2026 NYSPHSAA State Wrestling Championships: Recap

Looking back at the 2026 NYSPHSAA State Wrestling Championships is going to be one to remember. The sheer amount of pressure in the Albany Air circulating MVP Arena as one final battle in a Seasons Long War awaits. The CHSAA sent their 14 man squad to take on 12 other Sections, some in which were sending triple the amount of warriors than our squad. They all toed the line for one final event in hopes of achieving the pinnacle of NYS Wrestling… a NYS Championship. And out of all of them, some of ours were the best amongst them all. 

Team Red and Black Creating Culture:

Our Sectional Team came together this weekend in what is possibly many firsts for our Section. Our Sectional Team hosted a practice together in the same facility where they all trained together the night before the tournament. They even were drilling with some other partners that were accessible to help everybody out. As well as the morning of the tournament our team were being very friendly towards each other, praying together, and even playing ball games in the locker room together while waiting between rounds. These gentlemen were also checking in on each other and supporting one another between these rounds as well creating a beautiful new culture that wasn’t present even when I was competing. It’s so powerful to see these young men who spent a season battling against each other, come together for one event where they share and represent a common goal. The Coaches as well (like always) play an enormous role in orchestrating the structures of the practices and weekend flow, helping the other boys from the other teams, supporting them from the sidelines, and even giving support and advice to other coaches. Not to mention at the conclusion of the event everyone coming together (Coaches and Families) from our other teams breaking bread, having some laughs, and enjoying being one big RB Family. It was such a beautiful sight to see and I Pray to see this continue in the future.

Gaels Go 2 for 2:

Congratulations to the Iona Prep Gaels Shane Degl (138lbs) and George Johnson (157lbs) on capturing All-State Medals this weekend. Degl had to battle through a tough 138lb field to claim his spot on the podium. Degl had a strong start to his first day of the tournament making it to the QuarterFinals but falling to the #1 Seed Anthony Severino (Lindenhurst) 6-3. This was Severino’s closest match until the finals where he had teched and pinned his other opponents. Degl would not let this affect his wrestling as he battled back tough to make it to the Bronze Medal Match taking out the #7 Seed Charles Pryzymylski (Mahopac) 6-2 in Consolations as well as the #4 Seed Christian McCravey (Freeport) by pin in 1:41 (Degl was up 10-0 before pinning McCravey), and notching another Top 10 Win over #6 Seed Louden Elliot (Carthage) via 8-6 decision. Degl would fall in his Bronze Medal Match to Greg Green (Shenendehowa) 10-6 in a closely contested bout. Johnson had himself a run as well entering the tournament as the #2 seed (right behind the #1 Wrestler in the Country) and showed why that was the case. Johnson opened up his weekend with an impressive quick techfall over Jacob Morgans (Averill Park) in just 1:12! He then went on to techfall his Quarterfinals opponent Joseph Brooks (Massapequa) in just 1:44! Johnson then went on to earn a major decision in his Semifinals Match where he beat Devon Weber (Greece Schools) 15-6. Johnson would later fall in his finals bout against #1 Wrestler in the country Cam Howard (Bellport) via 21-6 final score. We are so incredibly proud of our Gaels and their performance this past weekend. 

Whole Lotta Red Raiders:

