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Email: "Bisons should be able to hold off Lions for District 5 trophy"
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You would think it would be easier to pick a winner and a loser in tournaments with 10 teams or less, especially if those teams aren’t very good.

But we’re talking about the District 5 and District 6 Class AAA tournaments, which are filled with very good wrestlers and very good teams.

Just picking the team champion in District 5 this year would give most prognosticators a headache. Both Bedford and Chestnut Ridge are very balanced, and their battle for team supremacy could follow the path of last year’s tournament took.

That tournament title wasn’t decided until the 285-pound final. Bedford’s Josh Krupa earned a decision, but North Star won the title by a half point.

Krupa and Hyndman’s Cody Weaverling are the favorites to meet again in the finals, and the team title might be hanging in the balance. It will likely be decided sometime during the finals. How’s that for going out on a limb?

The pick here is the Bisons, who will find bonus points somewhere along the way that will put them over the top.

Bedford’s Trey Easter (103), Cory Thomas (112) and Krupa should win titles, while Ridge will have champions in Gary Pfahler (140), Cameron Corle (145) and Josh McDannell (215).

Northern Bedford should do all right. Tyler Chesney (125), Ethan Boyd (152) and Ben Sollenberger (160) should take home titles for the Black Panthers. It says here Chesney will also take home the Outstanding Wrestler award.

Central Mountain has proved it’s up there with the best teams in the state, finishing third in the PIAA Team Duals Championships, and the Wildcats will have too much balance for the rest of the field.

I’m picking Altoona’s Jacob Hines (103) and Philipsburg-Osceola’s Bo Reifer (189) to claim titles. The rest of P-O’s big three — Dimitri Sidorick (215) and Mike Horton (285) — should make the finals.

The Outstanding Wrestler will come out of the 171-pound finals bout between Bald Eagle Area’s Quentin Wright and Johnstown’s Will Harris, and the pick here is the Penn State recruit Wright.

Last week, I did so-so with my District 6 Class AA picks, connecting on 16 of 30 situations. In most instances, when I didn’t get the champion and runner-up right, I got the finalists right, but they weren’t in the right order.

Hopefully, this week is a little better. But you never really know for sure how high school kids will react once the spotlight hits them. Some shine as bright as the light. For others, the pressure is too much.

The thing about these two tournaments, though, is most of the favorites have wrestled in big bouts in big dual meets.

That’s what makes picking not only a champion, but also the finalists very hard. The following are the rest of my picks. Compare them against yours.

DISTRICT 5

103 POUNDS: Finalists: Trey Easter, Bedford vs. Matt Reasy, Northern Bedford. Champion: Easter. Comment: The veteran Reasy will get past Conemaugh Township’s B.J. Heinrich, but Easter has beaten him twice.

112 POUNDS: Finalists: Cory Thomas, Bedford vs. Brandon Berkey, Chestnut Ridge. Champion: Thomas. Comment: Again, the third-seeded Berkey gets past the second seed in Everett’s Collin Troxell, but it would take a huge effort to knock off Thomas.

119 POUNDS: Finalists: Joe Lascari, North Star vs. Devin Cook, Bedford. Champion: Lascari. Comment: Just send these two right to the finals right now. This one will be very close, and I wouldn’t count out Cook, who has beaten a state champion this season.

125 POUNDS: Finalists: Tyler Chesney, Northern Bedford vs. John Mort, North Star. Champion: Chesney. Comment: Chesney won a physical battle with Mort in last year’s finals, and it will be physical again. Ridge pinner Josh Neatrour could come up with something big against Mort.

130 POUNDS: Finalists: Sam Zimmerman, North Star vs. Josh Shane, Chestnut Ridge. Champion: Zimmerman. Comment: They haven’t wrestled yet, but Zimmerman is a returning champion, so give the edge to him. NBC’s Andy Sollenberger is a threat to Shane.

135 POUNDS: Finalists: Logan Sheldon, Hyndman vs. Tanner Ripple, Bedford. Champion: Sheldon. Comment: Sheldon is the real deal. He beat Ripple, 16-4, at the Thomas Automotive Family Tournament.

140 POUNDS: Finalists: Gary Pfahler, Chestnut Ridge vs. Brian Gibbons, Bedford. Champion: Pfahler. Comment: Maybe the promising Gibbons will be at the heights Pfahler is at some day, but Pfahler is there right now. Gibbons will have a semifinal battle against NBC’s Cody Grace.

145 POUNDS: Finalists: Cameron Corle, Chestnut Ridge vs. Ian Mitchell, Tussey Mountain. Champion: Corle. Comment: Corle has shut out the third-seeded Mitchell, 7-0, North Star’s second-seeded Andy Darr, 13-0, and Bedford’s fourth-seeded Kevin Dudek, 8-0. Question is will Corle give up a point?

152 POUNDS: Finalists: Ethan Boyd, Northern Bedford vs. Tyler Gould, Bedford. Champion: Boyd. Comment: Boyd has two 3-2 wins over Gould, who is a tempting pick here. In the end, it comes down to experience and history.

160 POUNDS: Finalists: Ben Sollenberger, Northern Bedford vs. Brennan Corle, Chestnut Ridge. Champion: Sollenberger. Comment: Sollenberger has been on fire in the second half of the season, so I don’t see him having a problem.

171 POUNDS: Finalists: Aaron Delano, North Star vs. Jase Deffibaugh, Chestnut Ridge. Champion: Delano. Comment: Deffibaugh faces a big challenge in the semifinals against either Bedford’s P.J. Brett or Northern Bedford’s Myles Crawford.

