It was the kind of news Ken Benton was glad to share.

Benton got to inform two of his Amsterdam wrestlers — 135-pounder Giuseppi Lanzi and 160-pounder John Paris — that they had been awarded wild-card entries Thursday into next weekend’s state wrestling championships in Rochester.

“Giuseppi, I was pretty sure he would get in,” said Benton of his sophomore, who lost to Columbia’s Zach Crain in the Section II finals. “Johnny, we weren’t sure about until we got the official word.

“I told him the last period of the day, and he hasn’t stopped smiling since.”

Among the other seven Section II athletes getting a second chance in the Div­ision I (large school) event were Niskayuna senior Jake Newcomb (189 pounds) and Scotia-Glenville 11th-grader Dan Riggi (125), both of whom also got in last year after not earning an automatic spot by winning a sectional title.

Seventeen Section II wrestlers (nine DI, eight DII) had their seasons extended through a system that assigns points to sectional finalists and third-place finishers to come up with the final four spots for a

16-man bracket in each weight.

Won-lost records and prior finishes at sectional and state tournaments are among the criteria used in a formula to rank the wrestlers that don’t automatically qualify for the states.

There are also criteria that prevent wrestlers with a better sectional finish or more accumulated points from advancing.

Newcomb finished fourth in the state at 171 pounds in 2007 after losing to eventual state champ Hunter Meys in the Section II final, and again in the state semis. The Niskayuna senior lost to Queensbury’s Jared Myhrberg in last weekend’s sectional semis, and had to regroup to have a chance to extend his season.

“He was upset after the semis, but he was determined to finish strong,” said Silver Warriors coach Dan Geurin. “We both knew he had a real good chance of getting back to the states. But he had to finish third.”

Myhrberg gave Meys all he could handle in an 8-6 loss in the Section II final.

“Jake’s four losses this year are all to kids who are going to the states,” Geurin pointed out. “He lost to Myhrberg twice, to Hunter in the Class A finals and to [Section V 171 champ Tom] Voorhis.”

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake will have two other wrestlers join 145-pounder Paul Martin in Rochester, as 11th-grader Brendan McKeown picked up a spot in the

130-pound brackets, and soph Zeal McGrew will go in the 285 division.

Shenendehowa seventh-grader Nick Kelley (96) and Lansingburgh senior Nick Oligney (130), who will be the first wrestler from his school to compete in a state tournament, are the other two DI wild cards.

Duanesburg’s Wes Coppolo (152) and Galway’s Jonn Gochenour (135) were among the Division II additions, with Hudson Falls picking up three spots — Noah Valastro (96), 2007 placer Kirk Harrington (119) and Nate Cross (145).

Cody Legg (152) of Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk, Jeremy Burns (189) of Hoosick Falls and Warrensburg 215 Logan Rock also were added.

wHITBECK LEFT OUT

Two-time Section II champ Amy Whitbeck of Duanesburg was left off the list. The first female to compete at the state tourney and first of her gender to pick up 100 varsity wins was eliminated from wild-card contention because Hudson Falls eighth-grader Aaron Dudley, who beat Whitbeck in the DII 112 semis last weekend, lost in the finals.

Dudley did not have enough points to get a top-four spot, eliminating Whitbeck from consideration, though she had accumulated more points.