SOURCE: armdrag.com

November 21, 2022

2022-2023 Monroe County Wrestling Preview
By Craig Kaper, Monroe County Wrestling Chairman

The Monroe County Wrestling League is back underway and looking forward to another exciting and rewarding season. Our county is one of the best in the state as we continuously finish in the top 3 of the state each year.

Let's take a look at what's in store for this upcoming season:

The Lightweight Division (102-110-118)

This group returns six state representatives and will feature three Division II State Place Finishers. Last year Andrew Spaulding, a freshman out of HFL, arrived on the scene with a trip to the county finals. He furthered his resume with a finals appearance at state, taking home a silver medal. His teammates, freshman Chirs Noto and freshman Jacob McVige, also made the state podium garnering All-State honors. These three look to climb higher this season. Senior Kiernan Magee from Penfield won the 102 lb Sec. V Qualifier. Magee, along with Pittsford sophomore Zach Gerby and Ryan Cielinski of Spencerport will be looking for a return trip to the Division 1 State Tournament. This time around they will be searching for that state medal.

Returning 3rd place finishers from last year's state qualifier are sophomore Richard Wood from Brockport and senior Yousef Allen from Brighton. They both came one place short of the state tournament a year ago.

There are five more returning super's place finishers. This group includes sophomore Angelo Attardi from Victor, Hilton's freshman Jon Testa, Trey LeChase of Fairport, and a pair from Brockport in freshman William Wood and Paul Rose.

Also, making some noise last season and in the mix at the lighter weights are Drew Aparo of Victor, Bennett Palmeri of Fairport, Joseph Mollica of Greece, Liam Torpey of Webster Schroeder, Conner Guffey of Webster Thomas and Teague Wolcott of Fairport.

Light-Middle Weights (126, 132, 138)

There is no shortage of returning talent in the Light Middle classes. There are 6 returning state representatives and 8 additional state qualifier place winners. This group is shaping up to be an exciting one in 22-23.

Leading this group are 2 more State Place Finishers out of HFL. Nick Noto is back for his Senior campaign and looking to make it to the top of the DII state podium. He has 3 State Medals under his belt so far. His teammate and also a Senior is Jazz Spaulding. Spaudling gathered his first state medal last year and will be looking to do the same this season. Making a trip to the state DI tournament a year ago are 4 talented grapplers. Sophomore Jackson Koppers won the DI qualifier and is looking to return this year to the state meet to add another All-State honor for the Rush Henrietta program. Hailing out of Spencerport in Senior Cal Russo, he too won the state qualifier last year and is hungry for the state medal. Taking 2nd last year at the qualifier and qualifying for his first state meet was returning Junior, Dino Battisti. The Brockport wrestler made a great run at the end of the season and will look to pick up where he left off a year ago. Cael Raines, a Junior from Churchville Chili captured 2nd at the qualifier. He will be one to watch as he looks to improve on last year's performance.

Coming just 1 match shy of qualifying for the state meet are 3 strong returners; Sophomore Philly Provenzano from Fairport, Sophomore Waylen Winseman of HFL, and Junior, Tyler Simons of Hilton will be eager to make the next step with their wrestling career.

Rush Henrietta has 2 additional returners who placed at the qualifier in 2022. Senior, Mekare Rogers and Junior, Fletcher Smith are back for the Royal Comets and looking to make some noise. Other qualifier place finishers are Wyatt Bryman from Attica/Batavia, James Hargather from Hilton, Chase Sackett from Fairport, Jacob Mendola out of Thomas, and Sam Gray of Brighton.

Also returning are several other wrestlers who made a name for themselves last season; this includes Owen Callahan of Irondequoit, Austin Boff of Brockport, Hilton's Alex Chardo, and Evan Smith of Pittsford.

Middle Weights (145, 152, 160, 172)

The middle weights are led by 2 hammers that have had a busy off-season. Both are working hard to achieve that top spot on the State Podium. Both also have had success at the national level as well. First up is Casper Stewart of Attica/Batavia; the Junior is poised for a return trip to the state tournament where he will certainly be looking to take gold and improve on his 4th place finish from last season. Also on the same quest is Senior Brady Unger of Fairport. Unger improves every season and his run to Albany elite status will be fun to watch.

Victor has a returning 3rd place finisher from last year's qualifier; Senior, Sam Ricci missed the state meet by one match last season. Ricci is a 3 sport athlete who will be looking to make that first trip to Albany.

There are 5 other returning qualifier place finishers from a year ago; this includes a pair from Hilton in Juniors, Landon Lazarek and Max Meagher. Finishing in 4th last season for Churchville Chili was Jr. Coy Raines. Nicky Callaghan will be back for his Senior campaign and will lead the charge for Greece. Daniel Barraclough-Tran is a Senior out of Brighton who will be looking to improve upon last year's finish. No sleeping on Penfield 8th grader Zane Kropman who won last year's Class Tournament but was unable to compete at the qualifier.

