Dillon Griffin has had a front-row seat to the experience that is the state wrestling tournament. He also has experience with near misses.

The Oswego senior was a state alternate last year. His older brothers, Joey and Aidan, likewise came a match short of state.

Griffin has twice been warmup partners to teammates at state, last year to Brayden Swanson.

“It would be the coolest thing ever to be on those six orange mats looking into that abyss,” Griffin said. “It’s almost never ending.”

Griffin will go for a trip to Champaign as a competitor when he participates at the Class 3A Edwardsville Sectional this Friday and Saturday.

He’s one of three Oswego sectional qualifiers along with Aiden Ortiz and Nolan O’Grady.

Griffin, who wrestles at 144 pounds, and Ortiz, who wrestles at 138, are coming off regional championships.

“I’m feeling as confident as one should be going into sectionals,” Griffin said. “I can’t be too confident or not confident enough. I am happy where I am seeded in the bracket. Excited to get out there.”

Griffin (20-5) had a late start to his season, as he played for Oswego’s Class 8A state finalist football team. It set him back conditioning-wise and it took him a while to get rolling.

Oswego coach Andrew Cook said the last few weeks of January Griffin found his stride.

“He wrestled at a high level the last three weeks of January. He is a kid that is never out of a match, always wrestling in a match to score points,” Cook said. “He is a kid that has been around wrestling for a long time, his brothers have wrestled, he has a younger brother, he’s seen a lot of different situations. He is ready for the weekend.”

Griffin’s season has not been a linear path here. He went 1-2 at the Hinsdale Central tournament, what he deemed a poor performance that motivated him and went on a good spurt. A second low point came after the Illini Classic in which Griffin lost both matches.

“Something had to change. It was hard to look in the mirror,” Griffin said. “Mentally, it just flipped. Doing that poorly made it hard for me to look at myself in the mirror and then physically I had to go harder in the room. Thankful for Ortiz. He definitely pushes me.”

Indeed, Griffin and Ortiz have been going at it as training partners back to middle school.

“Like two pitbulls fighting in there,” Griffin said. “Wrestling a kid that wrestles his style that is so quick, it prepares for you for almost anything. If I could be another wrestler it would probably be him.”

Ortiz (32-6), also a sectional qualifier last year, emerged from what Cook deemed maybe the toughest bracket of regionals, at 138, as champion.

“My season I think has been good,” Ortiz said. “I took six losses and learned from every single one of them. The difference from this year to last year is I’m taking it more seriously and learning to get better through every one of the matches. I’m just more focused.”

Oswego’s wrestlers will be joined in Edwardsville by 12 Yorkville wrestlers, seven of them regional champions.

In Class 1A Yorkville Christian will have 14 wrestlers, 12 of them regional champions, competing at the Coal City Sectional and Sandwich will have five wrestlers, two of them regional champions, at the Byron Sectional.

Oswego East and Plano each have one sectional qualifier.

“Any time you get in a sectional meet every round is tough; you have to approach it one match at a time, one period at a time. We have to have that mindset going in,” Cook said. “The guys are excited where we are. ”We have not wrestled any of the guys in their first match or two minus Nolan, we get to see some new guys, get out and compete with."

Griffin, who lost in the blood round at 150 last year at sectionals, said he’d probably be feeling differently if he was at 150 again this year. But he’s now walking in with the exact same mentality.

“Just focusing on the goal, one match at a time, get to the state floor,” Griffin said. “Just focus on one match at a time, don’t focus on winning or losing, just wrestling your best match.”