss to Matt McDermott at Eastern States.
Sleeper Pick
Josh Thomas (Sachem North) is currently ranked 5th at 144lbs but was fielded the #13 seed. He will likely draw Chase Matter (Saratoga Springs) in the Round of 16, and we have Matter ranked 9th. If Thomas wins that match, he will draw #6 ranked Ben Burrows (Pittsford). Although his path is tough, he is very good, and he could find himself in the semifinals.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Ryan Munn (Carthage) vs #5 Josh Thomas (Sachem North)
#2 Matt McDermott (Smithtown East) vs #3 Elijah Brown (Monroe Woodbury)
Final Predictions
#1 Ryan Munn (Carthage) vs #2 Matt McDermott (Smithtown East)
State Champ: Matt McDermott (Smithtown East)
150lbs
The Favorite(s)
Samson McKissick-Staley (Pittsford) looks to finish his career on top of the podium after falling just short a year ago. He’s been nothing short of dominant this year aside from his only loss to Gavin Mangano. This weekend for him should be no different as the 2x state finalist looks to get it done this year.
Sleeper Pick
Niko Marnika (Commack) comes in ranked 5th in the state and made the blood round a year ago at 138lbs. He comes in seeded 16th and will get another match against Colten Ford (Smithtown West) right off the bat. Assuming he wins again, he will draw Sammy Staley which will be a tall task, but don’t be surprised if he makes some noise on the backside of the bracket.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Samson McKissick Staley (Pittsford) vs #4 Joseph Uhrig (Minisink Valley)
#2 Michael McGuinness (Walt Whitman) vs #3 Nick Debellis (Horace Greeley)
Final Predictions
#1 Samson McKissick Staley (Pittsford) vs #2 Michael McGuinness (Walt Whitman)
State Champ: Samson McKissick-Staley (Pittsford)
157lbs
The Favorite(s)
#1 ranked Camryn Howard (Bellport) is the gold standard here in New York and is only a sophomore. He is currently undefeated on the year and ranked #1 in the country at 157lbs. Any big national tournament you name, he’s probably done pretty well there.
Other exceptional wrestlers to keep an eye on here are #2 ranked George Johnson (Iona Prep) and #3 ranked Devon Weber (Greece). Johnson is a senior and had a dominant Eastern States Classic where he beat Liam Hayes, Chris Nocca, Devon Weber, and Nick Flaherty. He defaulted to 6th after making the state semifinals a year ago and has been a point scoring machine.
Devon Weber (Greece) is only a sophomore and he is the only underclassmen that qualified for the state tournament at 157lbs. He placed 7th as a freshman at 138lbs and has beaten Chris Nocca, Chase Richards, Sebastian Mejia, and Division II state runner-up Jacob McVige.
Sleeper Pick
Joseph Brooks (Massapequa) comes in as the #9 seed and is ranked 5th in the state. He’s beaten Sebastian Mejia, Chase Richards, Kai Tiringer, and Gabe Cohen who was a blood rounder a year ago that didn’t qualify this year. The chances of him beating Howard are slim, but don’t be surprised if he makes a run on the backside of the bracket.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Cam Howard (Bellport) vs #4 Chris Nocca (Horace Greeley)
#2 George Johnson (Iona Prep) vs #3 Devon Weber (Greece)
Final Predictions
#1 Cam Howard (Bellport) vs #2 George Johnson (Iona Prep)
State Champ: Cam Howard (Bellport)
165lbs
The Favorite
Griffin LaPlante (St. Francis) is the odds on favorite to run his way to his second consecutive state title and close his career out with a bang. He’s spent a significant portion of the year wrestling out of state and gave Melvin Miller (Bishop McCort, PA) all he could handle in what I believe was a 5-3 loss and LaPlante scored the first takedown. He placed at both Ironman and Powerade this year, while also earning Super 32 All-American honors.
Two others to keep your eye on should be #2 ranked Peter Mikedis (Bellmore JFK) – he is only a sophomore and qualified for the state tournament a year ago at 152lbs. He actually beat returning state medalist Danny Dacey (Saratoga Springs) 8-6 at Eastern States earlier this year which was quite impressive.
