If everything falls in place at the Giant Center, there could be a lot of area Class AA wrestlers looking for gold in the finals of the PIAA Championships.
In fact, by my calculations, there should be seven area wrestlers in the finals. That's if everything falls into place. And when does everything fall into place in the state tournament?
I've picked three champions in Tyrone's A.J. Schopp (119) and Ronnie Garbinsky (125) and Bedford's Josh Krupa (285).
Schopp has been proving locally all season that he's a force to reckon with, and he made a statewide statement in the Southwest Regionals finals when he beat Keystone Oaks' returning state champion Anthony Zanetta. I think he'll face Zanetta again in the finals, and he'll find a way to beat him again.
Garbinsky will have a tougher challenge at a very deep 125-pound class. It says here he'll beat Northwestern Lehigh's returning 119-pound runner-up Evan Yenolevich in the finals.
Yenolevich might be a little worn down by the time he gets to the finals because he faces Bedford's Devin Cook in the first round and possibly Northern Bedford's Tyler Chesney in the semifinals.
Garbinsky will have to go through either Penn Cambria's Pat Myers or Greenville's Coty Burnett, who wrestle each other in the preliminaries.
Bedford coach Brian Creps says the regional finals loss to Carlynton's Jordan Roussos has really motivated Krupa. I think a motivated Krupa is enough to beat Roussos in a finals rematch.
Penn Cambria's Evan Link (103), Central Cambria's Phil Steinberg (135), Portage's Shawn Perich (145) and Chestnut Ridge's Josh McDannell (215) should also reach the finals, but lose there.
Link will get past Westmont Hilltop's Josh Polacek in the semis, but Reynolds' Dylan D'Urso has the edge in the finals. Steinberg will fall a little short to Sharon's returning champion, Jordan Moss.
Perich gives Benton's Eric Hess all he can handle but falls short. McDannell will have to get by Sharpsville's unbeaten Justin Buchanan in the semis just to make the finals against Saucon Valley's Brandon Palik.
But anything can happen in Hershey. Enjoy the picks.
103 POUNDS: Finalists: Evan Link, Penn Cambria vs. Dylan D'Urso, Reynolds. Champion: D'Urso. Comment: D'Urso owns a 10-0 win over North Star's Nick Roberts.
112 POUNDS: Finalists: Luke Frey, Montoursville vs. Geoff Alexander, Shady Side Academy. Champion: Frey. Comment: Frey's stiffest test will come against Mason Beckman.
119 POUNDS: Finalists: A.J. Schopp, Tyrone vs. Anthony Zanetta, Keystone Oaks. Champion: Schopp. Comment: Schopp would probably like to get another shot at Joe Spisak.
125 POUNDS: Finalists: Ronnie Garbinsky, Tyrone vs. Evan Yenolevich, Northwestern Lehigh. Champion: Garbinsky. Comment: Tyler Chesney will get a crack at Yenolevich in semis.
130 POUNDS: Finalists: Cody Kelly, Reynolds vs. Austin Williams, Pen Argyl. Champion: Kelly. Comment: Kelly will beat Frank Martellotti and Nick Hodgkins to reach finals.
135 POUNDS: Finalists: Phil Steinberg, Central Cambria vs. Jordan Moss, Sharon. Champion: Moss. Comment: Steinberg will get rematch with Travis McKillop in semis.
140 POUNDS: Finalists: Derek Schmelyun, Bermudian Springs vs. Dane Johnson, Shady Side Academy. Champion: Johnson. Comment: Daniel Knott could get his shot at Schmelyun in semis.
145 POUNDS: Finalists: Eric Hess, Benton vs. Shawn Perich, Portage. Champion: Hess. Comment: One of Hess' losses was to Central Mountain's Dylan Alton, 6-3.
152 POUNDS: Finalists: Nick Bancroft, Maplewood vs. Dirk Cowburn, Coudersport. Champion: Bancroft. Comment: Bancroft pulled off a shocker by beating Cowburn last week.
160 POUNDS: Finalists: Corey Lear, Benton vs. Matthew Cunningham, Shady Side Academy. Champion: Cunningham. Comment: Cunningham avenged states loss to Lear, 5-2, this year.
171 POUNDS: Finalists: Josh Smith, Octorara vs. Caleb Kolb, Grove City. Champion: Kolb. Comment: Kolb took third at 160 last season.
189 POUNDS: Finalists: Zac Bennett, Westmont Hilltop vs. Roman San Doval, Shady Side Academy. Champion: San Doval. Comment: San Doval's win over Bennett last week was a jaw-dropper.
215 POUNDS: Finalists: Brandon Palik, Saucon Valley vs. Josh McDannell, Chestnut Ridge. Champion: Palik. Comment: Bedford's Cody Shippey can't be counted out.
285 POUNDS: Finalists: Jordan Roussos, Carlynton vs. Josh Krupa, Bedford. Champion: Krupa. Comment: Krupa will have big quarterfinal bout against Will Ringer.
OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: Roman San Doval, Shady Side Academy.
TEAM CHAMPION: Reynolds. Comment: Shady Side and Westmont Hilltop will battle for title.
CLASS AA POSTSEASON PICKS RECORD: 57 of 89 situations correct (17 of 29 last week).
