The Tigers then went on to win their second straight state championship with relatively easy victories over Section X Gouverneur and Section III Central Valley Academy.

The Eagles — then Thunderbirds — were left wondering what might have been.

A lot of the same participants return to Syracuse this weekend to compete for the 2024 title at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.

“It feels good for everybody,” Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer head coach Ken Rowe said Thursday night when asked how it felt to get back to the event. “I don’t necessarily love the way they do it, but at least it gives us a shot to get up there and get back in the mix to hopefully finish where we belong this year.”

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Jordan Joslyn will look to help the Eagles at the team wrestling states this Saturday in Syracuse. File photo

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer qualified for this year’s event by beating Southwestern at the Section VI Division II championships earlier this month.

The Eagles return several wrestlers from last year’s dual meet championship qualifier.

They are led by senior Jordan Joslyn, a defending state champion who was Division II’s Most Outstanding Wrestler at last year’s state meet. He is 34-0 on the year, wrestling primarily at 145 pounds.

Gavin Burchanowski and Mason Maring have identical 32-4 marks this season. Burchanowski, a freshman, has wrestled primarily at 108 pounds, while Maring, a junior, is Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s 215-pounder.

Senior Jayden Malecki sports a 32-7 record as the Eagles’ primary 190-pounder. Senior John Watson is 17-3 on the season wrestling primarily at 160 pounds. Freshman Walter Lukasiak is 25-9 at 285 pounds, where teammate Ison Shirley also wrestles.

“Jordan, Johnny, Jayden have been the core of the team and you expect that, but it’s nice to see these young guys step up and be a part of that success,” Rowe said.

Eighth-grader Alex Bourgeois has taken over the Eagles’ 101-pound spot and is 22-7 on the year. Freshman Thandon Bensink is 17-11 at 116 pounds, while eighth-graders Jordin Eddy and Noli Paddock are a combined 29-19 between 124 pounds and 131 pounds. Paddock will be wrestling in the Girls Invitational this afternoon.

At 138 pounds, freshman Mason Munoz is 11-9, while freshman Toby Watson is 16-15 at 152 pounds. Freshman Colton Hamilton is 18-13 at 170 pounds.

“We always count on the seniors we have to come in and do their job. You expect them to win, but this will be one of those things where we need those young kids to step up. For the most part, they’ve done that this year,” Rowe said. “Noli, Jordin Eddy, Toby Watson … young, young wrestlers are stepping up and wrestling at a high level for young and immature kids.”

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer enters this weekend as the No. 5 seed. Eight of the 12 teams received seeds.

Tioga is the No. 1 seed and will wrestle on Mat 5 with No. 8 Island Trees of Section VIII and Cobleskill-Richmondville of Section II. The Tigers remain loaded. Seniors Gianni Silvestri and Ousmane Duncanson are undefeated, while senior Caden Bellis and sophomore Jayden Duncanson each have one loss. Senior Drew Macumber has three losses, while senior Levi Bellis and sophomores Kadin Cole and Logan Bellis each have four.

In fact, Tioga returns 11 of the 13 wrestlers who competed in last year’s pool-play match with Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer.

“Hopefully it’s us in the semifinals that they have to brawl with. It’s all matchups. They are obviously, in my opinion, the team to beat again. You don’t really lose anybody and you were pretty dominant last year,” Rowe said of Tioga. “Last year it came down to the final bout and they got us. This year, we have a little bit younger of a team, but we’ve stayed pretty steady and pretty strong. It comes down to matchups. We’ll wrestle to the best of our abilities and see what happens.”

Section V Palmyra-Macedon, the No. 4 seed, will wrestle with the Eagles and Section VII Northern Adirondack on Mat 6.

“Northern Adirondack, it’s difficult when they are so far away to get a really good pin on what they do. You do your best to look up records and common opponents,” Rowe said. “Pal-Mac, we saw at Letchworth. We were missing a couple of guys and lost by a point. That one is definitely winnable. We have to do our jobs to hopefully get into the semifinals.”

Mat 7 will feature No. 3 Gouverneur of Section X, No. 6 John Glenn of Section XI and Port Jervis of Section IX. Mat 8 will feature No. 2 Central Valley of Section III, No. 7 W.T. Clarke of Section VIII and Section I Sleepy Hollow.

Doors open Saturday at 7 a.m. with opening ceremonies set for 8:45 p.m. The first three rounds are set to take place at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and noon, but Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer has a bye during the first time slot.

Semifinals are set for 2:30 p.m. with the championship finals slated for 5 p.m.

“You don’t get a double elimination where you can wrestleback and earn it, you are kind of done if the numbers don’t match up,” Rowe said. “That’s one of the tough things about this tournament. You have to get through your pool and then you do the best with what you have.”