Photo by Jennifer Russo Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Robbie Penhollow celebrates after winning a match at the NYSPHSAA wrestling state championships in Albany on Saturday. Penhollow won the 195-pound state title.

ALBANY — For an athlete to leave the Times Union Center in Albany as a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division II champion is to enter rarified air in the wrestling community.

To earn that achievement in the way that Falconer senior Robbie Penhollow did so at 195 pounds on Saturday evening is to climb a even higher peak of athletic performance.

After facing one of his toughest tests of the season in semifinal action against the lanky fourth-seeded Devon Shader out of Section II Coxsackie, Penhollow returned to his trademark dominant form with a state title on the line, dispatching sixth-seeded Jace Filion of Section VII Adirondack with an 8-1 decision in the finals.

With that individual NYSPHSAA title, the first for Falconer/Cassadaga Valley since Jake Peru’s in 2016, the senior achieved an aspiration set out during his earliest years.

Penhollow’s father, Johnathan, is the owner of his own historic career at Cassadaga Valley Central School, which culminated in a second-place finish at the state championships in 1989 at 177 pounds.

“My goal, ever since I’ve been a little kid, is I want to do what my dad has done,” Penhollow said after his win. “There is only one spot that can one-up him and that has been my goal ever since I was little. To come out here and be able to get it done just shows that dreams really do come true.”

From the very first moments of Penhollow’s bout against Filion, it was clear that nothing was going to get in the way of achieving that dream.

After a brief series of hand fights, Penhollow took advantage of one of his first openings, shooting a single on the right leg of Fillion, and swiftly turning that into a takedown. Starting the second period in the bottom position, Penhollow abruptly rose to his feet, shucking off his opponent for an escape before threatening a pin with more dominance from the top position later in the match.

“I couldn’t be more excited for him. To be honest if there is a kid who deserves it here it’s him,” Falconer/Cassadaga Valley head coach Drew Wilcox said. “We preach the team stuff, and then we also focus on the individual stuff toward the end of the year. Our program is in a good spot right now and I think a lot of the younger kids are looking up to a kid like Robbie and they want to be the next guy standing out there to win a state title.”

Penhollow was one of few wrestlers in the finals to have the benefit of receiving cheers across the stands at the Times Union Center, with a group of fans giving their encouragement from across Section VI as well as a contingent of friends and family. As is most often the case in the wrestling world, it became difficult and ultimately irrelevant to try and distinguish between blood relatives and the wrestling family members that successful grapplers pick up over years of training.

“There is a lot of guidance and leadership at Falconer,” Johnathan Penhollow said after congratulating his son.

“It’s not about the (individual) win at Falconer. That is the way that Drew runs things at Falconer. It is more … this is a life conquest, about everything. You as a person, you in the community, you in leadership, all of those great things.”

While the finals may have illustrated much of the same dominance that Penhollow has shown on the mat all year, it was the semifinals that proved the toughest test of the tournament. Shader, entering as the No. 4 seed, presented an interesting challenge as a sinewy and long opponent. Penhollow broke out to a 4-0 lead in that match following a pair of good shots, but as he went for an opportunity to pin Shader that move was turned into a reverse in favor of the No. 4 seed. In the opening seconds of the third period, Shader was able to swim his way to a takedown, earning another in the closing seconds, with Penhollow responding defensively on the way to a 9-7 win.

“He’s very tall. He was different to wrestle,” Penhollow said after that match. “It wasn’t too bad for me to get in on his legs but in terms of on top and on bottom that length was definitely to his advantage. I think he is the most well put together tall guy I’ve wrestled. You get a lot of tall skinny guys but he was well put together and tall so that makes for a tough opponent.”

Preceding Penhollow’s two wins on Saturday were a pair of wins via fall in the opening rounds. His career with Falconer/Cassadaga Valley will come to an end with a 49-1 season, and a 167-30 career record.

Of the three area wrestlers to enter the day hoping to leave as state place-finishers, all would find success.

Penhollow’s teammate Jimmy Kramer, the No. 5 seed at 145, began his day with a major-decision win over Nick Curreri of Eldred/Liberty/Sullivan, 11-3.

With that victory, Kramer was able to guarantee himself a podium finish.

“He was wrestling for a medal and he knew it, and I’m sure the other kid knew it. Both kids went out and battled and it’s nice to win those,” Wilcox said after that victory. “As coaches we don’t have to tell Jimmy a lot. Jimmy wrestles a very unique style. He’s got great feel so we just kind of tell him good luck, get out there and battle, and he usually comes out on top.”

Hoping to earn a spot in the third-place match, Kramer next took on Austin Lamb of Section IV Tioga.

Lamb was the first to strike in that bout, earning a point off an escape before hitting a double-leg takedown to earn a 3-0 margin. Kramer did his best to fight back, earning points off a reversal, but Lamb did the same, ultimately riding his two-point lead to a 5-3 win.

After suffering an injury against Lamb, Kramer was forced to concede his final match to Malachy Farrell of Section V Avon/Geneseo, finishing in sixth.

“You never want to get that close and not come home with some hardware so I’m super proud of him for winning that,” Wilcox said.

Fredonia’s Dalton Gardner also started his Saturday with hopes of finishing in the top six. The junior ultimately grabbed fourth overall at 138 pounds, rebounding from a miscue during quarterfinal action Friday.

Gardner, the No. 4 seed, started out with a confident pin of Joe O’Brien out of Section XI Mount Sinai in 2:47, securing his position inside the top six.

That win was made possible by an early takedown that was earned just inside the boundary, giving Gardner a much-needed lead.

“That takedown was huge, it set the tone,” Fredonia coach Joe Santilli said. “Dalton, once he got that 3-1 lead he picked up some energy and got to where he is strong. Getting on top, top pressure, he is tough on top and ran that power half.”

In the following match, Gardner upset No. 3 Brody Oleksak of Section IV Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton/Harpursville, earning a 4-1 win before falling to Nick Ross of Section IX Onteora in 3:16 in the third-place match to finish fourth overall.