For the better part of a decade, Falconer wrestling coach Drew Wilcox has felt like his program was one of the best New York state has to offer.

Once the New York State Public High School Athletic Association introduced the Dual Meet Championships in 2018, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley was given a chance to prove it.

In two trips to Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena so far, the Golden Cougars have been unable to walk away as state champions.

“This is something we’ve been chasing after. … We’ve felt like in the last 10 years or so we’ve had one of the top teams in the state,” Wilcox said Wednesday night. “The last three years we’ve had a chance to prove it, and I guess we’ve proven that we were not. Hopefully this year we can prove we belong at the top of the heap.

They’ll get that opportunity this weekend.

Wilcox’s team will once again be Section VI’s Division II representative in Syracuse when competition gets underway Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with opening ceremonies.

“I’m hopeful that our experience will help us,” Wilcox said. “No one is more experienced than our team. They’ve all been there, they’ve all seen it. They know what it takes to win a state title and now it’s about putting it all together.”

The seventh-seeded Golden Cougars will get a 9 a.m. first-round bye on Mat No. 8 before taking on Section II Cobleskill-Richmondville in the second round at 10:45 a.m.

“If we get through the first one, I think the morning bye helps us,” Wilcox said. “It’s nice to get a warmup before getting into that match.”

Wilcox expects his six seniors — Hunter Teboe (138 pounds), Bryce Baglia (152 pounds), Mack Mikula (160 pounds), John Kozlowski (170 pounds), Hudson Johnson (182 pounds) and Collin Mower (285 pounds) — to be the impetus to a successful weekend.

“For us to make a run we have to lean on them,” Wilcox said. “I think it finally hit the seniors this week that this thing is winding down. We’ve had a shot the last three or four years and we fell short. They are realizing quickly this is the last shot at it.”

Finally, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley will take on second-seeded Clarke of Section VIII during the 12:30 p.m. third round.

“They are the real deal,” Wilcox said. “That’s going to be a heck of a dual meet.”

Other than his six seniors, Wilcox expects his lineup to feature 99-pound eighth-grader Mason Kilmer, 106-pound junior Brayden Newman, 113-pound freshman Austin Chase, 120-pound sophomore Karsen DePasquale, 126-pound freshman Brodie Little, 132-pound junior Joey Pillittieri, 145-pound junior Evan Phanco, 195-pound junior Brock Johnson and 220-pound junior Collin Beichner. Freshman Dalton Caldwell could also work his way in at 138 pounds if needed.

“I think we’ve had quite a few guys surpass expectations,” Wilcox said. “Pillittieri and Caldwell come to mind as kids who I thought could be this good, and have been.”

The pool winner will advance to the 3 p.m. semifinals where they will take on the pool winner of Mat No. 7, which consists of third-seeded Central Valley Academy of Section III, sixth-seeded Tioga of Section IV and Section I Nanuet.

“We’ll move things around if we need to, but the way our team is set up this year, we are solid at every weight,” Wilcox said. “Kids can’t get pinned and we need to find pins. If we can do that, we can wrestle with anybody.”

The other side of the bracket will feature top-seeded Cold Spring Harbor of Section VIII, fourth-seeded Mount Sinai of Section XI, fifth-seeded Saranac of Section VII, eighth-seeded Port Jervis of Section IX, Gouverneur of Section X and Palmyra-Macedon of Section V.

The finals are slated to begin at 6 p.m.

Mount Sinai is the two-time defending champion at the event. In 2018, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley lost its first match to Mount Sinai and last year the Golden Cougars went 2-0 in pool play before losing in the semifinals.

“This has been by far our best week of practice to date,” Wilcox said. “Hopefully that transpires into some good wrestling this weekend.”