Southwestern’s Adrian Torres suffered just one loss this season, in the NYSPHSAA Division II 101-pound final to Tioga’s Declan McKee, who Torres actually beat earlier in the season. Photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert

The sophomore season of Southwestern’s Adrian Torres ended in heartbreak at the Section VI state qualifier as he lost in tiebreakers of the 101-pound semifinals to Eden’s Mason DellaPenta.

In response to that loss, Torres turned in one of the best seasons among Section VI wrestlers and nearly reached the top of the state as a junior for the Trojans at the 101-pound weight class in Division II.

Not losing a single match against Section VI competitors, Torres ended his junior campaign not only reaching the state tournament, but making it all the way to the 101-pound Division II state final, where he came up just short to Tioga’s Declan McKee.

That run all the way to the state final earned him the highest finish among local wrestlers, making him the 2025 Post-Journal/OBSERVER Boys Wrestler of the Year.

His season began with a second-place finish at 108 pounds in the 37th annual Southern Tier Wrestling Officials Association Holiday Wrestling Classic, losing in the final to Zander Wilson of Williamson (Pa.) by a 5-3 decision.

After that Torres began to familiarize himself with the top of the podium and the first time he earned first it was against the eventual state-champion McKee. Wrestling in the fifth annual Linda C. Knuutila Memorial wrestling tournament, Torres made it all the way to the 108-pound final against Tioga’s McKee.

However, in the first meeting, Torres was able to come out on top as he defeated McKee in first tiebreakers for the 3-2 decision.

Following the Knuutila Memorial, Torres moved back into the 101-pound weight class and was dominant, claiming first place at the 56th annual Akron Holiday Wrestling Tournament. On the way to victory he first secured a pin then a technical fall before securing a 7-3 decision over Niagara Falls’ Cameron Crumpler.

That was the perfect return to 101 pounds and he was ready for the Section VI Division II state qualifiers coming in as the No. 2 seed, just below DellaPenta, who ended his season last year.

The pair were on a collision course for the finals and it began with Torres defeating a younger DellaPenta as he secured a 15-0 technical fall over Drew DellaPenta. He then secured two pins in a row under a minute before having another technical fall over Randolph’s Kamren Anderson in the semifinal.

With a trip to states on the line, Torres was not to be deterred, seeking two takedowns in the bout and only allowing a pair of escapes, he defeated Mason DellaPenta 7-2 for the Section VI Division II 101-pound championship.

Making his first appearance at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships, Torres entered as the No. 3 seed with high hopes to reach the podium.

Among the state’s best he still remained dominant beginning the tournament in the prequarterfinals with a big 18-3 technical fall over Gabe McDonald of Northern Adirondack. He then guaranteed himself a spot on the podium with a trip to the semifinals by defeating Nahjeed Abel of General Brown with a pin at 4:26.

Entering the semifinals, Torres found himself as the underdog again going against the No. 2 seed in Wyatt Sartori of Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton.

Trailing 7-5 in the final minute, Torres needed something big to break into the finals.

That something came with five seconds left when he was able to earn his second takedown of the match that jumped him to an 8-7 decision and a state championship match against McKee.

Torres was once again pitted against McKee in a final, but this time the stakes were the highest with a state championship on the line.

Once again it was another close match with McKee and a stalling penalty ended up proving the difference between them.

After a scoreless first period, McKee elected to start down and quickly made an escape for the first point which was doubled when nearly a minute later in the second period Torres called for stalling to make it 2-1. Entering the final period, Torres picked up an escape to trail by a point and desperately needed an escape or a penalty to go his way.

Despite getting a warning for stalling, McKee did not surrender any points and attempting to shoot for a takedown he was put in a vulnerable position and McKee capitalized with a last-second takedown that gave him the 5-1 decision.

While getting that close to the top may have been disappointing for Torres, he still had the highest finish among local wrestlers and will have one more season to go for even greater heights.