It's impossible to fly under the radar when you're roughly 285 pounds, but Cato-Meridian wrestler Austin Lee has gotten about as close as anyone can get.

Over the last four years, Lee's dominance has rarely reflected in his team's final score during dual meets - opposing teams often choose not to have the 285-pound weight class count toward the final result.

But his performance has spoken volumes - especially over the last two seasons. The senior has amassed more 20 wins in that span, including a 23-3 record so far this season. Now, as he prepares for the biggest tournament of his high school career - the NYSPHSAA wrestling championships - he has the chance to do something no Blue Devils wrestler has done since 2005 - win a state title.

“I can imagine that he wants it really bad,” Cato-Meridian coach Dan Butler said. “We're just going to go down there and have fun and do the best we can. I told them, whatever happens, happens. It's the last meet of the year and there are no expectations.”

Junior Dom Giacolone will join Lee at states, after earning a wild card spot. Lee took his weight class by storm in the Section III, Division II tournament last weekend, earning a bye and then pinning Ilion's Travis Streeter in 1:20 in the quarterfinals. The semifinal bout with Sherburne-Earlville's Chris Pike was perhaps the best one of the day, especially considering Pike had defeated Lee in the sectionals finals the last two years.

Lee got the last laugh, however, beating Pike 4-1 before dominating Holland Patent's Glenn Garrett by pin in 59 seconds to take the title.

“His semis match was a really good one,” Butler said. “After losing two years straight to (Pike) in the finals, he was able to do what I told him to do - he kept attacking him with hits and was the aggressor in the match. They were locked in a 1-1 tie before (Pike) got hit for stalling and then he had to take a bad shot before Austin got the 4-1 win. It ended up a really good match in terms of progression.”

Last season, Giacolone and Lee's final step to the trip to states was reversed when it was Giacolone who won his 96-pound weight class in sectionals and Lee finished second to grab a wild card spot. This year, Giacolone finished third at 112 pounds and earned a coveted spot.

“We were hoping to take two or three more guys with us to states,” Butler said. “But we're preparing the same way we've done all year - mentally, they're both where they need to be.”

Lee made the most of his opportunity in states last season, finishing sixth overall, which only fed his hunger for a state title. The last time a Cato-Meridian wrestler won one was Jason Brown in the 215 weight class in 2005 - a grappler that actually helped shape Lee's talent over the years.

“When (Lee) was a freshman, his biggest advantage was that he got to wrestle Jason every day,” Butler said. “He got beat up quite a bit and it made him tougher and better. He kept improving every year.”

Despite their matches during practice, Butler said that Lee reminds him more of another former Blue Devils wrestler, Tim LaRose, than he does of Brown. LaRose, at 275, won sectionals in 2004 and in 2005, finishing sixth and second, respectively, in states those seasons.

“Jason was a bit smaller, and like Tim, Austin is quick for his weight class,” Butler said. “He has the ability to leg attack, which is unusual for his size. Bigger kids are not generally as athletic in that aspect as the lower weights are.”

Despite being half the size of his teammate, Giacolone will be just as hungry for a state title as Lee come Friday at the Times-Union Center in Albany, where the preliminaries and quarterfinals will get played out on the mats before the wrestlebacks start. Giacolone is coming off a sectional performance that seemingly ended prematurely, while Lee hasn't lost a match since he was pinned in 2:00 by Red Creek's RJ Sharp on Jan. 24 in the Newark Invitational.

“(Lee) has been able to wrestle some pretty good matches throughout the year,” Butler said. “That Section V wrestler in Newark was a match that ended at 11:30 at night, and it wasn't a great tournament as far as guys wrestling that late, so you can't get a good gauge on that match.”

A better gauge would be Lee's 23-3 record on the season and the fact that most opposing teams over the last couple of seasons haven't wanted his weight class to count for points because of his dominance.

“Those other teams knew a lot about him,” Butler said. “That's the problem.”

Lee's opposition in states tomorrow will also likely be a familiar one, something that should neither hurt nor help him - or Giacolone for that matter.

Both wrestlers' previous experience in the tournament could benefit them as far as soothing nerves go, until it's time to push around an opponent - then everyone is on an even playing field.

“Most guys have been there before and at that level, it's about who's wrestled better that day,” Butler said. “Everybody's on a pretty even level at this stage, so hopefully (Giacolone and Lee) will just go out and wrestle their best.”