Crusaders capture Section 9 wrestling crown

Evan Barczak voted Most Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament after pinning four opponents

Published Feb 15, 2017 at 3:59 pm (Updated Feb 15, 2017)

Photos

Photos by William Dimmit Dylan Earl scored all his points in the third period on his way to the 106 lbs. title.
Cam Wernicki throws his head gear as the crowed erupts after his upset victory at 126 lbs.
Marco Vespa (113 lbs.) won his second Section 9 title.
Kendal Elfstrum (195 lbs.) won his third consecutive Section 9 title.
Crusader Evan Barczak (152 lbs.) was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.

CENTRAL VALLEY — Monroe-Woodbury High School hosted the Section 9 Division 1 Wrestling Finals on Saturday, Feb. 11.

The 15-team event was shortened to a one-day event after weather forced the cancelation of the opening rounds of on Friday.

The Crusaders won the team championship by scoring 276.5 points.

Minisink Valley came in second with a score of 226.5 and Wallkill took third with a score of 157.

• Crusaders Ryan Burgos at 106 lbs., Joe McGinty at 120 lbs. and Samson Perezat 220 lbs. were all third-place finishers for the Crusaders.

• Senior Louis Libutti at 138 lbs. lost his final match to Dom Vetrano from Minisink Valley by a score of 6-1 to finish second.

• Junior Dylan Earl won the section title at 106 lbs. by scoring all of his seven points in the third period for a 7-2 victory over Greg Fischer of Newburgh.

• Sophomore Macro Vespa at 113 lbs. captured his second Section 9 title by pinning Matt Romano of Valley Central in 1:03 seconds.

• Senior Cam Wernicki, in what was voted as the exciting final match, got a reverse on two-time defending section 9 champ Connor Greiner of Minisink Valley and then added three points for a near fall in the third period to take the 126 lbs. title.

• Senior Evan Barczak at 152 lbs. took his fourth consecutive Section 9 crown when he pinned Tyler Serafini of Newburgh in 1:20 seconds. Evan was also awarded “The Most Outstanding Wrestler Award” for his four- pin performance in the tournament.

• And senior Kendall Elfstrum at 195 lbs. took his third consecutive Section 9 title with his 5-2 decision over Alex Leonty of Washingtonville.