Falconer/Cassadaga Valley sophomore Dylan Newman holds off Trevor Middendorf of Newark Valley-IV for a spot in the 124-pound semifinals at the NYSPHSAA D2 wrestling championships on Saturday at MVP Arena.

ALBANY — Falconer/Cassadaga Valley sophomore Dylan Newman has reached the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division II wrestling championships each of the past three seasons, but never has been able to reach the semifinals.

Entering as the 6-seed at 124 pounds in his third attempt Newman had the opportunity to finally break through on Friday afternoon at MVP Arena in Albany.

Battling to a 6-6 tie after two periods with 3-seed Trevor Middendorf of Newark Valley-IV, Newman was able to begin the final round with an escape and holding off Middendorf he managed a late takedown with three seconds left to reach the semifinals 10-6.

“The kid caught us and we were up one and got a late takedown to ice it,” Falconer/Cassadaga Valley head coach Drew Wilcox said about Dylan Newman’s matches. “I’d like to see him be a little more offensive, but he’s wrestled a lot of tough kids this year so that always helps in tight matches and pressure situations.”

Newman will pick back up action Saturday morning in the semifinals against 2-seed Brock Frederick of South Jefferson-III.

Southwestern junior Adrian Torres dominates his quarterfinal match against Nahjeed Abel of General Brown-III.

“He said it felt just like another tournament this weekend,” Wilcox said about Newman. “When we heard that we thought he should have a pretty good shot to end up where he did. You’ve just got to go out and wrestle and he did that today. He can wrestle better than he did, so hopefully we can get another one to get in the finals.”

While it is Newman’s first trip to the state semifinals, Friday was the first trip to the state tournament altogether for Southwestern junior Adrian Torres and so far it is turning out to be a heck of a debut.

The 3-seeded Torres began his day with an 18-3 technical fall in the 101-pound prequarterfinals and it was also his 100th career victory.

In his second matchup Torres had a trip to the semifinals on the line against No. 6 Nahjeed Abel of General Brown-III and he was dominant again. Torres controlled the bout with Abel and eventually worked him to a third-round pin at 4:26 for a spot in the semifinals.

“He’s been hot,” Southwestern head coach John Vogan stated. “He wrestled really dominant in our sectional championships and he’s kept that running here. Both of his matches were dominant wins, a tech and then a tech pin. He’s ready, but he’s going to have a really tough opponent tomorrow in the semis we know, we wrestled him before. It should be an awesome match, definitely one of the best matches in this tournament I would think for a fan to watch.”

Randolph senior Caden Inkley secured this 14-9 decision over Anthony Aiello of Mount Sinai-XI to reach the 152-pound semifinals.

In the semifinals, Torres will go up against 2-seed Wyatt Sartori of Dansville/Wayland/Cohocton-V.

“Adrian has wrestled the one seed that’s left who he’s beaten,” Vogan said about the remaining wrestlers at 101 pounds. “He lost to the two seed at Eastern States, so I know he’s right there with both of those kids in the semis. If he makes it to the finals he’s got a shot to win the tournament.”

Randolph senior Caden Inkley also joined Torres and Newman as first-time semifinalists, going one match farther than he did in his junior campaign. Inkley was dominant in his opening match with a first-round pin, but had to work a little harder in his quarterfinal match against No. 5 Henry Martin of Croton/Harmon-I. Early in the second it was tied 4-4, but then the 4-seeded Inkley registered a takedown and nearfall to take a commanding 11-4 lead which he did not give up en route to a 14-9 victory.

In his first semifinal matchup, Inkley will face top-seed Luke Nieto of Plainedge-VIII.

While the trio of Torres, Newman and Inkley are venturing into uncharted territory, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer senior Mason Maring was there last year and even managed a victory, but came up just short of the ultimate goal.

Westfield senior Mason Maring dominated his way to the 285 pound semifinals, including this 16-2 major decision in the quarterfinals.

Entering as the 2-seed at 285 pounds, Maring has been a man on a mission to achieve the ultimate goal of a state title and both Jake Lesage of Cobleskill-Richmondville-II and Jim Biccum of South Jefferson-III had the unfortunate opportunity of being in his way.

“I feel good,” Maring said about his performances. “I’m making minimal mistakes in the matches, which is good. I’m feeling good mentally, good physically, I’m hoping to get back to that championship match and avenge what I lost last year.”

First, Maring made quick work of Lesage in the prequarterfinals as he secured a quick pin at 1:09. Then he had a little harder of a test at in the quarterfinals in which both wrestlers went to the ground with the match in jeopardy for both.

“I got a head in arm there,” Maring stated. “I knew I had to stay calm and work back on top. Once I got that I just stuck to my fundamentals and won the match.”

Neither seized the opportunity and then Maring took control of Biccum as he worked him to a 16-2 major decision.

Southwestern junior Carmine Calimeri was relegated to the 124-pound consolation bracket in this quarterfinal loss to South Jefferson’s-XI Brock Frederick.

Maring has a Section VI championship rematch against Wilson’s Hamza Merrick in the semifinals, a bout which he most recently dominated 18-5.

