2024 NYSPHSAA DII State Tournament: Favorite Matches of Day #1/Potential Upset Specials

101

Round of 16: #6 John WInseman (HFL) vs. #22 Mason DellaPenta (Eden)---A clash of two fab frosh will monster upsides, what immediately attracted our attention was the prospects for not one, but two upsets out of the 2024 Section 6 runner-up [DellaPenta]....An individual that we had at the #5 spot in the DII rankings prior to the start of the postseason, the Raider youngster might be the most dangerous 22-seed regardless of weight class in this year's tournament. A winner off 33 matches (33-9), assuming he first is able to navigate his way past returning NYS Qualifier/2024 Suffolk Champion, Antonio Faldetta (Mt. Sinai), in the round of 32, we think he will be able to give the the Cougar standout/2024 S5 silver medalist [Winseman] his money's worth...

Round of 16: #5 Andrew Juliano (Holland Patent) vs. #12 Branden Munoz (Petrides)---Ranked as our #8 and #9 competitors in the final installment of the polls, on paper, this ought to be a very evenly-matched bout as both have accrued 30+ win seasons (70-5 combined) and have looked solid down the homestretch with Juliano earning his first berth to Albany behind a runner-up placement at the S3 championships, while Munoz is headed back for a third consecutive year as he is now 3/4s of the way through a PSAL sweep...Munoz went 0-2 in 2023; so there could be some added motivation to make a better showing of himself during this go-round!
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108

Quarterfinals: #3 Jaron Barrientos (Lewiston-Porter) vs. #6 Joe Scott (Letchworth)---Our #1 and #6 ranked wrestlers at the conclusion of the regular season, the winner of this quarterfinal very much is going to be a threat to win it all on Saturday evening as both are more than capable of knocking off any of the potential opponents seeded higher than them...Each winning their respective sectional crowns a few weeks ago, Barrientos was someone that we were especially high on last year (3rd at the 2023 ESC) when he was competing on behalf of Starpoint and had he been the given the opportunity, he would have shined on South Pearl Street. He has done nothing to lower our opinion of him, compiling a 28-4 record with two of those defeats coming against out-of-state opponents at the Powerade....All the phenom, Scott, has done is assemble an immaculate 43-0 record as a follow-up to being the 2023 NYS DII 7th, as well as a NHSCA MS All-American as a 7th grader!!...

Quarterfinals: #4 Kadin Cole (Tioga) vs. #5 Tommy Aiello (John Glenn)---While not technically an upset since the Tiger sophomore [Cole] is the higher seed, this match will be one to watch simply because it involves a defending State Champion [Aiello] who finds himself being doubted in the defense of that hardware...Seeded 4th when he went all the way at 102 pounds in 2023, the truth is that the Knight junior has the opportunity for deja vu, as his path to the precious is not the least bit different sans a slightly more difficult round of 16 match....Five of his six losses (30-6) happening at the hands of opponents from DI schools, it is the one peer-to-peer defeat that really comes into play as Aiello did drop a 10-7 decision to Cole during the finals of the 2024 NYSPHSAA Dual State Championships....Should Cole improve to 2-0 this season versus the reigning king, it would mark quite the coming of age, as in a year's time, he would have gone from low sectional medalist (6th in 2023) to high state placer! The 10th grader rolls into town sporting a 32-6 record, with five of those blemishes credited to the top-3 seeds (Maverick Beckwith, Anthony Valle 2x; and Barrientos)!
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116

Round of 16: #6 Dylan Newman (Falconer) vs. #11 Richard King (Clarke)----A juxtaposition of what we have in our rankings, if our opinion is worth a grain of salt, we very much see the 2024 Nassau County Champion, King (DII #4 by NYWN) being able to make a deep run through the bracket, as we favor him slightly over the returning state qualifier/2024 S6 gold medalist, Newman (NYWN #8)...Both nearing and/or already past the 40-win plateau this season (King at 37-4; Newman 43-5), whomever emerges from this match will provide a proper challenge in the quarterfinals to third-seeded/#3 ranked 3x State Qualifier, Brock Frederick (South Jefferson)!...King has not lost since we rung in 2024!