Danny Dacey comes in ranked 3rd and if all goes to chalk we could find up getting a Mikedis vs Dacey rematch in the state semifinals. Dacey beat George Johnson earlier in the year and is Johnson’s only loss. He also won Windsor is dominant fashion. He did take a couple losses at Eastern States but has right the ship since then, so be on the lookout for him in Albany.
Sleeper Pick
Jon Schroff (Sachem East) got snubbed with the #13 seed despite being ranked 4th in the state right now. He is actually the favorite to make it through to the semifinals and we think he makes it happen. He’s put together an outstanding record this year coming in at 36-2 and was dominant at the Section XI tournament.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Griff LaPlante (St. Francis) vs #4 Jon Schroff (Sachem East)
#2 Peter Mikedis (Bellmore JFK) vs #3 Danny Dacey (Saratoga Springs)
Finals Matchups
#1 Griff LaPlante (St. Francis) vs #3 Danny Dacey (Saratoga Springs)
State Champ: Griff LaPlante (St. Francis)
175lbs
The Favorite(s)
Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley) enters the tournament as both the #1 ranked wrestler and #1 seed. He’s undefeated on the year and is the highest returning state medalist from a year ago with solid wins over James Capasso and Quentin Getzin. His primary challenger this weekend should hail out of St. Francis in Rory White – he took 4th a year ago at 160lbs and despite wrestling the same weight class as Boice last year the two haven’t wrestled. White has put together a solid 39-5 record while wrestling great out of state competition.
Others to also watch will be #3 ranked Quentin Getzin (Ithaca) who comes in on line 4. He will likely draw Will Roden in the quarters and the last those two wrestled was a tight 5-3 win for Getzin.
James Capasso (Ballston Spa) also comes in ranked 4th and is the #2 seed. He has split matches this year with Roden while also losing a tight bout to Getzin.
Sleeper Pick
Thomas Vecchio (Sachem North) comes in undefeated at 44-0 and is the #16 seed. We currently have him ranked 6th in the state. Perhaps he doesn’t get past Boice in the Round of 16 but he will wreak havoc on the backside of the bracket.
Similarly, keep an eye on the #21 seed Shota Kunukhashvili (New Utrecht). He is undefeated on the year at 20-0, and the PSAL has improved their wrestling significantly over the last few years. There were many individuals who had solid performances at Eastern States as well.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley) vs #3 Quentin Getzin (Ithaca)
#2 Rory White (St. Francis) vs #4 James Capasso (Ballston Spa)
Finals Matchups
#1 Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley) vs #2 Rory White (St. Francis)
State Champ: Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley)
190lbs
The Favorite(s)
Zach Caldwell (St. Francis) placed 7th at 215lbs a year ago but lost to the individuals who placed 2nd and 3rd at the state tournament, respectively. He is now down a weight class this year to make room for super freshman Dominic Darch. The returning state runner-up is currently ranked #1 in the state and was given the #2 seed.
Ryan Brown (Syracuse) placed 4th at 190lbs a year ago with his only losses coming to eventual state champ Zane Kropman in overtime, and Joshua Jorgge (St. Anthony’s) who had the epic high scoring win over Tavio Hoose at CHSAA’s a year ago.
The two main challengers will be Jayden Pressley (Minisink Valley), Luca Turano (North Babylon), and don’t count out Dylan Fitzgerald (Brockport).
Criminal Quarter Bracket
#3 Dylan Fitzgerald (Brockport), #4 Jayden Pressley (Minisink Valley), #8 Jaxson Burchard (Horseheads), and #14 Jack Weber (Mepham) are all in the same quarter bracket. Weber had a helluva Section VIII tournament and beat Josh Kama for true second, who made the blood round a year ago at this weight. Jaxson Burchard despite being ranked 8th actually beat Jayden Pressley earlier in the year. Pressley has had an outstanding season with wins over Griffin McQuade (who beat Burchard), in addition to a nice win over Luca Turano that is sitting on line 4. This should make for some interesting consolation bouts, and whoever makes it through to the semifinals, their reward is a match with Zach Caldwell for a state finals berth.
