State champs! These four Section V wrestlers won state titles: Here's how they did it

Elijah Diakomihalis, an undefeated junior at Hilton, and three seniors on wrestling teams in Section V won state titles in Albany to close a long loop of workouts, drills at practices and workouts away from school:

• Coy Raines, a 215-pounder at Churchville-Chili in Division I, for the largest schools in the state.

• Casper Stewart, a 145-pounder who has been a standout on the Attica/Batavia team for years.

• Braidon Woodward, a 170-pound senior in Palmyra-Macedon's lineup that won this season's Section V Division II Dual Meet Championship.

• Diakomihalis, a state runner-up in 2023, improved his record to 46-0 while on his way to the Division I 190-pound state title, his first.

2024 NY state wrestling champions from Section V and other finalists

• Diakomihalis: He was dominant to the point where he seemed to roll up his four opponents like a mat after the end of a meet. The No. 1 seed had a bye then won by technical fall 22-6 after 3 minutes, 51, by pin after 46 seconds, another pin (:39) and by a score of 13-0 in the final, a major decision over Buffalo St. Francis sophomore Zachary Caldwell.

• Raines: His 3-1 win by decision over Fox Lane junior Alexander Berisha in the final was his 43rd win in 45 matches this season, the first he has finished as a state champion.

• Stewart: The state's new Division 2 145-pound champion won 52 of his 55 matches. This was his fourth top-four finish at states, his first as a champion.

• Woodward: Now he has a state title to go along with his first-place finish at the Eastern States Wrestling Classic earlier this year. He won 54 of his 55 matches on his way to his first state title.

• Christopher Noto (Honeoye Falls-Lima sophomore): The low end of a 6-3 decision won by Copenhagen senior Chase Nevills (37-1) in the Division 124 final was Noto's first loss in 41 matches this season. Noto has three top-five finishes at states.

• Samson McKissick-Staley (Pittsford sophomore): The Division I 131-pound tournament No. 1 seed went into the final 38-0, and lost 5-3 to Wantagh senior Joseph Clem. he put together one of the best seasons among Section V wrestlers, including a first-place finish at Eastern States Wrestling Classic.

Places on the podium

• Dylan Depew-Cappadonia (Canisteo-Greenwood junior - Div. 2 116 - 47-4): Fifth-place. He made it to the semifinals and bounced back from another loss during wrestlebacks.

• Mason Depew (Canandaigua junior - Div. 1 190 - 38-7): Sixth place. Depew pinned his first opponent, then was sent to the consolation bracket by Diakomihalis. There, he won two matches to earn a chance for a top-five finish.

• Zach Gerby (Pittsford junior - Div. 1 145 - 37-11): Sixth place. With four wins during wrestlebacks, he earned his first top-eight finish at the state championships.

• Colton Havens (Canisteo-Greenwood junior - Div. 2 145 - 47-8): Fifth place. He won his first match, then his drive to a state title was stopped by Attica/Batavia's Casper Stewart, the eventual champion.

• Luke Herendeen (Palmyra-Macedon senior - Div. 2 285 - 46-7): Eighth place. This was his first top-eight finish at the state championships. It comes during a season when he won tournaments at Section V's state qualifiers, Section V Class B1 Championships and Wayne-Finger Lakes Championships.

• Jackson Koppers (Rush-Henrietta junior - Div. 1 152 - 32-3): Seventh place. Koppers rebounded from a 5-2 loss to win his final bout 3-0.

• Landon Lazarek (Hilton senior - Div. 1 170 - 19-4): Fifth place. He dealt with an injury, qualified for states and earned his second top-five finish at states. He placed fourth in 2023.

• Noah Leitten (Perry junior - Div. 2 160 - 48-3): Fourth place. Leitten wrestled his way to the third-place match after he was dropped into the wrestlebacks. This was his first top-eight finish at states.

• Casey Liess (McQuaid sophomore - Div. 1 160 - 40-7): Fourth place. A 2-0 start moved him to the semifinals, where he was pinned. He regrouped and won to get a chance at third-place.

• Tavyn MacDonell (Bolivar-Richburg junior - Div. 2 170 - 47-5): Fourth place. He came within one win of an all-Section V state final against Palmyra-Macedon's Braidon Woodward, who won the state title.

• Jacob McVige (Honeoye Falls-Lima sophomore - Div. 2 138 - 47-5): Seventh place. McVige was bumped into the seventh-place match that he won, by Addison senior Cade Sands, another wrestler in Section V. The HF-L 138-pounder then defeated Aiden Gillings, a state finalist in 2023, in his final match. McVige placed fourth at states in 2023.

