At this time last year, Valley Central’s Richie Degon was about a week removed from tearing his labrum.

He didn’t return to the mat until January, and just less than two months later, Degon was running around the mat and jumping into his coach’s arms celebrating his first Section 9 Division I wrestling championship with a pinfall victory over Warwick’s Griffin Petzold at 126 pounds on Saturday at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley.

“Getting that pin it was mind blowing,” Degon said. “It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever felt. I haven’t even placed at this tournament before.”

He was also the second Valley Central wrestler to win a Section 9 championship after Luke Satriano won his second straight Section 9 championship with a technical fall victory over Warwick’s Brady Judd at 110 pounds.

It is the first time, the Vikings have crowned two Section 9 champions on one night in over a decade.

They will attend the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships on February 24 and 25 at the MVP Arena in Albany. They’ll be joined by three other local wrestlers: Wallkill’s Rocco Futia and Pine Bush brothers Brayden and Logan Pennell.

“Me and Luke have been wrestling with each other for over a decade,” Degon said. “We do everything together, and this is just another step in the giant ladder that we go through.”

Degon had a more difficult road to victory over Petzold, even if he did draw the first points. He scored a two-point takedown before Petzold scored an escape in the first and second periods to tie the match.

Degon was also battling nosebleeds as the match was stopped three times because of it.

“It’s just how the sport goes,” Degon said. “Unfortunately, you’re going to bleed, it’s got to stop. You’ve got to keep going with the flow.”

Petzold took a 4-2 lead on a takedown, but Degon stunned Petzold by escaping and then taking him down hard and pinning him before the second period ended.

“I’ve always been a pinner,” Degon said. “So, nothing’s a surprise when it comes to pinning with me. But coming into the tournament as the sixth seed is a lot of adversity and it’s great to be here.”

Futia beat Minisink Valley’s Wyatt Boice 4-1 at 118 pounds to clinch his first Section 9 championship. He finished true second last year to clinch his state berth.

After a scoreless first period, Boice scored on an escape, but Futia quickly responded with a takedown for a 2-1 lead. He added a two-point takedown in the third period.

His younger brother, Marco, had an opportunity to wrestle back for true second after placing third at 102 pounds, but he was beaten 15-6 by Newburgh Free Academy’s William Soto. He lost to Soto’s teammate Cooper Merli in the semifinals.

The Bushmen are sending the Pennell brothers, who both finished second after losing their championship matches.

Brayden Pennell lost his 189-pound championship match to Minisink Valley’s Zack Ryder, ranked first in the country. He survived the first period before getting pinned in the second.

Logan Pennell was pinned in the first period by Minisink Valley’s Anthony Tresch and had to fend off a challenge from Middletown’s D.J. Aviles to clinch his state berth. Pennell beat Aviles, 7-0.

The Vikings finished sixth with 95.5 points, and Wallkill was eighth with 93.5 points. Minisink Valley won the meet with 323.5 points.

Valley Central’s E.J. Vass (102), Nick Weeden (118) and Wallkill’s Jai Barnett (160) placed fourth. Pine Bush’s James Duffy (118) placed fifth. Wallkill’s Liam McCarthy (110) and Viktor Banda (126) placed sixth.

Brooke Tarshis won the 120-pound championship in the girls’ bracket on Friday, pinning Port Jervis’ Kaleigh Polanis in the first period.

Valley Central’s Arica Pearson-Leavy beat Liberty’s Zoe Kip, 10-9, to win the girls’ 152-pound title. Her teammate Olivia Schmidt was pinned in the second period by Minisink Valley’s Sara Pauls in the 107-pound final.