Sleeper Pick
Griffin McQuade (Maine-Endwell) comes in on line 5 so not exactly sure this can be a sleeper pick, but he needs to be discussed too. He’s beaten Jaxson Burchard a couple times this year and lost a tight 11-9 match to Jayden Pressley. His quarterfinal with Luca Turano should be great. Winner gets Ryan Brown for a state finals appearence.
Semifinal Predictions
#2 Ryan Brown (Syracuse) vs #7 Griffin McQuade (Maine-Endwell)
#1 Zach Caldwell (St. Francis) vs #8 Jaxson Burchard (Horseheads)
Finals Predictions
#2 Ryan Brown (Syracuse) vs #1 Zach Caldwell (St. Francis)
State Champ: Zach Caldwell (St. Francis)
215lbs
The Favorite
Super 32 All-American, NHSCA Finalist, and 2x State Champion Devin Downes (Plainedge) is the big favorite to end his career as a 3x State Champion before heading off to Maryland and wrestle in the Big 10. He is currently 39-4 on the year with his only losses coming out of state.
Challenging him will be super freshman Dominic Darch (St. Francis) and Minisink Valley senior Zach Filip. Darch has yet to suffer an in-state loss all year while Filip lost a close match to Downes 9-3.
Darch despite being ranked #2 in the state right now did get fielded the 4 seed, so he’ll likely link up with Downes in the semifinals. On the other side, we will get another match between Filip and Lore where Filip has won all matches this year.
Sleeper Pick
Justin DePietro (Sewnahaka East) qualified for the state tournament a year ago at 215lbs and has wrestled limited matches this year. He did make it out of an always tough Section VIII and he is 16-2 on the year. He comes in as the #16 seed.
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Devin Downes (Plainedge) vs #2 Dominic Darch (St. Francis)
#3 Zach Filip (Minisink Valley) vs #4 Rocco Lore (Yorktown)
Finals Predictions
#1 Devin Downes (Plainedge) vs #3 Zach Filip (Minisink Valley)
State Champ: Devin Downes (Plainedge)
285lbs
Chris Belmonte looks to finally end his career on top of the podium in MVP Arena after coming up just short a couple years in a row. Last year he lost 1-0 to Kam Dorchester in the finals and took 3rd the year before. He has no in-state losses this year and made the finals at the Eastern States Classic.
There are many folks on his heels vying at a shot for a state finals appearance in Willy Wortkoetter, James Mulhern, Richard Tinyes, Michael Mauro, and Ryan Fleischmann.
Wortkoetter stumbled a bit earlier in the year and perhaps he was injured, but he was losing 7-0 to Jeremiah Morgan from Spencerport before injury defaulting earlier in the year. He has since been pretty dominant and comes in seeded 2nd, but ranked 6th simply due to that loss.
James Mulhern is ranked 2nd and has beaten Richard Tinyes, Mike Mauro, Ryan Fleischmann, and Valdey Pierre.
Returning State Runner-Up Mike Mauro, who had a great match with Alex Berisha last year, is actually seeded 5th and will get a rematch with Tinyes in the quarters who he lost to earlier in the year.
Criminal Quarter Bracket
#2 James Mulhern, #5 Ryan Fleischmann, #8 Valdey Pierre, and #13 Timmy Duke all sit in a quarter bracket together with the winner likely getting Willy Wortkoetter. Valdey Pierre is 37-1 on the year with his only loss being a tight 4-1 match with James Mulhern. They will link up in the Round of 16 for a rematch…wild!
Semifinal Predictions
#1 Chris Belmonte (NHSU) vs #4 Mike Mauro (John Jay East Fishkill)
#6 Willy Wortkoetter (St. Francis) vs #8 Valdey Pierre (Sachem North)
Finals Predictions
#1 Chris Belmonte (NHSU) vs #6 Willy Wortkoetter (St. Francis)
State Champ: Chris Belmonte (NHSU)