Congratulations to the St. Francis Red Raiders on a Historical Performance at the NYSPHSAA State Wrestling Championships. The Red Raiders established themselves as one of the best Teams in NYS Wrestling History with a performance that might not be rivaled in some time if not ever! The Red Raiders sent 10 Wrestlers to the NYSPHSAA State Wrestling Championships (The most/one of the most amount of wrestlers to come out of an individual team competing at the tournament) and 9 out of 10 of them made the All-State Podium! Pat Winseman 103lbs opened up his weekend with an upset over 2026 Eastern States 6th Place Dominic Giannoni (Valley Central) 5-4. Winseman would fall in his Quarterfinals bout against the #3 Seed and Bronze Medalist at the Eastern States Classic Chrystian Velez (Hilton) 6-3 in Sudden Victory almost pulling off back to back upsets. Winseman would later fall to Benjamin Marino (Bay Shore) in a 6-5 heartbreaker. John “Big” Winseman had himself a hard fought weekend starting off with a 4-0 decision over Lucas Maneri (Auburn). Winseman would fall in a close 2-0 match to Carter Mullen (Fairport). Winseman rallied back with a hard fought 3-2 victory over Ethan Hauser (Connetquot). Big Winseman would fire off another victory for the Red Raiders but this time with bonus points in a 15-0 tech over Connor McAllister (Horseheads) in 2:08. Winseman would go on to face returning 2x State Champ William Soto (Newburgh Free Academy) and fall via techfall. Big Winseman bounced back again in his 5th Place Medal Match with a 7-0 victory over Carter Mullen (Fairport) avenging his Quarterfinal loss. Returning State Finalist Tanner Catrabone battled his way onto the podium in a very competitive 118lb bracket. Catrabone took his first match by 3-0 decision over Alex Hernandez (Newfield). Catrabone would fall to his Quarterfinal opponent Kymah Gummow (Indian River) 8-3. Catrabone bounced back with a huge major 13-4 decision over Evan Margolis (Smithtown West). Catrabone would fall in his consolations over Vincenzo Mannello (Briarcliff/Byram/Valhalla/Westlake) and Liam Lin (North Rockland) to earn himself a 8th Place Finish. Cullen Edwards had quite the run himself. Edwards started off with a 9-3 decision over Matthew Peterson (Islip) which was a high octane match. Edwards followed up with another outstanding performance this time to upset Jon Testa (Hilton) 8-6 and to punch his ticket to the semifinals. Edwards would lose in a heartbreaker in the semifinals to Rocco Destefano (East Islip) 5-4 after what could be considered a controversial call where a takedown with backpoints was given after Edwards followed through a position. Edwards fell in his consi-semifinals to Eliezer Sanchez (Central Islip) 9-3. Edwards would see a familiar foe in his 5th place match in Jon Testa (Hilton) and proved that it was no fluke beating Testa 4-0. Max McCarthy showed why he belonged this weekend with a hard fought performance. McCarthy opened his weekend with a 6-4 decision over Kai Tiringer (Massapequa). McCarthy would face eventual champ Samson McKissick-Staley (Pittsford) via techfall 17-1. McCarthy bounced back in a huge way in his blood round match. After being down 7-0 McCarthy scored an escape and nailed Tennison Eiss (Indian River) with a feet to back takedown to stick the pin and grant himself a podium finish in his State Championships berth. McCarthy would fall in his consolation quarterfinals to Maximus Smith (Valley Central) 18-5. But McCarthy rallied back again this time with a 10-1 major against Abduali Mukumov (Sweet Home). 

Griffin LaPlante went on a run to go back to back at the NYS Championships. LaPlante opened up his weekend with a 19-4 techfall over Sawyer Dickinson (Kenmore-Tonawanda). LaPlante followed it up with a 7-2 decision over William Wood (Brockport). LaPlante made easy work in his semifinals when he scored another techfall this time over Zachary Schrage (Horseheads) 19-3. Then, in one of the more talked about matches of the finals Griffin LaPlante would go on to face Danny Dacey (Saratoga Springs) in a match that made the arena erupt to their feet, gasp, and sit in surprise. LaPlante scored the opening takedown fairly easily and was looking to cut his opponent. While looking for the next takedown LaPlante accidentally left his elbows out allowing Dacey to punch a cement job and give one of the biggest scares of the finals putting LaPlante to his back. The arena erupted as the referee was counting back points but LaPlante showed a lot of heart battling off of his back the entire time. The referee would stop the action due to blood on the wrestlers and mat. LaPlante would calmly and collectively score every offensive point from that point to the end of the match finishing the match with a 14-11 final score. Congratulations to Griffin LaPlante on becoming a 2x NYS Champion. Rory White showed up for the Red Raiders opening up his weekend with a 8-1 victory over Jovens Theodate (Farmingdale). White would end his first day of competition scoring a techfall in the Quarterfinals over Tyler Caricati (Yorktown) to punch his ticket to the semifinals. White showed again that when he is on fire he is hard to put out, majoring his Semifinals opponent James Capasso (Ballston Spa) 11-1! White would unfortunately fall in the finals to Wyatt Boice (Minisink Valley) 4-2.

