Everyone knew it was more than a possibility. It was more like a probability, and on Saturday night, it became a reality.

Newburgh Free Academy teammates freshman Cooper Merli and eighth-grader Will Soto met in the 102-pound championship bout at the Section 9 Division I championships on Saturday afternoon at Monroe-Woodbury High School.

Merli and Soto, wrestling partners during practice, tested each other for six minutes with Merli coming out on top to win his first Section 9 Division I championship with a 3-2 win, earning his second berth in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.

Merli, who finished second at last year’s sectional tournament and is the Goldbacks’ first Section 9 champion in four years, had two words for his first championship: “pretty exciting.”
The match, itself, he described as weird.

Newburgh Free Academy coach Chris Leggett was hoping for a quick resolution and said watching the match felt like forever.

Merli and Soto circled each other foremost off the first period with neither finding an opportunity to shoot at the other for a takedown. Hard to do when they know each other so well.

“It’s definitely weird because you wrestle each other every day in practice for three months straight, you know what’s going to happen,” Merli said. “It’s pretty interesting and pretty fun. It was pretty scary, but it was fun.”

Merli followed his escape with a takedown for another two points, and Soto escaped at the end of the period to cut Merli’s lead to 3-1.

Soto scored an escape for a single point in the third period.

“You know what each other person is going to do,” Soto said. “We were scared to take shots against each other because we know how to defend each other and score off each other. I think we were a little nervous to wrestle each other.”

Merli’s championship secured him a berth in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship tournament on February 24 and 25 at the MVP Arena in Albany.

With Merli’s championship and state berth secured, Soto had to earn his berth on the mat in a true second bout against Wallkill’s Marco Futia. Just like Merli last year, Soto beat Futia, scoring a 15-6 victory to win true second.

“I’m proud of myself, and I’m excited to see what I can do against all the other high schoolers,” Soto said. “I want to see where I’m at so I can know for next season when I’m bigger and better and stronger how my competition is going to be. This year is just like a learning experience for me.”

When Merli beat Futia for true second last year, his older brother, Jackson, then a senior was sitting right beside the coaches, sending in tips and encouragement. This year, Cooper moved into Jackson’s seat and did the same for Soto.

“Kind of like a brother, I’ve taken him under my wing,” Merli said. “I’ve been like that in all of his matches, always in his corner. It was pretty fun watching him win that one.”

Joseph Ponesse lost his 172-pound match to Minisink Valley’s Andrew Filip when he was pinned in 4:32, but he also rebounded to win his true second match against another Minisink Valley wrestler, Mike Loundsbury.

After two scoreless periods, Ponesse pulled off an escape shortly into the third to take a 1-0 lead, and then followed with a two-point takedown to clinch his state berth.

“Last year, I came up a little short in the semis and wasn’t able to wrestle back,” Ponesse said. “This year, I came into this tournament, and I remembered that feeling I felt last year of losing and not going to states with my friends that went last year. I didn’t want to feel that again. So it feels great knowing that I’m going up to Albany.”

The Goldbacks finished fourth overall with 137 team points. Minisink Valley won the overall team championship with 323.5 points.

Newburgh’s Kevin Segali placed third at 145 pounds, and Christopher Leggett placed fourth at 189 pounds. Matt Mercado placed fifth at 126 pounds and Jordan Busby finished sixth at 118 pounds.