Photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Mason Maring is looking to improve upon last year’s second-place finish at the NYSPHSAA boys wrestling championships Friday and Saturday in Albany.

ALBANY — A year ago, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Mason Maring found himself coming in second. He finished second to Maple Grove’s Matt Trim at the state qualifiers and then he once again found himself as the runnerup to Trim in the state final.

Moving up to the final weight class at 285 pounds, the Westfield senior finds himself as the No. 2 again, but he will have his opportunity to show one last time that he is No. 1 at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division II championships this weekend at MVP Arena in Albany.

“It hasn’t been too much different,” Mason Maring said at the state qualifier about moving up to the final weight class this season. “They are a bit heavier so you’ve got to try and stay outside of them and not get trapped underneath. I’ve got to get into practice, keep working hard and hopefully it pays off.”

Atop the 285-pound bracket is returning champion, Waverly junior Troy Beeman (36-3) out of Section IV. In his quest for the state title, Beeman defeated both the second- and third-place finishers from Wilson, William Wortkoetter in the final and Hamza Merrick in the quarterfinals.

In his final chance at a state title, Maring also had to battle Merrick at the qualifiers posting a dominant 18-5 major decision, while Beeman was only able to edge out a 3-2 victory in the second tiebreaker last year.

“Over the years, I learned that you only need one more point than the other guy,” Maring said after defeating Merrick at the state qualifier. “You can take the matches slower, you don’t have to go out so quick. You can take your time and focus on your craft.”

However, before Maring (42-1) may even get a shot at Beeman or the state title, he will have to win three matches starting with the winner of the first-round bout between No. 15 Nathan Rondeau (26-5) of Section VII Ausable Valley and No. 18 Jake Lesage (30-9) of Section II Cobleskill-Richmondville.

“It feels great,” Maring said after qualifying for states. “I have to get back there and get the job done that I didn’t finish last year.”

Maring is not the only returning local wrestler that earned a podium spot with Southwestern’s Carmine Calimeri and Randolph’s Caden Inkley looking for more strong performances.

Last season, Calimeri was the No. 2 seed at 131 pounds and finished third, but this year he enters the 124-pound bracket as the No. 7 seed after losing to Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Dylan Newman in the state qualifiers.

The Southwestern junior received a bye this year and in the prequarterfinal he will wrestle Section II Duanesburg/Schoharie freshman Wyatt Rock (32-9). Despite a major-decision victory over Calimeri (32-6) at the state qualifiers, Newman (43-5) is just a seed higher as the No. 6 with a prequarterfinal bout against the winner of No. 11 Connor Murphy (29-12) of Section VIII Seaford and No. 22 Luke Gillis (20-12) of Section II Hoosick Falls.

If both Calimeri and Newman can win their first two matches they could meet in the semifinals, needing wins over the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds to do so.

Making his third trip to states, the sophomore Newman will look for his first podium finish after falling short the past two seasons.

Entering his senior season, Inkley is primed for another shot at the podium, especially after a dominant win at the state qualifiers. En route to capturing the 152-pound Section VI title, Inkley recorded three pins — including two in the first round — and a technical fall earning himself a No. 4 seed at the state tournament on Friday.

Inkley (35-6) received a first-round bye, awaiting the winner of No. 13 Erik Desmond (28-8) of Section XI Babylon and No. 20 Brody Heckman (40-9) of Section V Alexander. If Inkley hopes to make it all the way to the final he will have to post a victory over top-seed Luke Nieto (42-3) of Section VIII Plainedge.

Last year, Randolph’s Domanik Clark (33-11) had to watch his classmate from the stands of MVP Arena, but this year the senior will be among the action himself after winning the Section VI 138-pound title. Clark is the No. 8 seed and begins with a sectional final rematch against ninth-seeded Lackawanna junior Abdulhamid Albaneh (32-10).