Zachary Caldwell walked into MVP Arena with a mission, that being to capture the state title that had slipped through his fingers in 2024. Caldwell started his weekend off with a 19-4 techfall over Ethan Clark (Webster-Schroeder). Caldwell decided that one wasn’t enough and that it was so nice it had to be done twice, scoring another techfall in the quarterfinals this time over Jason Martin (Mepham) 20-4! In his semifinals against Dylan Fitzgerald (Brockport) bout Caldwell would be tested. Up 4-2, Caldwell would be taken down in the closing moments of the match to be down 5-4, before exploding up and out to escape to tie the match and force overtime. Caldwell would then his a slick drag go behind to secure the takedown and punch his ticket to the finals. Caldwell would find himself in the opposite predicament in the finals against Ryan Brown (Syracuse). Caldwell would actually find himself down 4-2 and having to rally but does so calmly and collectedly firing off a sweet low single reattack to secure the takedown on the edge. Caldwell would stay on top for the closing seconds to steal the win and claim his first NYS Championship. Probably the most anticipated wrestler of the Red Raiders to compete in Albany this year we have Dominic Darch. Darch is an absolute freak of nature at 215lbs. This freshman moves around like a 103lber hitting his opponents with moves that you don’t typically see wrestlers his weight hitting. Darch opened his weekend with a fall over Javen Taff (Sayville) in 2::39 after being up 7-0! Darch would cruise in his Quarterfinal round majoring Josiah Lors (William Floyd) 14-2. The only tribulation Darch faced this weekend was during his semifinal round when he took on eventual State Champion Devin Downes (Plainedge). Darch challenged the eventual champion keeping it close and competitive. Although he didn’t come out on top of every position he wrestled hard through every one of them making the eventual champ earn every single point. The pace would eventually catch up to Darch and he would lose to Downes via fall in 4:45! Rounding out the Red Raiders is William Wortkoetter at Heavyweight. Big Will showed some unorthodox movement for a heavyweight shooting low singles and throwing in legs on top. Big Will Wortkoetter would start his weekend off with a pin over Kaius Mattoon (Clarence) in 2:26! Wortkoetter had a closer match in the Quarterfinals against Binak Bruncaj (Tappan Zee) where he won 6-2 to punch his ticket to the Semifinals. Wortkoetter would not be denied though as he would go on to beat James Mulhern (Massapequa) in a close 4-2 match to make his second appearance in the NYS Finals. Wortkoetter would go on to face Chris Belmonte (New Hartford-Saquoit Valley) where he would fall to Belmonte by pin in just 0:36. With this combined effort the St. Francis Red Raiders repeated as NYS Team Champions, a first for the CHSAA. The Red Raiders also blew out the remainder of the competition with a total of 156pts, the highest any team has accomplished in NYS Wrestling History. The Red Raiders are currently ranked #32 in the Nation as a Team!