Also in the mix will be 7 additional Seniors with past accolades. They are Gabe D'Aiello out of Victor, John Schmitt of Webster Thomas, Joe Caudle of Brockport, Vlad Migitskiy of Spencerport, Ken Blowers of Rush Henrietta, and Max Morrison of Brighton

The Heavy-Weights (189, 215, 285)

This group will be led by 2 returning state qualifiers. Last year Elijah Diakomihalis of Hilton made his varsity debut and immediately made an impression. He medaled at the state tournament as a Freshman and will be looking to stand on top of the podium at the end of his Sophomore campaign. Also, looking to make it back to the state meet will be Spencerport's Jackson Burns. Burns is a Senior and he will be looking to end his career with a state medal.

There are 3 additional Seniors who missed the state meet by one match last season and will be looking to get it done this time around. Ty Rader out of Victor took 3rd at last year's qualifier. He had wins over the 2 ahead of him but fell short in his semi match. Davis Damelio, a definite state meet threat hails from Webster Schroeder and he will look to get to that state meet this season. Wyatt Kaufman out of Attica/Batavia is an athletic wrestler who also captured 3rd at the qualifier.

Fairport has 3 wrestlers who return with state qualifier medals. The trio of JT Hohman, Grady McElveney, and Jeffrey Craddock all return for their Senior season. Finishing in 4th place at the qualifier and back for more are Sophomore, Mason DePew of Canandaigua and Senior, Jackson Nixon of Pittsford. A 5th place finisher in Taylor Sloley of Spencerport is a Senior and looking to improve on his placement. Rounding out the qualifier place finishers are a pair from Victor, Junior Shane Kisielewski and Senior Mason Thompson will look to make their mark once again.

Two other wrestlers to keep a lookout for are Rush Henrietta's Jacob Sturgis and Churchville's Gael Sanchez.

The individual's mentioned above have just finished the certification process and some may move into other weight divisions. This should be a great season to track with a lot of talented athletes. Not to mention, every season brings new faces who are hungry to make a statement.

Monroe County Team Race

On paper there are several teams that return multiple starters and place finishers and should be in contention for their league title and having a great season. One of the biggest measuring sticks is being able to have your athletes spread out in weight classes. Perhaps the deciding
dual meet king will be the team that can do this the best.

Canandaigua, Irondequoit, Eastridge, and Gates Chili will look to improve their finish from last year. These young squads have some talent and will test the teams in their divisions. Canandaigua is led by Depew while Irondequoit will turn to Callahan.
Three teams with 2 returning medalists can be found in Webster Schroeder, Greece, and Penfield. All three teams will have some fresh faces as well as some veterans looking to medal in the top tournaments.

Webster Thomas is a young team but does return 3 wrestlers who will lead the team towards victories. Churchville Chili led by the Raines boys and Attica/Batavia also have 3 returners that have placed in top tournaments, Attica/Batavia's Stewart will lead their squad. These 2 teams are always poised to make noise in their divisions. An up and coming team can be found in the Brighton squad. They have 4 accomplished wrestlers in their lineup and should have a good season.

Pittsford was a powerhouse last season. They did lose a lot of extremely high caliber wrestlers to graduation but with the 4 returning medal winners and a dominant JV team moving up, they will once again surely be a team in the mix at the end and will be led by state qualifier Gerby.

Spencerport, Rush Henrietta and Victor all return several medal winners from last year. Each team will be looking at fresh faces to step in and help the veterans during the dual meets. Spencerport will be led by Russo and Burns, while RH will look to Koppers to continue his dominance in Section V. If the young guns can step up then these 3 teams should do well and could rise towards the top by season's end.

Hilton, HFL, and Brockport will start out with some serious firepower. These teams all boast state qualifiers and Hilton has 7 returning medal winners led by a 3rd place state finisher in Diakomihalis. Brockport will turn to Battisi to lead the charge along with the Wood brothers. With 6 returning medal winners and a deep roster they will look to make it back to the Final Four of the D1 State Qualifier. There is no doubt that HFL is a force in Section V and Monroe County, their light and middle weights are all state medalists and/or state qualifiers. If this team can fill the upper weight divisions, they will give any team in the league a run at the glory.

With 9 returning medalists from a year ago and with the leadership from Unger, the team at the top this preseason has to be Fairport. Fairport won a nail biter last season when they captured the DI Dual Meet Section V Championship; the majority of that championship team has returned. They will look to repeat that performance at the end of this season.