With a tremendous amount of skill and depth all throughout their roster, the Falconer Golden Falcons were one of the top-ranked Division II wrestling teams in New York state all season long. They coasted through their Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association schedule en route to another league title and were narrowly edged by Pioneer in the inaugural Section VI Division II Dual Meet Championships based on criteria.

And once again it was done with head coach Drew Wilcox at the helm.

“We have extremely high expectations,” Wilcox said when asked about his outlook heading into the 2016-17 campaign. “We thought that, you know, we had one of, if not the best team in New York.”

Nine Falconer wrestlers finished the campaign with at least 30 wins according to Arm Drag Wrestling: junior Dylan Ingrao (53-6), junior Corey Keefe (54-6), sophomore Jimmy Kramer (47-7), senior Dexter Ormond (35-23), senior Cameron Page (53-5), freshman Jacob Payne (36-13), sophomore Robbie Penhollow (45-12), sophomore Nick Saeger (38-21) and junior Dan Torres (53-10).

Also, defending state champion Jake Peru compiled an overall record of 17-2 on the year before an injury brought an end to his season. However, the standout senior will continue his wrestling career at Binghamton University, where he was the recipient of a full scholarship.

“The more success that we’re having here, we’re starting to run into kind of a unique problem where we’re trying to keep kids motivated who might not start until they’re a junior or senior,” Wilcox explained. “For whatever reason, we’ve done a nice job of (helping) kids just to stick with it and they’ll get their chance. And it’s paying off for us.”

To go along with Falconer’s team success, Page (160 pounds), Ingrao (145 pounds), Torres (152 pounds) and Keefe (182 pounds) all worked their way into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division II Wrestling Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Not only did they work their way into the state tourney, but each Golden Falcon ended up placing and medaling: Page was third in his weight class, Ingrao was fourth, Torres was fifth and Keefe was sixth.

“That was definitely gratifying as a coach,” Wilcox emphasized. “To take four kids and see all four of them maybe not completely reach their goal, but to hit one of their goals and bring home a medal, we knew it was possible. … We got on a roll, they fed off each other and, you know, it was a great experience.”

Wilcox was also quick to credit the impressive run of success on the mat at Falconer to his assistant coaching staff — which includes Dan Morales and Travis Hummel — and Falconer’s youth and modified wrestling programs.

“I’m really lucky,” Wilcox stressed. “A lot of the coaches that I’m working with, definitely could be head coaches and they choose to continue to help me and I’m grateful for that. We wouldn’t be nearly where we were without all of my assistant coaches and our youth program and everyone working together.”

And with an abundance of kids possibly returning to the mat next season, there’s no reason to believe that the expectations of the Falconer wrestling program won’t continue to be sky-high.

“I had a ton of fun this year,” Wilcox said. “These guys, they work extremely hard. But at the same time, they’re having fun doing it. That makes coaching so much more enjoyable. … We’re hoping to be better next (year) than we were this year. Our goal is to win a New York state championship. They’re holding the dual meet state championships next year and we’ve talked about it already, that’s what we’re shooting for. … We’ll see how many kids buy into it and we’ll see how kids develop over the summer but I think we have a great shot to do that.”

Due, in part, to guiding the Golden Falcons to a lofty state ranking, another league title and having four wrestlers medal at the state tournament, Wilcox has been named The Post-Journal’s 2016-17 Wrestling Coach of the Year.