Now Vernon-Verona-Sherrill wrestler Dylan Kavanaugh will get a second chance at the state Division II wrestling championship he came so close to earning a year ago. Kavanaugh won the 96-pound division at last Saturday’s Section III championship meet at Utica Memorial Auditorium, the first VVS wrestler to earn a sectional title since Allan Boice did so in 2003. After a runner-up finish as a wild card in the 2008 state small-school meet in Rochester, Kavanaugh went 33-2 this winter, good enough to take the top seed to Utica, where Phoenix’s Nick Tighe was expected to provide the main challenge. Mostly, Kavanaugh relied on his defense to battle through the early rounds. He blanked Lowville’s Tim Fargo 7-0 in the quarterfinals, then nearly got back-to-back shutouts in the semifinals, only letting Eric Stevens (Holland Patent) earn a single escape in an 8-1 victory. Sure enough, Tighe was waiting in the finals. All the points came in the first period. Tighe struck first with a takedown, but Kavanaugh escaped, then got his own two-point move and led by one after one period. Somehow, that 3-2 margin held up through four tense minutes of wrestling, and by that slim margin, Kavanaugh clinched an automatic bid for the state meet, which gets underway Friday at Times Union Center in Albany. Dan Walts, a state wild-card entry in 2008, could not return at 119 pounds. He pinned Brandon Durfee (Canastota) in 3:40 in the opening round and took out Phoenix’s Talon Sotherden 6-1 in the quarterfinals, getting him halfway to the title. However, Walts ran into Sandy Creek’s Derek Pfluger in the semifinals and lost a 7-2 decision. In the consolation bracket, Walts pinned Bryan Monnat (Beaver River) in 3:42, but lost a rematch with Sotherden 4-0 and had to settle for fourth place. Nick Mieczkowski worked at 189 pounds, pinning Dana Palmer (Pulaski) in 2:39 to escape the opening round, but losing a close 3-1 decision to General Brown’s Josh Dieterich in the quarterfinals. Cody Keefer (Beaver River) beat Mieczkowski 11-6 in the consolation part. John Hudson, at 103 pounds, beat Damien Dennee (South Lewis) 9-1 in the first round, but fell to eventual champion Lance Brown (South Jefferson) in the quarterfinals. Hudson also lost in the consolation bracket to Matt Herringshaw (Little Falls).