Luke Satriano will make his third trip to the New York State Federation wrestling tournament this weekend with an opportunity to repeat as state champion.

He will lead a group of six area wrestlers into the tournament, which will begin on Friday morning at the MVP Arena in Albany.

He will be joined by his Valley Central teammate E.J. Vass (101 pounds), Pine Bush’s Logan Pennell (152), and Wallkill’s Marco Futia (108), Viktor Banda (124) and Anthony Annacone (170).

Satriano won the state championship with a win over Midwood’s Evin Gursoy, who won the PSAL championship in the 116-pound weight class. Satriano will wrestle at 124 pounds.

“That was incredible,” Satriano said. “No words can describe the feeling of winning states.”

The only other area wrestler with state meet experience is Pine Bush’s Logan Pennell, who finished second at 152 pounds in the Section 9 tournament. Competing in the 132-pound weight class, Pennell opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over North Rockland’s Robert Depolito, but fell to the eventual champion, Chenango Forks’ Tyler Ferrara in the second round. He was then eliminated by Thomas Edison’s Botensky Bauzile.

Pennell is the only wrestler representing the Pine Bush Bushmen, but the Vikings are continuing their growth as eighth grader E.J. Vass finished second at 101 pounds to earn his first state berth.

“I put a lot of work in with E.J. in the offseason and in the back room,” Satriano said. “It brings a lot of joy to see that it’s paying off for him.”

Wallkill’s Marco Futia only has secondary state meet experience, as his older brother Rocco, who graduated from Wallkill High School in 2023 participated in last year’s state meet.

Marco Futia came close to qualifying for the state tournament last year after finishing third at 102 pounds but lost his true-second match to Newburgh’s Will Soto. Wrestling at 108 pounds this year, he qualified for the state tournament with his semifinal victory over Cornwall’s Keaton Vernarchick, guaranteeing at least a second-place finish. He lost to Newburgh’s Cooper Merli in the finals.

Banda qualified for his first state meet when he beat Monroe-Woodbury’s Elijah Brown in the 124-pound semifinals.

Annacone earned his trip to the state meet due to past Section 9 success. Section 9 had the most power points out of any Section in the state and earned three qualifiers to the state tournament.

Annacone was knocked out of section championship contention when he lost his semifinal match against Washingtonville’s Musa Aljamal. He capitalized on his opportunity to earn a state berth when he won his third-place match.

The tournament will open on Friay morning with the first round through the quarterfinals and Wrestlebacks on Friday. Semifinals and consolation semifinals begin on Saturday morning.

“I love going to states,” Satriano said. “The whole atmosphere, itself, and I just build off the crowd and all the excitement. I’m just going out there to do what I did last year.”

NYS Federation Championships
MVP Arena, Albany
Friday
9:30 a.m. – Opening Ceremony

10 a.m. – First Round
12 p.m. – Second Round
3 p.m. – Quarterfinals
4:30 p.m. – Wrestlebacks

Saturday

9:30 a.m. – Semifinals/Consolations
12:30 p.m. – Wrestlebacks/Consolation Semifinals
2 p.m. – Consolation Finals
5:50 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies for Finals
6:05 p.m. – Championship Finals