“I know I’m pretty long, longer than most of my opponents,” Maring stated. “So I like to work from space, I like to take a lot of shots, that’s where my offense is. I’m not a bigger upper body guy like other heavyweights are, so if I can just keep my distance and stick to my shots I should be good.”

Southwestern junior Carmine Calimeri reached the semifinals a year ago, but this time he was cut short in the 124-pound quarterfinals against South Jefferson’s-XI Brock Frederick by 10-2 major decision. Calimeri began the day with an 18-9 major decision against No. 10 Wyatt Rock of Duanesburg/Schoharie-II, but ran out of gas and will need to refuel for the consolation rounds on Saturday.

Calimeri’s first match on Saturday will be against Barrett David of South Seneca-V.

Randolph senior Domanik Clark also suffered the same fate as Calimeri in the quarterfinals as he was pitted against the No. 12 132-pound wrestler in the nation, the 138-pound top-seed Gavin Mangano of Shoreham/Wading River-XI. Mangano, like he does with most opponents, dominated Clark to a 15-0 technical fall in the first round at 1:03.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley sophomore was sent to the 190-pound consolation bracket on Saturday in this quarterfinal loss to Yanni Drapaniotis of Unatego/Unadilla Valley/Franklin-IV.

However, Clark’s first trip to states could still end with him on the podium returning to the wrestlebacks on Saturday against Ryan Mashaw of Gouverneur-X. If he hopes to earn a state medal he will need to perform like he did in his first bout on Friday.

Clark opened with another win over Lackawanna’s Abdulhamid Albaneh, grinding out a 4-1 decision.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley sophomore Patrick Braley will have more opportunities to reach the semifinals, but for now he will have to fight in the consolation bracket for a spot on the podium.

The 5-seeded Braley posted an opening victory with a pin against No. 12 Matthew Wengatz of Port Jefferson-III in the 190-pound prequarterfinals, but just missed the semifinals after losing to Yanni Drapaniotis of Unatego/Unadilla Valley/Franklin-IV by major decision 15-6.

“We’re excited about both Dylan and Patrick,” Wilcox stated. “They’re a pair of sophomores where the sky is the limit and we expect big things from them now this weekend and going forward.”

Braley will wrestle Dikota Hamilton of Trumansburg/Charles O’Dickerson-IV in his first match on Saturday.

Southwestern sophomore Miles Torres made his first trip to the state tournament with brother Adrian, but the first match did not go as he envisioned it. Before he was even set to wrestle, Torres stepped onto the mat and fell to the ground with cramps.

Those cramps ultimately knocked him out of the championships bracket, but not the tournament.

After suffering an injury forfeit in the first-round at 108 pounds, Torres was able to get back to work in the consolation bracket with two wins that kept his hopes at the podium alive.

“I’m very proud of Miles,” Vogan stated. “He showed a lot of growth. It’s really easy to cash it in when you lose a match in that fashion which he probably wins 9 out of 10 times if he doesn’t get cramping issues. I’m really proud of him getting it together in the wrestlebacks because it’s hard, you’re wrestling five or six matches to get on the podium.”

Torres first pinned Caden Higley of Sidney-IV at 4:30 and then posted a 14-9 decision over Anthony Aiello of Mount Sinai-XI to set up a match with Dylan Newman of Windsor-IV on Saturday morning.

Chautauqua Lake sophomore Thandon Bensink began the tournament with a win again, but also had to show his toughness in the wrestlebacks for an opportunity at the podium on Saturday.

After being bounced in the prequarterfinals by 131-pound top-seed Chris Noto of Honeoye Falls/Lima-V, Bensink grabbed two narrow victories to keep his hopes at the podium alive.

Bensink began wrestlebacks with a 6-5 win over Luke Parise of Carle Place-VIII in which he scored all of his points in the second period and held on for the victory. Then he held off a last second takedown against Evan Sheils of Lansing-IV to secure a 7-5 victory and preserved hopes of the podium.

Jamestown senior Tyler Zwald was the lone local wrestler in Division I, returning one final time and seeking a state victory.

He got that victory in his very first match when he posted a dominant 10-2 major decision against Luke Dakin of FDR Hyde Park-IX. However, his reward was a matchup with two-time state champion Luke Satriano of Valley Central-IX.

While he held his own against Satriano in the first period, trailing on 3-0, the wheels fell off in the second as Satriano showed his pedigree with a 20-2 technical fall.

Zwald’s day came to an end in the wrestlebacks when he met Elijah Carington of Kellenberg Memorial-CHSAA and suffered another technical fall at 22-5. Zwald finished his high school career for the Red & Green securing one win at the state championships and a 34-9 record at 131 pounds.

Chautauqua Lake sophomore Thandon Bensink earned two victories in wrestlebacks to keep his 131-pound podium hopes alive.

Randolph senior Dom Clark was relegated to the 138-pound consolation bracket by top-seed Gavin Mangano of Shoreham/Wading River-XI.

Southwestern sophomore Miles Torres earned two wins in the consolation bracket, including this one, to keep his hopes alive for a spot on the podium at 108 pounds.

Jamestown senior Tyler Zwald finished his season in the 131-pound Division I bracket at the state championships, going 1-2 at the event. Zwald secured this 10-2 major decision over Luke Dakin of FDR Hyde Park-IX in the first round and finished his season with a 34-9 record.