189 POUNDS: Finalists: Logan Fleegle, North Star vs. Tyler Baker, Berlin-Brothersvalley. Champion: Fleegle. Comment: This appears to be a wide open weight. Look out for Tussey Mountain’s Clay Hershberger and Bedford’s Cody Buterbaugh.

215 POUNDS: Finalists: Josh McDannell, Chestnut Ridge vs. Cody Shippey, Bedford. Champion: McDannell. Comment: McDannell, who wasn’t in the lineup in the season finale against Bedford, has beaten Shippey twice. The last time, McDannell earned an 8-7 decision.

285 POUNDS: Finalists: Josh Krupa, Bedford vs. Cody Weaverling, Hyndman. Champion: Krupa. Comment: If Krupa’s looking for bonus points against Weaverling, it’s probably not going to happen. Weaverling seems to be able to keep everything close.

OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: Tyler Chesney. Northern Bedford.

TEAM CHAMPION: Bedford. Comment: Brian Creps says Ridge is the favorite. It will be close, but does anyone remember the Thomas Automotive Family Tournament?



DISTRICT 6 CLASS AAA

103 POUNDS: Finalists: Jacob Hines, Altoona vs. Forrest Bechdel, Central Mountain. Champion: Hines. Comment: Hines should breeze to the title. He beat the second-seeded Bechdel, 11-3, earlier this season.

112 POUNDS: Finalists: Erik Galloway, State College vs. Jordan Rich, Central Mountain. Champion: Rich. Comment: The fourth-seeded Galloway, the second-seeded Rich and Bellefonte’s top-seeded Mitchell Port are all in the same position they were in last year at 103. Galloway upset Port. Rich beat Galloway in two tiebreakers in the finals.

119 POUNDS: Finalists: Matt Snyder, Lewistown vs. Scott Bosak, State College. Champion: Snyder. Comment: Bosak has two close wins over Central Mountain’s third-seeded Jimmy Couturiaux and a 1-0 overtime loss to Snyder. Could be interesting.

125 POUNDS: Finalists: Chad Frankhouser, Indian Valley vs. Addison Snyder, Bellefonte. Champion: Frankhouser. Comment: This is a rematch of last year’s consolation finals at this weight, which Frankhouser won, 7-2.

130 POUNDS: Finalists: Jonathan Quiggle, Central Mountain vs. Preston Snyder, Bellefonte. Champion: Quiggle. Comment: Quiggle was a suprise title winner at 135 last season. He won’t be this time.

135 POUNDS: Finalists: Dylan Alton, Central Mountain vs. Adam Will, Indian Valley. Champion: Alton. Comment: No Matt Boson to battle this year for Alton. Bellefonte’s second-seeded Garrett Singer pinned Will, who was last year’s 140-pound champion, earlier, but the third-seeded Will finds a way to win.

140 POUNDS: Finalists: Andrew Alton, Central Mountain vs. Tye Boyer, Indian Valley. Champion: Alton. Comment: Boyer is one of the few wrestlers who didn’t get teched or pinned by Alton, losing 10-5 and 13-4. Philipsburg-Osceola’s Kurt McCamley will take his shot at Boyer in the semis.

145 POUNDS: Finalists: Shane Alterio, Bellefonte vs. Colton Spade, Lewistown. Champion: Alterio. Comment: This is a weight where there are three four wrestlers who could win. I’m giving the edge to Alterio, who took third at this weight last year.

152 POUNDS: Finalists: Teddy Sunday, State College vs. Randy Breon, Bald Eagle Area. Champion: Sunday. Comment: They haven’t wrestled yet, but I’m giving the edge to the higher seed. Hollidaysburg’s Ryan Colmer could knock off Breon in the semifinals.

160 POUNDS: Finalists: Steve Bosak, State College vs. Champion: Bosak. Comment: Bosak shouldn’t have a problem winning his fourth district title.

171 POUNDS: Finalists: Quentin Wright, Bald Eagle Area vs. Will Harris, Johnstown. Champion: Wright. Comment: This is a heck of a matchup of undefeated wrestlers, but Wright has more experience in big bouts.

189 POUNDS: Finalists: Bo Reifer, Philipsburg-Osceola vs. Jake Bachman, Central Mountain. Champion: Reifer. Comment: This weight is pretty deep, but Reifer has beaten most of the other wrestlers at least once. He split with Bellefonte’s third-seeded Josh Wensal, but Wensal is still a little bumped up. Look out for Altoona’s K.J. Walters.

215 POUNDS: Finalists: Glenn Barnes, Central Mountain vs. Dimitri Sidorick, Philipsburg-Osceola. Champion: Barnes. Comment: Both Barnes and Sidorick will face big semifinal battles, but they should make the finals. Sidorick could prove me wrong in the finals.

285 POUNDS: Finalists: Tim Watson, Bald Eagle Area vs. Mike Horton, Philipsburg-Osceola. Champion: Watson. Comment: The first time these guys wrestled, Watson won, 3-2. Horton lost a two-tiebreaker finals bout to Altoona’s Brant Clouser last year. CM’s Zach Corl and Altoona’s Nick Soto battle in an interesting quarterfinal bout.

OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: Quentin Wright, Bald Eagle Area.

TEAM CHAMPION: Central Mountain. Comment: The Wildcats have too much balance and too many Altons for the rest of the field.

 

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