After that match it will likely only get harder with a bout against top-seed sophomore Gavin Mangano (46-0) of Section XI Shoreham/Wading River, who is also the No. 16 132-pound wrestler in the nation according to FLOWrestling.com. Mangano has just lost one match since entering high school. He also won the state title at 131 pounds last year and in eighth grade was the runnerup at 110 pounds.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley sophomore Patrick Braley (38-10) also makes his debut at the state tournament and is seeded for a spot on the podium already. Braley was dominant capturing the 190-pound Section VI title and comes in as the No. 5 seed with a bye to a prequarterfinal matchup against either No. 12 Matthew Wengatz (36-2) of Section XI Port Jefferson or No. 21 Maximus Dyckman (25-8) of Section VIII Island Trees.

Southwestern has a pair of state debuts with brothers Adrian and Miles Torres entering as Section VI champions at 101 and 108 pounds, respectively.

In his junior season, Adrian Torres (35-5) is pegged for a podium spot as the No. 3 seed at 101 pounds, receiving a bye with a looming prequarterfinal bout against either No. 14 Gabe McDonald (27-8) of Section VII Northern Adirondack or No. 19 Linkin Backus (30-6) of Section IV Walton-Delaware Academy.

Adrian’s younger brother Miles (31-4) has the longer path to the podium despite a slightly better record this season. The Southwestern sophomore is the No. 14 seed and begins the tournament against No. 19 Jack Gallagher (32-6) of Section I Nanuet with an opportunity to wrestle No. 3 Lukas Mills-Travis (40-2) of Section V Haverling.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Thandon Bensink joins Southwestern’s Calimeri as the only other local wrestler in Division II who comes into the state tournament as the Section VI No. 2. In his second trip to Albany, the Eagles sophomore jumps from 116 pounds to No. 17 at 131 pounds.

Bensink (44-9) is the slight underdog in his bout against No. 16 Karahn King (33-7) of Section XI John Glenn and the winner gets the right of wrestling top-seed Chris Noto (42-1) of Section V Honeoye Falls/Lima in the prequarterfinals. Noto is the top seed of a weight class for the second year in a row and is seeking to finally finish atop the podium.

While Bensink has a tall task out the gates Friday, the lone local wrestler in Division I has it harder. Jamestown senior Tyler Zwald (33-7) is No. 16 at 131 pounds and faces No. 17 Luke Dakin (27-6) of Section IX FDR Hyde Park with an opportunity to wrestle two-time defending state champion Section IX Valley Central senior Luke Satriano (50-6).

However, there is no easy road to the podium at the state championships this weekend and with the talent in New York it is impressive all of the wrestlers made it this far. At a national level, Section IX Minisink Valley senior PJ Duke is the No. 3 pound-for-pound wrestler in the United States and No. 1 ranked at 165 pounds with a Penn State commitment.

Duke is No. 1 in Division I at 170 pounds seeking his second straight state title and third overall. Section VIII Long Beach junior Dunia Sibomana is the Division I 116-pound top seed and is ranked No. 11 in the nation at 113 pounds. Section XI Shoreham-Wading River sophomore Gavin Mangano is ranked No. 16 in the nation at 132 pounds and Section XI Brentwood senior Jason Kwaak is the Division I top seed at 160 pounds and ranked No. 19 in the nation at 157 pounds.

The action starts Friday morning with doors opening at 8:30 and matches beginning around 10 that will continue all the way until 8 p.m. Saturday is split into two sessions with semifinals and consolation matches beginning at 10 a.m. and then there is a break from 2-5:15 p.m. with the championships beginning at 6:05.

For those planning to attend at MVP Arena in Albany the Single Session tickets are $12.50 at the box office and $18.75 on Ticketmaster, while for All Session tickets it costs $37.50 at box office and $47.45 on Ticketmaster. Upgrading to Premium All Session tickets costs $59 or $71.40 on Ticketmaster.

Live updates will be provided on both The Post-Journal and OBSERVER websites, while match updates can be found on x.com @Chris__Storms.