The Lion King:

Monsignor Farrell continues to make history in NYC. The Farrell Lions were having some on and off success the past few seasons coming narrowly close to crowning an individual Sectional Champion but fell just short. The Lions had not had a Sectional Champion and NYS Medalist since Michael Adams (2022). The Lions managed to capture the CHSAA Sectional Team Title but fell short again of crowning an individual champion having 2 runner up finishes. But this season a Lion managed to rewrite the wrong of last season and propel Farrell wrestling to its former glory. Brennan Sprague has been one of the headlining Lions throughout the season and made sure to show out on his way to concluding his career with the Lions. Sprague not only went on to win the Lions their first Individual Sectional Championship since Adams but captured their first State Champion since James Ryan (2019). Sprague’s run to Gold was nothing short of impressive and is a true testament to his faith. Sprague would enter the tournament the #10 seed and would essentially have to run the gauntlet if that meant he wanted to call himself a State Champion. But that was all the more of an invitation for Sprague to cash in on his MVP Arena Debut. He would start his weekend off with a 10-3 decision over #7 Luca Popolizio (Christian Brothers Academy). Sprague then went on to upset #2 EJ Vass (Valley Central) 9-2 to punch his ticket to the Semifinals. Sprague would then go on to face a familiar foe and local rival #11 Seed Tristan Levin (Tottenville) who upset the #3 Seed Carlos Salazar (Hewlett) in his quarterfinal match. Sprague and Levin had already wrestled in the Mayor’s Cup finals in January where Sprague had won 12-3. Levin was showing incredible defense and heart but it was Sprague’s relentless pace and onslaught of attacks that eventually overwhelmed Levin and Sprague locked up a takedown and cradle for some backpoints to extend his lead to 8-0. Sprague would give up only a stall point to win the match 8-1 and punch his ticket to the NYS Finals in his debut! Sprague would face Kelly Sullivan (Monroe Woodbury) in the finals and this match was filled with high octane scrambling that’ll sure look better than some eggs. Sprague demonstrated some of his scrambling tools from his arsenal that hasn’t been seen yet coming out on top of every exchange. Sprague would lock up an extra takedown on the edge in the closing seconds to ice the match and capture a NYS Crown. Sprague makes history in Albany in what you can call a “Miracle on Pearl Street”. For those who do not know, Sprague is only a 4 year wrestler. Sprague broke his neck sophomore year and almost had to medically retire from the sport. But after rehabilitating Sprague found a way to keep himself healthy to continue competing and reach the pinnacle of NYS Wrestling, and he did it in such a short amount of time. So, it goes to show you that it doesn’t matter how long you have been wrestling, and you step across the mat from. With hard work, Faith, and determination, you can accomplish your goals and dreams. 

Katimbang Flies to the Podium:

The Chaminade Flyers had a wrestler themselves making their MVP Arena Debut this weekend with Brendon Katimbang at 144lbs. Katimbang was so close in the past to competing in Albany but was denied in the finals the last 3 years. Katimbang would see himself in his senior outing writing those wrongs to propel himself to MVP Arena. Katimbang opened his weekend with a 15-0 techfall over Alex Nigro (Minisink Valley) in 2:49! Katimbang almost pulled off a major upset himself in the quarterfinals but unfortunately fell just short against #2 Seed Matthew McDermott (Smithtown East) 3-0. But Katimbang got himself back going in Katimbang fashion with another techfall, this time over Johnny DiGiorgio (Massapequa) 15-0 in 3:08! Katimbang would then fall to Chace Morris (Oceanside) 3-0 in consolation. Katimbang would earn a disqualification win over Marco Provenzano (Fairport) to earn 7th place in his first State Tournament. 

What’s Next:

As we conclude the 2025-26 CHSAA Wrestling Season with the State Championships we just want to say how proud we are of everyone. From wrestlers, families, to coaches, you are all an integral part of our RB Family and we love you all. We are always saddened when the season ends and not because it is over but because we are blessed enough that it happened. As we start the off season there’s going to be plenty of CHSAA Wrestlers competing in the Freestyle/Greco Season and we will be sure to keep you updated with all of those headlines. Be sure to also subscribe on our platforms for all updates and content related to the CHSAA. We have some projects in the works that we hope we can get off the ground and be able to share with you all. Until then, God Bless, and we will see you all next Season!