Quarterfinal: #2 Logan Bellis (Tioga) vs. #7 Lucas Hoffman (Odessa Montour)---An anticipated match that we did not get to see at the sectional level because the 2023 State runner-up, Bellis, was upset one round earlier, we look forward to seeing it go down on Friday...Giving credence to the old sports curse of "beating a guy three times in the same season", it needs to be noted that the Tiger is already 2-0 against Hoffman this season, but the gap seems to be narrowing....Ranked 6th and 9th in the Small School polls at the end of regular season, each has turned in banner campaigns, as Bellis has compiled a 32-6 record, while Hoffman has been a strong 36-3 (again, two of those defeat coming head-to-head)...Neither will be shook by the atmosphere of performing on the grand stage, as we witnessed what Bellis can do under the roof of the MVP Arena last year; and Hoffman took his turn on South Pearl Street when he was a 2022 State Qualifier!
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124

Quarterfinals #1 Chris Noto (HFL) vs. #9 Finnegan O'Brien (Locust Valley)---Potentially the best match-up of day #1 regardless of division, this quarterfinals could just as easily have been the Saturday night main event as both of these wrestlers are cannot miss prospects who are going to be doing damage on larger scenes in the coming years...Taking nothing away from the rest of this loaded field, but there are echoes among the pundits that the winner of this bout will in fact be your state champion, making this something of a quasi final one day too soon....Noto, our #1 ranked man at 124 has yet to lose this season (37-0) and is hungry to add his first state title to the family tradition (older brother, Anthony, was a 4xer) after previous placements of 3rd and 5th in 2022 and 2023....O'Brien, the 8th grade wunderkind is NYWN's #1 overall 2028 prospect and was perceived as a lock to medal at last year's state tournament had he not been shelved for the postseason with an injury...33-1 with his lone loss coming in the ESC finals, the Falcon is out to prove that the future is the present; and this is the type of statement-making victory that will hammer home that declaration...Note: Just to set up this dream match-up, O'Brien (#2 ranked @116) will need to upend 2023 State 6th/NYWN #7 ranked, Ashten Haley (Cobleskill Richmondville), in the round of 16!

Quarterfinals: #3 Caden Barrientos (Lewiston-Porter) vs. #6 Chris Colon (Shoreham-Wading River)---Much like his already referenced younger brother, the second of the Barrientos clan was a person that we very much saw on the podium a season ago if circumstances had not derailed that shot at glory...Claiming the S6 crown for the first time in his final attempt, the Lancer senior earned the #2 spot on our DII board behind a 36-5 resume that featured a top-7 display last month at the Eastern States Classic....Colon, who Barrientos conquered (7-4) in that ESC 7th/8th contest, will be seeking to gain his revenge at the perfect time, as he 4x Suffolk finalist (2x Champion)/2023 State 5th carries a 41-4 record into the weekend. No matter who gets their arm raised, expect the person that advances to give a heck of a challenge on Saturday morning to defending State Champ, Chase Nevills (Copenhagen), who is situated at the bottom of the bracket in the #2 spot!
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131

Round of 16: #4 Justin Mullis (Hudson Falls) vs. #13 Sawyer Bell (Sr.; Beekmantown)---Holding down the fort on behalf of Section 2 will be three-time sectional finalist/first-time champion, Mullis, who showed why NYWN had him as our #3 in the rankings when he finished 8th at the ESC and then cruised through the S2 tourney en route to building a 39-9 resume in 2023-2024. Making his second trip to the NYSPHSAA Championships, Mullis split four matches in 2023, falling a handful of dubs short of the podium, but is back on a mission....Bell, who admittedly has not faced the same caliber of competition on a weekly basis is back at the dance for a third year in a row and has yet to experience defeat as a senior (44-0)... A blood rounder in 2023 for the Eagles, Bell knows that it is now or never if he wishes to clear that final hurdle and get on the podium in his swan song!

