To say Dontae Hoose is familiar with the Times Union Center in Albany would be an understatement.

As the third member of his family to qualify for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association wrestling championships, the Southwestern sophomore, according to his coach, should feel right at home in the state capital.

“He knows what the atmosphere is like… (The Hoose family is) a wrestling family so this means even more to him,” Trojans head coach Mark Arnold said, noting Dontae’s older brothers Mason and Giuseppe who qualified in years past.

“(Dontae) was Giuseppe’s drill partner every day when he made it two years ago, so he knew the work he needed to put in to get to this level,” Arnold added. “This is a goal he set at the end of last year and he has been very focused in on getting to Albany and standing on that podium Saturday night.”

Twelve wrestlers from the Chautauqua County will head to Albany this weekend for the individual championships. They include Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Brendon Ramsey (138 pounds) and Martin Ohlsson (99 pounds); Fredonia’s Dave Ball (113 pounds), Ceric Kristan (182 pounds), Alex Christy (220 pounds) and Jake Skinner (285 pounds) and Maple Grove’s Luke Tomlinson (132 pounds)

Hoose will compete in the 195-pound bracket.

“When Dontae told me he was going to make the drop to 195 I was a bit skeptical because he played football at 230,” Arnold said. “But each day he weighed out, he was less and less. When he got down to weight after Christmas I knew he was set up to make a run. When he is motivated to do what’s needed, he is going to be hard to stop.”

That motivation, Arnold noted, dates back to an offseason filled with honing his craft, taking advantage of opportunities at Southern Tier Wrestling Club and at Cornell University.

“He put in the work needed to be one of the best,” he said. “He has been the hardest worker in the room all season and made sure he was making the right decisions to get him prepared.”

Also joining Hoose this weekend at the Times Union Center will be three members of the NYSPHSAA dual meet state champion Falconer/Cassadaga Valley wrestling team: Hudson Johnson (182 pounds), Brayden Newman (106 pounds) and Bryce Baglia (152 pounds).

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge to get everybody refocused after winning the team title, but I think we’ve done a good job of that and I expect these guys to have a great weekend,” Falcons head coach Drew Wilcox said.

Johnson clinched a berth to the state tournament with a pin of Fredonia/Silver Creek/Pine Valley/Forestville/Brocton’s Ceric Kristan 1:37 in.

“He’ll have to wrestle like he has the last few weeks and go out there and get after it,” Wilcox said of the senior. “He should win a bunch of matches down there.”

Newman and Baglia, a junior and senior respectively, meanwhile earned wild-card berths.

“(Newman) has had an up-and-down year, but when he’s on he can beat anybody,” Wilcox said. “He just has to go in with confidence and get after it.”

Of Baglia he added: “Bryce started out on fire this year and hit a little bit of a lull, but I’ve seen in the practice room that he’s really heading in the right direction and I expect him to make some noise in Albany.”

Still, both Arnold and Wilcox emphasized that this weekend is just another tournament.

“One of the bigger challenges we talk about is just not getting caught up in the moment and the size of the stage in Albany,” Arnold said. “Staying focused, taking it one match at a time and wrestling our best. A lot of kids will get there and be satisfied with saying they made it. Dontae has bigger goals he is chasing so keeping him locked in and not looking past the next match will be important.”

“They’ve been in tough tournaments before and we’ve wrestled in tournaments equally as difficult as this one,” Wilcox said. “They just have to wrestle their style and not get too excited and go out and wrestle.”