The Highland and Marlboro wrestling teams were shut out of the Section 9 Division II wrestling championships, each suffering a loss in the finals.

Marlboro’s Lorenzo Caserto lost to Port Jervis’ Charlie Wylie for the second straight season in the 102-pound championship match, while Highland’s Bradley Gatto lost to Red Hook’s Ewen Celestine in the 118-pound final for second place finishes at the Section 9 Division 2 wrestling championships on Sunday at SUNY Ulster.

The Huskies placed two wrestlers in 118 pounds as freshman Trevor Coates took third and Danny Fratz finished fourth at 215 pounds. Marlboro’s Reese Greathouse was third at 145 pounds.

“We were a young team this year,” said Highland coach John McFarland, who also coaches the Marlboro wrestlers. “Some matches didn’t go our way today, but some of our freshmen had some success early on.”

Bradley Gatto hit the mat for the 118-pound final looking to follow the footsteps of older brother, Chris Gatto, who won a Section 9 championship last season, but he fell behind quickly in his championship match against Celestine and went on to suffer a 19-6 loss.

Gatto fell behind and trailed 14-3 at the end of the second period, but rallied for three points in the third period. However, Celestine was able to maintain the distance.

“(Celestine) did a great job,” McFarland said. “He countered a couple of our moves. Gatto had a couple of flurries, which were good for him. But we’re young, and we’ll come back. We had a decent finish at the top, which is good.”

Caserto met Wylie, Port Jervis’ top female wrestler, for the second straight season in the sectional final, and had a much better showing against her. Last year, she pinned him in 40 seconds. On Sunday, he took her to the third period before she beat him, 17-2, by technical fall.

“Lorenzo did a good job,” McFarland said. “He’s an eighth grader who went from having a losing record to sneaking into the finals last year to a winning record and establishing himself as a second. And you know what? To go to the finals and lose to a quality kid like that, there is nothing wrong with that.”

Trevor Coates finished third after getting some revenge against Port Jervis’ Alyssa Reed, avenging a loss earlier in the day to her, with a pinfall victory to finish third at 118.

Reed beat Coates, 8-4, in the quarterfinals, but he wrestled back to the third-place match. Gatto sent Reed to the consolation finals with a 6-3 win.

“Coates had a hell of a tournament,” McFarland said. “He avenged a couple of losses from earlier in the year. He turned around and got 25 wins, which is awesome.”

Greathouse cemented his third-place finish at 145 pounds with an 18-7 win over Chester’s Michael Franco, the top seed.

“He beat up on the No. 1 seed Franco and he had a hell of a tournament place,” McFarland said. “Third is great for him.”

Fratz finished the consolation round by taking Ellenville’s Olivier Rekuc to overtime, but Fratz was pinned in overtime and sent to a fourth-place finish to end his high school wrestling career.

“I thought he was going to get that takedown at the end,” McFarland said. “Danny was a great kid to coach for years, and he did a great job.”

There is plenty to be optimistic about going forward in Gatto, Coates and even some of the wrestlers who didn’t place, such as sophomore Michael Thomas, who reached the 126-pound semifinals, but did not qualify for the Top 4.

“He was a kid that was close to .500 and he won matches this year,” McFarland said. “We’re looking for an exciting offseason for all of them, hit the weight room and I think we’ll come back and be OK next year.”

Section 9 Division 2 Wrestling Championships
Top 5 teams: 1. Red Hook - 203; 2. Saugerties - 183.5; 3. Port Jervis - 171; 4. Chester - 116; 5. New Paltz - 100

Finals
102: Charlie Wylie (PJ) tech. fall Lorenzo Caserto (Marlboro), 17-2
118: Ewen Celestine (RH) def. Bradley Gatto (Highland), 19-6

3rd Place
118: Trevor Coates (Highland) pinned Alyssa Reed (PJ)

145: Reese Greathouse (Marlboro) def. Michael Franco (Chester)
215: Olivier Rekuc (Ellenville) pinned Danny O’Dell-Fratz (Highland), OT

Semifinals
102: Lorenzo Caserto (Marlboro) def. Santiago Chrisjohn (Saugerties), 17-12
118: Bradley Gatto (Highland) def. Alyssa Reed (PJ), 6-3

126: Justin Harrison (PJ) tech. fall Michael Thomas (Highland), 16-0
145: Justin Coiteux (NP) def. Reese Greathouse, 7-4.
215: Tomasz Zaborowski (NP) def. Danny O’Dell-Fratz (Highland), 5-2.

Quarterfinals
102: Lorenzo Caserto (Marlboro) pinned Finn Predmore (JSB), 1:10

118: Bradley Gatto (Highland) pinned Kolby Jackson (OLL), 2:38; Alyssa Reed (PJ) def. Trevor Coates (Highland), 8-4.
126: Michael Thomas (Highland) def. Jackson Barcone (RV), 14-3.
145: Reese Greathouse (Marlboro) pinned Jacob Teshome (Chester); Justin Coiteux (NP) pinned Daniel Holifield (Highland), :58
152: Owen Curreri (PJ) pinned Quinn Jones (Highland), 3:43.
189: Matthew Krauza (OLL) pinned Connor Elliot, :49
215: Danny O’Dell-Fratz (Highland) pinned Jorge Reyes (Liberty), 3:23.

Round of 16
126: Michael Thomas (Highland) pinned Laszlo Beke (RV), :49; Zachary Burns (Saugerties) pinned Brody Lutz (Highland), :48.
132: Aiden Nolan (Rondout Valley) def. Charles Huggins, 15-9.
138: Vasili Gianakis (RH) pinned Gavin Pagentine (Highland), 1:41

145: Reese Greathouse (Marlboro) pinned Luke Potter (ESW), :38; Daniel Holifield (Highland) pinned Alec Hubert (ESW), 5:39
172: Riley Hegeman (Onteora), pinned Nickolas Violaris (Highland), 3:28.
189: Connor Elliot (Highland) def. Dylan Miralle, 5-2.

Most Outstanding Wrestler: Justin Coiteux (NP)
Most Exciting Match: 138 - Demetrius Massey (RH) pin Vance Dyke (Saugerties)