Entering as the No. 6 seed at 124 pounds in his third attempt, Newman had the opportunity to finally break through Friday afternoon at MVP Arena.

Battling to a 6-6 tie after two periods with No. 3 seed Trevor Middendorf of Section IV Newark Valley, Newman was able to begin the final round with an escape and holding off Middendorf, he managed a late takedown with 3 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. “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 this morning in the semifinals against No. 2 seed Brock Frederick of Section III South Jefferson.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Dylan Newman advanced to today’s 124-pound semifinals with a pair of victories Friday in Albany. Photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert

“He said it felt just like another tournament this weekend,” Wilcox said. “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 third-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 match, Torres had a trip to the semifinals on the line against No. 6 Nahjeed Abel of Section III General Brown 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 said. “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’s Caden Inkley works on his opponent during 152-pound action at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys wrestling championships Friday at MVP Arena in Albany. Photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert

In the semifinals, Torres will go up against No. 2 seed Wyatt Sartori of Section V Dansville/Wayland/Cohocton.

“Adrian has wrestled the one seed that’s left who he’s beaten,” Vogan said. “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 further 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 Section I Croton/Harmon. Early in the second period, it was tied 4-4, but then the fourth-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 Section VIII Plainedge.

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.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Mason Maring controls his opponent at 285 pounds. Photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert

Entering as the No. 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 Section II Cobleskill-Richmondville and Jim Biccum of Section III South Jefferson 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 test 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 said. “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.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Patrick Braley eyes his opponent during 190-pound action Friday in Albany. Photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert

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 said. “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 Section XI South Jefferson’s Brock Frederick by 10-2 major decision. Calimeri began the day with an 18-9 major decision against No. 10 Wyatt Rock of Section II Duanesburg/Schoharie, but ran out of gas and will need to refuel for the consolation rounds today.

Calimeri’s first match today will be against Barrett David of Section V South Seneca.

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 Section XI Shoreham/Wading River. Mangano, like he does with most opponents, dominated Clark to a 15-0 technical fall in the first round at 1:03.

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 Section X Gouverneur. If he hopes to earn a state medal he will need to perform like he did in his first bout 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 fifth-seeded Braley posted an opening victory with a pin against No. 12 Matthew Wengatz of Section III Port Jefferson in the 190-pound prequarterfinals, but just missed the semifinals after losing to Yanni Drapaniotis of Section IV Unatego/Unadilla Valley/Franklin by major decision 15-6.

“We’re excited about both Dylan and Patrick,” Wilcox said. “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 Section IV Trumansburg/Charles O’Dickerson in his first match today.

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 championship 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 said. “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 nine 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 Section IV Sidney at 4:30 and then posted a 14-9 decision over Anthony Aiello of Section XI Mount Sinai to set up a match with Dylan Newman of Section IV Windsor this morning.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer 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 today.

After being bounced in the prequarterfinals by 131-pound top-seed Chris Noto of Section V Honeoye Falls/Lima, 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 Section VIII Carle Place 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 Section IV Lansing 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 Section IX FDR Hyde Park. However, his reward was a matchup with two-time state champion Luke Satriano of Section IX Valley Central.

While he held his own against Satriano in the first period, trailing 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 the CHSAA’s Kellenberg Memorial 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.