Section 9 Division I Championships
Boys
Top 10 team scores: 1. Minisink Valley - 323.5; 2. Monroe-Woodbury - 186; 3. Middletown – 165; 4. Newburgh – 137; 5. Cornwall – 111.5; 6. Valley Central – 95.5; 7. Washingtonville – 94; 8. Wallkill – 93.5; 9. Warwick – 82; 10. Goshen – 73

Finals
110: Luke Satriano (VC) tech. fall Brady Judd (Warwick), 16-1
118: Rocco Futia (Wallkill) def. Wyatt Boice, 4-1
126: Richie Degon (VC) pinned Griffin Petzold (Warwick)
132: Anthony Tresch (MV) pinned Logan Pennell (PB), 1:42
189: Zack Ryder (MV) pinned Brayden Pennell (PB), 3:15
True Second Matches
102: William Soto (NFA) def. Marco Futia (Wallkill), 15-6
132: Logan Pennell (PB) def. D.J. Aviles (Middletown), 7-0
Third Place
102: Marco Futia (Wallkill) def. E.J. Vass (VC), 10-7.
118: Marco Giumarra (Cornwall) def. Nicholas Weeden (VC), 7-5
160: Brody Timm (Beacon) def. Jai Barnett (Wallkill), 5-4.
Fifth Place
110: Jared Lupian-Reyes (Middletown) pinned Liam McCarthy (Wallkill), 4:44.
118: James Duffy (PB) pinned Jordan Busby (NFA), 2:51
126: Matt Mercado (NFA) def. Viktor Banda (Wallkill), 7-5.

Consolation Semifinals
102: E.J. Vass (VC) def. Kelly Sullivan (MW), 7-4; Marco Futia (Wallkill) def. Gabriel Simpson (MV), 10-0.
110: Elijah Brown (MW) pinned Liam McCarthy (Wallkill), 4:14.

118: Nicholas Weeden (VC) def. James Duffy (PB), 4-0.
126: Nathanial Racz (MV) def. Viktor Banda (Wallkill), 9-4.
160: Jai Barnett (Wallkill) def. Isaiah Grant (MW), 10-8 SV

Semifinals
102: Cooper Merli (NFA) def. Marco Futia (Wallkill), 11-4; William Soto (NFA) tech. fall E.J. Vass (VC), 17-2

110: Luke Satriano (VC) pinned
118: Rocco Futia (Wallkill) pinned Nicholas Weeden (VC), 1:48.
126: Richie Degon (VC) def. Viktor Banda (Wallkill), 10-8 TB2
132: Logan Pennell (PB) def. Liam Hayes (MW), 5-3.
189: Braydon Pennell (PB) pinned Nick York (Kingston), 2:20.

Blood Round
102: Gabe Simpson (MV) def. Gabriel McNally (PB), 3-2.
110: Liam McCarthy (Wallkill) def. Logan Shultis (Kingston), 8-1.
118: James Duffy (PB) def. Cooper Grossi (Wallkill), 6-0.
132: Jacob Roger (Middletown) pinned Michael Giannoni (VC), 2:08.

145: Michael Accardo (Warwick) def. Ben Buchalter (Wallkill), 4-0.
160: Jai Barnett (Wallkill) pinned Bernard (MW), 2:59.
172: Avery Davies (Beacon) def. Anthony Annacone (Wallkill), 10-1.
285: Cam Dalton (MW) pinned Julian Aviles (Wallkill), 1:18.

