OSWEGO - Tim LaRose found himself in a familiar position on Saturday.

Correction - LaRose found himself on the way to a familiar place.

Cato-Meridian's LaRose defeated Cazenovia's Joel Namy by the slimmest of margins, 2-1, to win his second Section III, Division II wrestling championship at SUNY Oswego's Laker Hall.

The senior, who wrestles in the 275-pound weight class, advances to the state tournament next weekend at the Pepsi Arena in Albany.

LaRose's aggressive strategy paid off in the third period. He was awarded the deciding point when Namy was penalized for stalling.

"At the heavier weight classes, if you keep attacking them the other guy is going to get hit with a stalling (penalty)," said Cato-Meridian coach Dan Butler, "and that's exactly what happened."

It's the second consecutive year that LaRose has won a Section III, Class C title. He finished fourth in Division II as a sophomore. This season, he was a winner at the OHSL League meet and won the Class C title last weekend.

Butler was confident that he would do well."He's beaten just about everybody in the (weight class)," he said. "It was just a matter of wrestling like he knows how to wrestle. Same strategy, same mental preparation. Stuff like that."

Though Namy was a No. 6 seed when the tournament began, he pulled off several upsets on his way to the finals - a fact not lost on LaRose, a No. 1.

"I had to wrestle at the top of my game, Joel Namy is a tough kid," he said. "As long as I wrestled to my potential I knew I would come out victorious."

LaRose found himself in a hole at the end of the second period. Namy had a 1-0 lead after being awarded one point for an escape.

LaRose evened the score with an escape shortly after the start of the third period. Namy was whistled for stalling less than a minute later.

LaRose has narrowed his college choices down to three; Hobart, St. John Fisher and St. Lawrence.

He hopes to finish his high school career on a high note, and fare better at the state championships than he did last season.

In 2004, he broke his ankle in overtime and his opponent went on to win the state title."I feel good going in," he said. "As long as I stay healthy."In other matches.....

Two area wrestlers both fell in the finals in their respective weight classes.

Second-seeded Jason Brown (Cato-Meridian, 215) lost to No. 1 seed Brendan Hill (Cooperstown), 4-0.

Brown had defeated Jordan-Elbridge's Tim Braun earlier in the day by tech fall (5:55) in the semifinals. Braun finished sixth.

Eagle Jim Dexter, a No. 4 seed who upset No. 1 seed Shane Roggie (Beaver River) 3-2 to reach the finals, lost to No. 3 Zach Galligan 5-0.