• Zach Rooks (Palmyra-Macedon junior - Div. 2 131 - 47-10): Fourth place. Rooks won three bouts during wrestlebacks before the third-place match.

• Gael Sanchez (Churchville-Chili senior - Div. 1 285 - 38-5): Eighth place. Sanchez made good on his last chance for a top-eight finish at states.

• Cade Sands (Addison senior - Div. 2 138 - 62-3): Fifth place. Sands made his trip through wrestlebacks look somewhat easy with a pin and win by major decision. A very active season included titles won at Section V's state qualifier and Class B2 Championships, plus an eighth-place at the Eastern States Wrestling Classic.

• Wyatt Sartori (Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton eighth-grade - Div. 2 101 - 46-4): Fifth place. Sartori earned his first top-eight finish at the state championships. He won six tournaments this season, including at Section V's state qualifiers.

• Joe Scott (Letchworth eighth grade - Div. 2 108): Sixth place. That's two top-eight finishes in two seasons at the state championships for this Section V state qualifier and Class B2 champion. He placed seventh in 2023.

• Malachi Smith (Byron-Bergen senior - Div. 2 190 - 40-4): Sixth place. Smith finished in sixth place, sixth and seventh at states during his final three high school seasons.

• Luke VanGorden (Palmyra-Macedon junior - Div. 2 190 - 47-6): Fourth place. Van Gorden made it to the semifinals, where he was pinned. He shook that off and won his next match 11-4 to earn a chance at third place.

• John Winseman (Honeoye Falls-Lima freshman - Div. 2 101 - 34-11): Sixth place. He won three matches in wrestlebacks before he was stopped by injury.

• Waylan Winseman (Honeoye Falls-Lima junior - Div. 2 152 - 33-10): Sixth place. This was his first top-eight finish at the state championships. Tournament wins at Section V's state qualifiers and Class B1 Championships were two other season highlights.

• Richard Wood (Brockport junior - Div. 1 124 - 47-2): Third place. Wood strung together four wins in wrestlebacks. Built one of the stronger seasons in the Monroe County league, if not Section V. Placed seventh at 2023 state championships.

• Beau Zeh (Canisteo-Greenwood senior - Div. 2 160 - 42-8): Seventh place. Zeh reached states during his final two high school seasons. He placed fifth in 2023.

Section V wrestlers outside top eight

• Caden Allen (Bolivar-Richburg senior - Div. 2 215 - 40-7)

• Rudy Antonucci (Pittsford senior - Div. 1 160 - 27-11)

• Dino Battisti (Brockport senior - Div. 1 145 - 40-5)

• James Chase (Avon/Geneseo eighth-grade - Div. 2 124 - 42-5)

• Keegin Christian (Palmyra-Macedon senior - Div. 2 152 - 47-12)

• Ryan Cieslinski (Spencerport junior - Div. 1 116 - 33-7)

• Connor Guffey (Webster Thomas freshman - Div. 1 108 - 41-6)

• Jared Haers (Palmyra-Macedon junior - Div. 2 215 - 42-13)

• Hunter Jewell-Smith (Holley/Kendall junior - Div. 2 285 - 40-7)

• Holden Kelly (Perry junior - Div. 2 131 - 40-4)

• Koray Kocaoglu (Pittsford freshman - Div. 1 101 - 35-8)

• Zane Kropman (Penfield freshman - Div. 1 170 - 12-4)

• Trey LeChase (Fairport sophomore - Div. 1 124 - 36-10)

• Connor McCaffrey (Canisteo-Greenwood eighth grade - Div. 2 108 - 43-9)

• Cael Raines (Churchville-Chili senior - Div. 1 138 - 40-7)

• Braiden Salter (Wayne junior - Div. 2 116 - 28-7)

• Jon Testa (Hilton sophomore - Div. 1 108 - 15-4)

• Philip Testa (Hilton junior - Div. 1 152 - 37-9)

• Joseph Trieste (Spencerport senior - Div. 1 131 - 26-9)

• Blaze Waters (Fairport junior - Div. 1 285 - 31-14)

• Teague Wolcott (Fairport junior - Div. 1 116 - 39-8)

• William Wood (Brockport sophomore - Div. 1 138 - 38-6)

• Luke Yeager (Hilton freshman - Div. 1 101 - 31-10)

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V wrestlers who won NY state wrestling titles in 2024: Results