Quarterfinals: #3 Jayden Duncanson (Tioga) vs. #6 Scott Nicolella (Sr.; Duanesburg/Schoharie)---Two seasoned veterans that have each been on South Pearl Street in each of the past two years, there is no questioning that Duncanson, the 2x State bronze medalist/2023 NHSCA AA, has the better credentials. However, there was something we saw in the Eagles' 12th grader [Nicolalla] that made us put him as high as #5 in our rankings...Duncanson is 28-1 this season with the lone blemish coming #2 seed in the bracket, Carmine Calimeri (Southwestern), while the S2 rep has gone 40-6, including several marquee wins over fellow state qualifiers...Prior to Nicolella's loss in the sectional finals to Mullis, neither man had been on the wrong end of a match in quite some time; so you could see both are peaking at the proper time!
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138

Quarterfinals: #1 Brayden Fahrbach (Mt. Sinai) vs. #8 Aidan Gillings (Newfane)---You may not find more firepower/achievement in a day #1 match anywhere across the globe....Combining for SEVEN all-state placements, including three finals berths, our #1 and #6 ranked wrestlers will square off in a rematch of the 2023 132-pound title match that the Long Islander/Appalachian State commit [Fahrbach] won by a score of 6-4...Having already repeated as an ESC champ last month (beat Gillings 9-5 in the semis), the Mustangs senior will look to close out his decorated scholastic career by adding a second state gold to the trophy case. He has been perfect thus far, as he enters as the owner of a 35-0 record....Gillings, who after three straight years of being the S6 champ had to settle for runner-up distinction a few weeks ago (lost to defending state champion, Jordan Joslyn (Chautauqua Lake), has never finished lower than 5th at the state tourney, as his stat sheet reads as follows: 4th, 5th, 4th, 2nd from 2020-2023. He brings a 41-6 vitae with him to Albany this weekend!

Quarterfinals: #2 Jordan Joslyn (Chautauqua Lake) vs. #7 Jacob McVige (HFL)---Speaking of the defending champion/West Point commit, Joslyn, he too is not going to have a cakewalk back to Saturday night as he is likely to collide with 2022 NYS DII 4th/3x S5 runner-up, McVige in a clash of NYWN's #2 and #5 ranked studs....44-0 in his senior campaign for CL, the future Black Knight earned a 10-6 victory over McVige way back in early-December and is going to need to repeat the feat in order to hold serve and keep his goal of being a multiple-time NYS titlist on track!!...McVige, who complemented his top-4 two years ago by being a blood rounder last season, has banked a 30-3 record, with all three blemishes coming to state champs and/or state medalists...
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145

Quarterfinals: #2 Kieran Cullen (Greenville) vs. #7 Cooper Reed (Central Valley Academy)----A clash of two-time state medalists that NYWN slotted in the #2 and #3 spots of the final regular season polls, some of the varnish came off the showdown when Reed was forced to settle for 3rd at the S3 Championships a few weeks ago...Still, regardless of the rare struggles by the Thunder junior, you don't make the podium in Albany on two occasions unless you got the goods and we are counting on seeing that version of Reed this weekend....Cullen, who has an 8th and a 5th to his name in 2020 and 2023 has been spectacularly consistent in his senior year, going 41-2, including a 4th place showing at the Eastern States Classic (3-1 win over Reed along the way)...Reed, who has notched 6th and 7th-place showing each of the past two years in the capital city may not be coming in with momentum, but he still has had a darn good season overall as he has gotten his arm raised in 45 of 51 trips to the mat!

