Maple Grove senior Matt Trim fights off 215-pound top-seed Sean Kelly of Section III's Lowville. Trim defeated Kelly in sudden victory overtime with a takedown, advancing to the finals on a 3-1 decision. P-J photo by Tim Walters

ALBANY — A year ago, two local athletes came away with New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division 2 wrestling championships.

On Saturday morning, Maple Grove senior Matt Trim and Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer junior Mason Maring guaranteed at least one championship at 215 pounds. Then it is up to Southwestern sophomore Tavio Hoose to determine if the area will have two champions as he clinched a spot into the 190-pound final.

The No. 5 Trim was dealt the difficult task of going through top-seeded Sean Kelly of Section III’s Lowville. Neither wrestler could get a takedown and with both managing an escape to open the second and third periods, sudden-victory overtime was needed. It was Trim who was finally able to secure a takedown, giving him the 3-1 decision and a spot in the finals.

No. 6 Maring was tasked with wrestling underdog No. 18 Dominic Jones of Section III’s Mount Markham. Maring’s escape put him up 3-2 headed into the final period and he just needed to hold off Jones.

Jones made a last-ditch effort with 10 seconds left and nearly took down Maring, but the Eagles junior hooked the arm of Jones and held on for dear life. After surviving the late push with a few seconds left he rolled over Jones for a near fall and the 5-2 decision.

Maple Grove senior Matt Trim is victorious in the 215-pound semifinals, booking his spot for Saturday evening's finals. P-J photo by Tim Walters

The 2023 172-state champion Tavio Hoose made his return to the finals, this time living up to his billing as the top seed at 190 pounds.

Despite giving up the first two points and trailing after a period, Hoose went right to work in the second period with a quick escape to even things up at 2-2 and securing a pair of takedowns to go up 6-3. Just like Maring, Hoose had to hold off No. 5 Jesse Mullis of Section II’s Hudson Falls. Hoose gave up an escape then with 10 seconds left gave up a point for stalling, but managed to squeeze out the 6-5 victory. In the final, Hoose is pitted against No. 2 Greyson Meak of Section VIII’s Cold Spring Harbor.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer senior Jordan Joslyn and Southwestern sophomore Carmine Calimeri suffered heartbreak in their semifinal bouts at 138 and 131 pounds, respectively.

Joslyn, the returning 2023 126-pound state champion, suffered an injury and narrowly lost in his semifinal against 2022 116-pound state champion Gianni Silvestri of Section IV’s Tioga. Calimeri’s quest for first place was also cut short by a Tioga wrestler, suffering a defeat by pinfall to Jayden Duncanson.

Joslyn’s injury ended his tournament and keeping him out of wrestlebacks his two medical forfeits relegated him to sixth place. The 2023 state champion finished his career in sixth on the podium and a 46-1 record his senior year.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer junior Mason Maring celebrates finishing off semifinal opponent, Dominic Jones of Section III's Mount Markham, by 6-3 decision to advance to Saturday evening's finals. P-J photo by Tim Walters

Meanwhile, Calimeri’s loss to Duncanson just put him in line for third place and his quest to the podium looked easy. After a surprising early pin given to Duncanson, Calimeri was back to work with easy pins of his own, first over Esuar Ordonez of Section I’s Putnam Valley to get into the third-place match and then over Zach Rooks of Section V’s Palmyra Macdeon for third.

Randolph junior Caden Inkley continued his 152-pound wrestlebacks in the morning, first defeating Wyatt Meade of Section IV’s Unatego/Unadilla Valley 2-1. Inkley then pinned Henry Martin of Section I’s Croton-Harmon before being relegated to the fifth-place match by Vandavian Way of Section X’s Gouverneur via pinfall.

Inkley ended snagging fifth with a convincing 8-3 decision over Waylan Winseman of Section V’s Honeoye Falls-Lima. Inkley ends his junior season with a 40-7 record.

Southwestern senior Neves Hoose also worked his way to a fifth-place matchup through the 170-pound wrestlebacks. Hoose grinded out narrow decisions before his first loss of the day, beating Ethan Eoanidis of Section VIII’s Cold Spring Harbor 3-0, then Kayla Martin of Section III’s Sackets Harbor 3-1.

Hoose then was pinned by Jack Lamson of Section III’s Jordan-Elbridge/PB/US/CM and sent to the fifth-place match where he would suffer another defeat. Drew Gates of Section X’s Gouverneur scored early on Hoose and despite the Trojans senior being able to throw him around he never surrendered any serious points in the 6-2 victory. Hoose wraps up his senior season with a 38-12 record.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer's Mason Maring is victorious in the 215-pound semifinal, booking a spot in Saturday evening's final. P-J photo by Tim Walters

WRESTLEBACK CONSOLATION BRACKET

116 pounds

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley freshman Dylan Newman was kept off the podium by Talon Kimball of Section III’s Camden in the consolation round on Saturday morning. The bout was a standstill after the first period and through two Kimball kept a 3-2 lead. Kimball added a near-fall to finish the match 6-2 and Newman’s season at 44-7.

190 pounds

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer senior Jayden Malecki was also kept off the podium with a consolation bracket loss at 190 pounds. After a pair of wrestleback wins by decision in the consolation bracket, Malecki came up on the wrong side of things against Trent True of Section III’s Holland Patent 3-2.

Southwestern sophomore Tavio Hoose controls his semifinal opponent at 190 pounds. Hoose secured the 6-5 victory to return to the state finals after winning last year at 172 pounds as a freshman. P-J photo by Tim Walters

Malecki finishes his senior season with a 45-11 record.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer senior Jordan Joslyn works his opponent, Tioga's Gianni Silvestri, in the 138-pound semifinal. P-J photo by Tim Walters

Southwestern senior Neves Hoose secures a higher spot on the podium with a win over Kayleb Martin in the consolation bracket. P-J photo by Tim Walters