Quarterfinals

102: Marco Futia (Wallkill) def. Kelly Sullivan (MW), 6-0; E.J. Vass (VC) def. Gabe Simpson (MV), 9-3; William Soto (NFA) pinned Gabriel McNally (PB), :55.
110: Luke Satriano (VC) pinned Liam McCarthy (Wallkill), 2:22.
118: Rocco Futia (Wallkill) pinned Jacob Burgos (Washingtonville), 5:04; Nicholas Weeden (VC) pinned Jordan Busby (NFA), 1:28; Wyatt Boice (MV) pinned James Duffy (PB), 5:42; Marco Giumarra (Cornwall) pinned Cooper Grossi (Wallkill), 3:28.
126: Richie Degon (VC) pinned Maxim Javorsky (MW), 5:09; Viktor Banda (Wallkill) def. Jacob Perales (Goshen), 8-1.
132: Anthony Tresch (MV) pinned Michael Giannoni (VC), :32; Logan Pennell (PB) def. Evan Weeden (Goshen), 15-5.
145: Luke Greiner (MV) tech. fall Ben Buchalter (Wallkill), 16-0.
160: Brody Timm (Beacon) def. Jai Barnett (Wallkill),3-1.
172: Joseph Ponesse (NFA) pinned Anthony Annacone (Wallkill), 2:10.
189: Braydon Pennell (PB) pinned Julani Graham (Middletown), :37.
285: Stephan Monchery (Middletown) pinned Julian Aviles (Wallkill), :26.

Round of 16
102: Marco Futia (Wallkill) pinned Connor Sotanski (FDR), 1:24; E.J. Vass (VC) pinned Cruz Guess (Kingston), 3:37; Gabe McNally (PB) pinned Anthony Noboa (Middletown), 3:38.
110: Luke Satriano (VC) Scott LaRusso (Monticello), :58; Liam McCarthy (Wallkill) def. Miguel Nieves (Middletown), 12-2.
118: Nicholas Weeden (VC) pinned Kyan Spirig (NFA), 1:02; James Duffy (PB) won by forfeit; Cooper Grossi (Wallkill) pinned Nieves (Middletown), :32.
126: Matt Mercado (NFA) pinned Colin Kinsley (VC), :45; Richie Degon (VC) pinned Anthony Valicenti (Cornwall), 4:19; Jacob Perales (Goshen) def. Devin Strother (Wallkill), 5-1; Viktor Banda (Wallkill) won by forfeit.

132: Michael Giannoni (VC) def. Daniel Trojahn (PB), 7-4; Jacob Roger (Middletown) def. Thomas Caufaglione (Wallkill), 12-1; Logan Pennell (PB) pinned Joseph Bell (NFA), :24.
138: Jude Betancourt (Beacon) def. Bryan Alzamora (PB), 9-1.
145: Ben Buchalter (Wallkill) pinned O’Neill (Warwick), 5:59; Kevin Segali (NFA) pinned Ethan Bray (PB), :59.
152: Patrick Cosgrove (Cornwall) def. Matt Rizzo (Wallkill), 8-2; Musa Aljamal (Washingtonville) pinned George Thomas (Wallkill), 1:02.
160: Jai Barnett (Wallkill) tech. fall William Coughlin (NFA), 15-0; Quinten Morgan (MV) pinned Joseph Longobardo (PB), 1:29.
172: Anthony Annacone (Wallkill) def. Tray Bilyou (FDR), 5-2; Avery Davis (Beacon) pinned Ryan Calfe (VC), 3:45; Nicholas Cavallo (Cornwall) pinned Edward Morley (PB), 1:00.
189: Luis Rodas-Paz (MW) pinned Brayden Davies, :56; Chris Herriman (FDR) pinned Jonathan Morrow (Wallkill), :51.
215: Gavin Furst (Cornwall) pinned Sullivan Toback (PB), :53; Bryson Tibbs (Middletown) pinned Jorge Martinez (Wallkill), :34.
285: Julian Aviles (Wallkill) pinned Gregory Florin (PB), 1:43.

Outbracket

160: Joseph Longobardo (PB) pinned Castillo (Kingston), 5:56.
Most Exciting Match – Mike DeCapua Award: 126-pound final: Richie Degon (VC) vs. Griffin Petzold (Warwick)
MOW – Zack Ryder (Minisink Valley)

Girls Championship
107: Sara Pauls (MV) pinned Olivia Schmidt (VC), 2:37.

120: Brooke Tarshis (PB) pined Kaleigh Polanis (PJ), 1:43.
152: Arica Pearson-Leavy (VC) def. Zoe Kip (Liberty), 10-9.