Quarterfinals: #4 Ryley Monica (South Jefferson) vs. #5 Ayden Buttery (Newfane)---A wrestler that we have been watching since the youth days, nothing makes us happier than seeing all of the pieces snap into place for Spartan senior, Monica, who has erected an immaculate 33-0 record, highlighted by his first sectional gold medal...The icing on the cake for the SJ 12th grader would of course be a spot on the medal stand and the best way to guarantee that objective would be to clinch top-6 via a quarterfinal triumph. However, a dub in the championship round of 8 will hardly come easy as his expected opponent, Buttery, has been around the block a few times and has a history of answering the bell, as depicted by the 7th and 6th place showings he garnered in 2021 and 2023! Boasting a 37-3 record, Buttery was a sectional runner-up for the second time in his career in 2024!
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152

Round of 16: #7 Wyatt Meade (Unatego-Unadilla Valley-Franklin) vs. #10 Dominick LaPier (Ausable Valley)---Ranked 10th at different weights (Meade at 52; LaPier at 160), we anticipate a fierce battle as Meade, the returning NYS 5th, brings a 32-10 record that was forged in fire (very strong list of opponents) to the party and is under the radar a bit because he has the misfortune of sharing a weight class with top-seed/defending state champ, Caden Bellis (Tioga)...LaPier on the other side of aisle has not faced the same "killers" on a regular basis, but he has been a master of the golden rule...BEAT EVERYONE THAT PUT IN FRONT OF YOU!!...39-0 as senior, the 2x S7 king has no intention of letting the "0" go without a fight...He split his four matches in his NYSPHSAA debut in 2023 and will apply what he learned as he attempts to punctuate this chapter of his career with a top-8 demonstration!

Quarterfinals: #4 Henry Martin (Croton-Harmon) vs. #5 TJ O`Connor (Cooperstown-Milford)---After missing out on the pilgrimage to Albany last Winter (2nd in a section with only one allocation), Martin has done everything in his power as a 12th grader to ensure that not only would he be making the journey; he will also be making noise as he enters as the owner of a 39-1 record (undefeated against DII opponents). Ranked 12th by NYWN because he did not attend many of the premier events during the regular season, his body of work has made us believe in him; but we also know that he directly in line to have to square off with a tough dude in the person of NYWN #4 O'Connor, who is on his way back to the dance after first getting an introduction as at-large bid back in 2019...O'Connor has faced a who's who of blue chippers this season; therefore, the 44-7 record he carries is not nearly indicative of the talent level he brings with him this weekend....
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160

Round of 16: #8 Joseph Davis (Greenville) vs. #9 Kyber Henry (Cobleskill-Richmondville)---From off the board (not ranked by NYWN) to top-8 seed on South Pearl Street, Joseph Davis locked up his first berth to the NYSPHSAA Championships when he prevailed, 3-2, in an instant classic that required an extra frame over returning state qualifier/2x sectional silver medalist, Henry....Meeting on four separate occasions this season, the series has been an even 2-2 split, which demands that we have one final showdown to break the tie!!...With 2x defending State champ, Ousmane Duncanson ((Tioga) awaiting the winner, victory may not seem like much of a prize; but whomever gets the job done will put themselves on the cusp of being a first-time All-State member!!!...Davis brings a 26-8 resume to the tournament; while Henry is a little more impressive on paper, as he needs four wins on Friday/Saturday to reach 40 for the year (currently 36-8)! One a senior, the other a junior; so it need not be said that there will be no quit from either throughout the two-day affair!

Quarterfinals: #2 Mason Rowley (Little Falls) vs. #7 Ryan Ross (Port Jervis)---Two wrestlers who have waited for this day for the better part of two years, each had their junior seasons ended prematurely and everything since that moment has been preparation for the occasion in which they would head back to South Pearl Street with conviction and grit...Rowley, whose praises we sung when he announced his commitment to George Mason University last month, has registered a darn impressive 35-3 record as a 12th grader and has not lost in over a month (2-2 at the ESC) as he cruised to the S3 crown for the second time in the last three seasons...Ross, who added a 3rd Section 9 gold to his collection, majored his way through the qualifier to up his resume to 36-5...Little Falls is looking to put their first rep on the NYSPHSAA medal stand since 2017 when Neiko Scarano finished 6th in the 113-pound bracket; so if the future Patriot lives up to his #2 billing, it will be a breakthrough, not just for him individually, but for the program as a unit!
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170

