ALBANY – One local wrestler’s pursuit of a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Divsion II individual wrestling championship will continue today.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Martin Ohlsson (99 pounds), seeded fourth in his weight class, strung together back-to-back victories to advance to this morning’s semifinal where he will face off against top-seeded Gianni Silvestri of Section IV Tioga.

Ohlsson advanced to the semis following a 4-3 decision over Chase Lawton of Section III’s Jefferson/Sandy Creek and earlier in the day took down Teddy Raes of Section V Midlakes in a 4-1 decision.

The backend of the two-day tournament will begin at 10 a.m. today. Should Ohlsson be victorious, he will face the winner of the other semifinal match between Brayden Fahrbach of Section XI Mount Sinai and Xavier Dejesus-Remchuk of Section V Canisteo-Greenwood.

Photos by Mike Reynolds Fredonia’s David Ball (left) competed in the State Championship Wrestling tournamnet in Albany on Friday. Ball was eliminated in the Quarterfinal.

While no other area wrestler is in contention for first place, four will wrestle today in the consolation round for a chance at third place.

In the 182-pound bracket, Falconer’s Hudson Johnson advanced to the quarterfinal on an 8-7 decision over Ethan Eldred of Section III Sherburne-Earlville, before falling to No. 1 seed Ethan Cooper of Section II Cobleskill-Richmondville at the 4:42 mark in 182-pound action. Johnson will face off today against Fredonia’s Ceric Kristan for a chance at a medal after Kristan’s 12-1 major decision over Ethan Cregin of Section XII Petrides. Kristan, seeded 11th, fell to No. 7-seed Brock Conway 1:53 in.

In the 285-pound bracket, Fredonia’s Jake Skinner, the 6-seed, earned a technical fall 3:22 into his match against 11-seed Erijon Skenderi of Petrides, before falling to 3-seed Tyler Rice of Section IV Norwich. Skinner will face off against Tyler Marlborough of Section II Mattiluck in the consolation round today.

Fredonia’s David Ball also remains in contention for a medal after defeating Dominic Affronti of Section V Palmyra-Madeon in a 6-2 decision in the consolation round and will face off against Logan Campbell of Section II Coxsackie Athens today. Ball was victorious in his first match of the day against Iroquois’ Michael Schifhauer in a 3-1 decision, but fell to the consolation side of the bracket after losing via a technical fall 4:47 into his match against 1-seed Dante Gelsinger of Section IV Norwich.

Three of the wrestlers from Fredonia, Ball, Skinner, and Ceric Kristan, all made the top eight of their respective weight classes, meaning all three will finish on the podium. The three can only finish as high as third place overall. Fredonia as a team sits in 16th place overall.

Thirteen-seed Dontae Hoose of Southwestern will face off against Brendan Covey of Section II Whitehall/Ft. Ann in the 195-pound consolation bracket after defeating Brandon Butler of Section IV Windsor in a 3-1 decision. Hoose fell in his first-round match to four-seed Kolton Gagnon of Section VIII Cold Spring Harbor in a 13-6 decision in his first match of the day.

Chautaqua Lake/Westfield/Panama/Clymer’s Brendon Ramsey nearly advanced to the quarterfinals of the 138-pound consolation bracket, before falling to Dylan Price of Section III Marcellus/Onondaga in a 8-0 major decision. Ramsey fell in the opening round to Greg Hotaling of Cobleskill-Richmondville by an 8-2 decision, before defeating Tom Lynch of Section VIII Seaford in a 10-3 decision.

Maple Grove’s Luke Tomlinson also nearly came back in the 132-pound bracket after an opening 7-5 loss to 8-seed Josh Post of Section IV Newark Valley, by defeating Sander Miller of Section I Edgemont via a fall at the 1:39 mark. However, Tomlinson fell via a 10-2 major decision by Mitchell Gaiser.

Despite defeating Archie Green of Section X Ogdensburg via a fall at 1:01 to face of against No. 1-seed Jeff Crooks of Section II Cobleskill/Richmondville, Fredonia’s Alex Christy fell in back-to-back matches in the 220-pound class, losing to Crooks via a fall at 1:21, and losing to Scott Barnhart of Section IV Walton/Delaware Academy via a fall at 4:43.

Falconer’s Brayden Newman and Bryce Baglia both went winless on the day. Newman fell to Carl Santariello of Section III Marcellus/Onondaga in a 16-8 major decision and then fell to Gabe Cubrero of Section VIII Clarke in an 11-7 decision. Baglia fell to Portville’s Dakota Mascho in an 8-6 decision, before falling to Kade Slayton of Section V Hornell in a 4-3 decision.