By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

Northern Bedford senior Eion Snider will look to capture his second straight title in the District 5 Tournament on Saturday at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

Snider, who is is the top seed at 189 pounds, is 34-6 entering the District 5 Tournament. Berlin Brothersvalley’s Trace Hay (24-12) is the second seed for the weight.

“He’s definitely the favorite,” Northern Bedford coach Brian Dutchcot said. “He’s been there before. He has experience with that atmosphere and being in the finals wrestling all by himself out there as the showcase. I’ve seen him put some pressure on himself a little bit this year, but we’ve discussed it and I think he’ll wrestle really well this weekend.”

The boys will share the gym space with the girls wrestling in the District 5-6-9 Tournament. The boys begin wrestling at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and the girls begin at 10:30. The consolation finals for boys and girls are set for 4 p.m., and the championship finals are at 5:30 p.m.

The top three boys wrestlers at every weight qualify for the Southwest Regional Tournament next weekend at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

“We’re definitely looking forward to it,” Dutchcot said. “We’re getting ready to advance as much as we can through the state series and prove ourselves not only in the district but in the region and hopefully in the state.”

In addition to Snider, the Black Panthers had two other No. 1 seeds in juniors Wyatt Clouse (121) and Aidan Pittman. They also have a second seed in senior Rece Dibert (215). Aiden Replogle (107) and Brock Beach (285) are third seeds.

Clouse, Beach and No. 4 seed Tyler Paris (172) are returning District 5 runners-up.

Clouse (33-7) is seeded ahead of Chestnut Ridge’s second-seeded Trenden Willey (21-18).

“Clouse is a goer and never stops,” Dutchcot said. “He just trusts what we say in the corner. We’ll say one thing and the next thing we see he’s out there trying it and giving it everything he has. He works hard in practice, and it shows.”

Pittman enters the tournament with a 26-9 record after going 16-16 as a sophomore.

“Going back and looking at his record when I sat down and did the paperwork for the district tournament, I knew that he was going well, but I didn’t know his record was that impressive,” Dutchcot said. “It’s been a really nice surprise to see him come this far and do good things this season.”

Chestnut Ridge is again a heavy favorite to win its 13th straight team title. The Lions have five No. 1 seeds in returning champs Dominic Deputy (107) and Easton Mull (114), runner-up Mason Weyant (127), Carter Wharton (133) and Carter Ickes (139).

So, the rest of the teams, including the Panthers, are shooting for that No. 2 spot. Berlin Brothersvalley finished second last season, while the Panthers were third.

“(The tournament) can be tough for some kids,” Dutchcot said. “Mentally, it’s definitely challenging when it gets to the district tournament. You have to place in that top three. A lot of kids know that, and that puts pressure on themselves. It’s just a matter of going out to wrestle because they love the sport, enjoy it and wrestle for fun.”

Girls preview

History will be made on Saturday when the first PIAA-sanctioned girls District 5-6-9 Tournament will be held on Saturday at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

The tournament will be a mixture of Class 2A and Class 3A girls who have wrestled for girls teams this season and those who have wrestled for boys teams. Some of the girls have never wrestled other girls.

The boys will share the gym space with the girls wrestling in the District 5-6-9 Tournament. The boys begin wrestling at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and the girls begin at 10:30. The consolation finals for boys and girls are set for 4 p.m., and the championship finals are at 5:30 p.m.

The top six girls in every weight will advance to next Saturday’s Central Regional at Milton High School, where the District 5-6-9 regional qualifiers will be joined by the top three at every weight from District 2 and District 4.

“I think it’s extremely cool,” Northern Bedford girls coach Zach Clark said. “They get to be pioneers of the sport, especially with it being the first year for the girls being sanctioned by the PIAA. I know they’re extremely excited to be able to be leaders, and I’m excited to see that as well.”

Northern Bedford has two No. 1 seeds in sophomore Kaylee Ebersole (15-8) at 106 and junior Raegan Snider (17-3) at 155. Northern also has a second seed in freshman Emily Dennis (8-9) at 130.

“I have high expectations for all three of them in reality,” Clark said. “I think there’s a very good chance all of them will advance to the regional and the state tournament. I feel like they’ve been doing really well and doing what they need to do this season to reach those goals.”

Junior Jordyn Fouse (27-1), who wrestled for the Northern Bedford boys team two years ago, is now at Bishop McCort and is the top seed at 136.

Other top seeds include Chestnut Ridge’s Patron Plummer (130) and Violette Lasure (142), Moshannon Valley’s Autumn Shoff (100), Philipsburg-Osceola’s Isabella DuVall (124) and Bedford’s Mylah Steinbuch (235).

There are also girls from Hollidaysburg, Bellwood-Antis, Tyrone and Penn Cambria wrestling in the tournament.