Round of 32: #13 Ethan Eoanidis (Cold Spring Harbor) vs. #20 Evan Leonard (Franklinville)---Two guys making their debuts in Albany in 2024, Leonard is especially someone we are keeping an eye on as his #8 ranking by us is vastly contradicted by the fact that he steps onto the mat as the #20 seed in the bracket. So in other words, he is by definition a sleeper than can prove us wise if he is able to pull off the kind of effort that we feel is feasible...Amassing a 35-6 resume as a senior, the Panther does not have any bad losses on his stat sheet...The Seahawk 12th grader, Eoanidis was himself a 30+ match-winner (31-3) and became a S8 champion for the last time in his career. Ranked 14th by NYWN, he travels to Albany on a hot streak as he has not lost since Mid-December!

Quarterfinals: #4 Jack Lamson (Jordan-Elbridge-PB-US) vs. #5 Drew Gates (Sr.; Gouverneur)----A clash of our #4 and #5 ranked student-athletes, when they met a little over a month ago at the King Bison Invitational, it was the 2023 State 8th, Lamson, coming away with a hard fought 6-4 decision...Both seniors with their hearts and minds set on a proper conclusion to their careers, Lamson has racked up a 37-2 record, with both of his losses coming at the hands of NYWN #2 ranked/State 5th, Charlie Foster (Vernon Verona Sherrill)...Gates, who fell just short of the podium as a junior, losing in the blood round, has come away with the dub in 28 of his 33 outings with all of his losses being suffered to highly ranked foes...
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190

Quarterfinals: #3 Luke VanGorden (Palmyra Macedon) vs. #6 Malachi Smith (Byron Bergen)---A rematch of the Section 5 finale, it was actually the lower-seeded Smith that took home the crown, as he stuck his Red Raider nemesis in a time of 3:16 to repeat as the Rochester Area bossman...Smith, a returning two-time State medalist (7th in 2022, 6th in 2023) has been nearly perfect in his final year wearing the Bergen singlet, as his lone blemish on a 37-1 resume was a very acceptable loss to DI #1 seed/2023 NYS DI runner-up/Fargo National Champion, Elijah Diakomihalis...Ranked 4th by NYWN in the final installment of the charts, if Smith continues to be the buzzsaw he has been at every previous stage of 2023-2024, we see every reason to think that he can make the climb from the 6-line in the bracket all the way to the Saturday night main event. But before he can even dream about wrestling for the top prize, he must first tangle and conquer a more than potent opponent in sectional teammate, VanGorden...Improving leaps and bounds in the span of one year, the Pal-Mac senior transformed from a sectional 4th in 2023 to a top-3 seed in Albany. Boasting a monstrous 41-4 record, adjourned by a top-5 showing at the ESC, we had LVG as our #6 guy headed into the postseason!

Quarterfinals: #4 Mason McCombs (Windsor) vs. #5 Jesse Mullis (Hudson Falls)----A proverbial rumpus of returning State place-winners, this is the kind of match that we could have envisioned being a semifinal, if not a title bout in terms of the skill set that the two combatants bring to the mix...Ranked as our #3 and #5 grapplers, McCombs has been a fourth place performer in each his two trips to MVP Arena, while the NC State signee, Mullis, took 5th as an 11th grader...Both possessing impressive bodies of work, McCombs does not know what an "L" feels like in 2023-2024, as he brandishes a 30-0 record this season; Mullis has been a winner in 41 of 45 contests and was especially solid in earning top-8 honors at the Eastern States Classic...A victory for Mullis would ensure that he would be the first multiple-time NYSPHSAA medalist for Tiger Nation since Geno Brancati finished up a two-year run in 2014 and 2015 that yielded 6th and 5th-place efforts at 170 pounds!
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215

