PLATTSBURGH — Peru's Arik Robinson has a difficult act to follow.

Robinson and Northern Adirondack's James Charland are the lone Section VII place-winners returning this year to this weekend's NYSPHSAA Wrestling Championships being held at the Times-Union Center in Albany.

Robinson, who wrestled at 96 pounds a year ago, won a Division II state championship as a freshman last season. This year, as a sophomore, Robinson is at 103 and welcomes the challenge ahead of him.

"I'm a returning state champion and I'm looking to get a second one," Robinson said. "I've trained hard and I'm going in with confidence. I know people will be out to get me. I wasn't happy being seeded second after winning last year and that will make me try even harder.

"It was amazing last year to win and I'm looking to accomplish the same result this year. I've tried to stay the same after winning and have worked just as hard for this."

The event begins today at 10 a.m. and runs throughout the day for the next two days. The semifinals in both Division I and II are set to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with the championship matches scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.

The seedings in each weight class is something new to the state event this season.

"This is the first time the wrestlers have been seeded," said Peru co-head coach Mike Hogan. "The top eight in each weight class are seeded by power points gained throughout the season.

"I think seeding the wrestlers is a good idea because it avoids the possibility of having the two best wrestlers in a weight class meet early on."

Charland, who recently became Section VII's all-time wins leader, finished fourth at 145 pounds last season at the states and will battle it out at 152 this year.

Section VII has 11 of its 15 wrestlers seeded in the 16-wrestler weight class brackets.

Peru's Robinson is seeded second at 103 and teammate Jacob Goddeau second at 96.

Seeded third are Peru's Patrick Hogan (119) and Beekmantown's Koby Barcomb (135), while Saranac's Dakota Smart (140) is seeded fourth and NAC's Charland (152), fifth.

The remainder of Section VII's seeded matmen include Peru's Troy Seymour sixth at 112, Beekmantown's Kyle Burdick seventh at 125, Saranac's Ryan Guynup seventh at 130, Saranac's Tyler Leavine seventh at 215 and Saranac's Mitchell LeFevre seventh at 285.

Other Section VII champions competing include Beekmantown's Andy Anderson (145), Beekmantown's Nick Bushey (160), AuSable Valley's John Dukett (171) and Saranac's Adam Ahern (189).

Saranac leads the Section VII contingent with five wrestlers, while Champlain Valley Athletic Conference and Section VII team champion Beekmantown and Peru have four wrestlers apiece.

Section VII doesn't have any wild card entries this season.

Section VII had two Division II state champions last year in Robinson at 96 and AuSable Valley's Dustin Frederick at 285.

However, Charland's fourth-place finish at 145 and Beekmantown's Josh Nephew's fifth place at 171 were the only other place-winners for the local section.

"We have a lot of chances to place this year," Robinson said. "I'll encourage my teammates, but I also have to worry about myself."

"We have a younger team this season, with a lot of sophomores," said Hogan. "But, our wrestlers from Section VII have been all over the state.

"We have all five of our schools represented. We haven't normally had great first rounds in the past, but we have won our share of matches in the wrestle-backs to come back and place."

—

2008-09 NYSPHSAA

Wrestling Championships

Section VII

Opening-round matches

(Seeding in parantheses)

96- (15) Jeff Olena, Pal-Mac vs. (2) Jacob Goddeau, Peru.

103- (15) Austin Keough, Warsaw vs. (2) Arik Robinson, Peru.

112- (11) Rob Morgan, Oyster Bay vs. (6) Troy Seymour, Peru.

119- (14) Tyler Marlow, Pal-Mac vs. (3) Patrick Hogan, Peru.

125- (10) Matthew Afron, Riverdale Kingsbridge vs. (7) Kyle Burdick, Beekmantown.

130- (10) Dylan Morrison, Gouverneur vs. (7) Ryan Guynup, Saranac.

135- (14) Justin Signorelli, Highland vs. (3) Koby Barcomb, Beekmantown.

140- (13) David Wright, Red Hook vs. (4) Dakota Smart, Saranac.

145- (12) Andy Anderson, Beekmantown vs. (5) Josh Micek, Maple Grove

152- (12) Dean Hottum, Onteora vs. (5) James Charland, NAC.

160- (16) Nick Bushey, Beekmantown vs. (1) David Kohlbach, Windsor

171- (15) John Dukett, AuSable Valley vs. (2) Cody Reed, Walton

189- (11) Adam Ahern, Saranac vs. (6) Ivan McCall, Petrides

215- (10) Kivanic Tiyaloglu, Locust Valley vs. (7) Tyler Leavine, Saranac.

285- (10) Lkamran Khawaja, Locust Valley vs. (7) Mitchell LeFevre, Saranac.