Round of 16: #4 Christian Solano (Eagle Academy) vs. #13 Carmine Gerbino (John Glenn)----A clash that in our humble opinions is happening one round sooner than we would have expected, Solano and Gerbino ranked 1st and 9th in the final installment of our DII polls after tallying a combined resume of 61-4...Solano, the polished senior veteran who is making the trip to South Pearl Street for a third year in a row, has known nothing but podium finishes thus far in his career, as he took 8th and 5th respectively in his sophomore and junior years. Already one of four wrestlers in program history to earn multiple All-State credentials, another top-8 for the 2024 Eastern States Classic 6th [Solano] would put him in a club all his own....Gerbino, the now two-time qualifier for the Knights, split his for matches in his debut in 2023, but has looked as good as ever, boasting a 37-2 record, with both of those defeats sustained at the hands of opponents from DI schools...The product of a system that has generated more than a few very solid upper-weights in recent times (6 All-State placements, 3 trips to the finals, 1 title) since only 2015, Gerbino is regarded as the next great Glenn big man; a moniker he hopes to validate this weekend!

Round of 16: #2 Matthew Oosterom (Port Jervis) vs. #18 Dominic Jones (Mount Markham)----A steal of a showdown early on Friday, we regarded this match as semifinal quality, as the Raiders' 12th grader [Oosterom] is our #2 man in the weight class; while Jones is not too far behind, sitting in the #4 slot....A 75-5 record record shared between them, The three-time S9 titlist has made being on the podium habitual, as he has landed in 7th and 4th in 2022 and 2023....Jones on the contrary is attempting to overcome the "out of sight, out of mind" stigma, as he was a 2022 State Qualifier, losing in the blood round, before an injury in the 2023 Sectional tourney cost him his shot at returning to MVP Arena a season ago....Posting a career-best runner-up finish at the sectional level weeks ago, Jones dropped a respectable 6-4 decision to #1 seed/2023 State 4th, Sean Kelly (Lowville)...So while we still favor Oosterom to get his arm raised, this is not the kind of challenge a #2 seed ever wants to have to endure at such an early stage of a grueling saga!
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285

Round of 16: #3 Luke Herendeen (Palmyra Macedon) vs. #14 Thi Quelle Vanguilder (Canton)---After making it to the blood round as the #21 seed last season, #3 seed/NYWN #2 ranked Herendeen is going to relish the role reversal as he has transitioned from underdog to perceived title threat....44-4 this season on behalf of Pal-Mac en route to being a first-time sectional champion, we are fully in the corner of the Red Raider senior...But something just spoke us about Vanguilder potentially being a man that could shock the Empire State...The last time they met back in December 2022, Herendeen earned a 1st period pin; and the Golden Bear 12th grader [Vanguilder] has a limited track record in 2023-2024 (9-1 record)...So other than unexplainable gut (we liked the dominance he showed in seizing the S10 hardware), there is nothing concrete to substantiate our opinion; we just think the rematch might catch people by surprise!

Quarterfinals: #2 William Wortkoetter (Wilson) vs. #7 Dylan Cogswell (Saranac)---65 total triumphs (65-2) between the big daddies, no one has been able to get the better end of an exchange with NYWN #3, Wortkoetter (23-0) this season; and few have succeeded in conquering Cogswell, who sports a darn impressive 42-2 resume to hold down the #6 spot in our polls...Both making their State Championship debuts on Friday, the Lakemen super sophomore [Wortkoetter] has especially jumped levels in the past 365 days, as he developed from being a 4th-place performer at the sectional level as a frosh into a bona fide title threat one year later...After two year's of coming just short of securing the berth [back-to-back S7 runner-up in 2022 and 2023], you know that Cogswell is going to be determined to disrupt the apple cart and do as much damage as possible!!!...Wortkoetter bested returning NYS 8th/Wilson teammate, Hamza Merrick, to win the S6 crown; so he is clearly not a person who is going to be intimidated by powerhouse upperclassman!

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