Holiday Tournament preview

   Three local teams — Bedford, Chestnut Ridge, and Northern Bedford — will all take part in weekend wrestling tournaments across the state. Also on Friday night, Claysburg is at Mount Union in a dual meet. Here's a closer look at the tournaments:

Boiling Springs Tournament
   Teams: Bedford, Boiling Springs, Central Bucks West, JP McCaskey, Lewisburg, Littlestown, Pequea Valley.
   What to watch for: In the recent past, this has been a round-robin style event and is likely to be again this year. Bedford is back after missing last season due to bad weather that forced them unable to travel. Though brackets/pairings aren't available, the marquee bout is likely to be between Bedford's Ryan Easter and Boiling Springs' Kyle Shoop. A pair of top-three returning state placewinners, they met at this month's King of the Mountain consolations, where Shoop won 4-2 in overtime.

PowerADE Tournament @ Canon-McMillan
   Teams: Altoona, Belle Vernon, Benton, Bethel Park, Bishop McDevitt, Blue Mountain, Brookville, Buford (Ga.), Burrell, Canon-McMillan, Cedar Cliff, Chartiers-Houston, Chartiers Valley, Chestnut Ridge, Collins Hill (Ga.), Connellsville, Derry, Eastern, Erie McDowell, Erie Prep, Father Judge, Franklin Regional, Good Counsel (Md.), Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Huntingdon (WV), Kennard-Dale, Kittanning, Latrobe, Mifflin County, Mifflinburg, Mount Lebanon, Norwin, Parkland, Penn Trafford, Peters Township, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pope (Ga.), Ripley (WV), Saegertown, Solanco, Saint Pauls (Md.), Saint Vincent/Saint Mary's (Oh.), Walsh Jesuit (Oh.), Waynesburg, Westmont-Hilltop.
   What to watch for: What isn't to watch for might be a shorter list here. Probably the top in-season tournament in Pennsylvania includes a local this year in Chestnut Ridge. The Lions have two fifth-seeds in Aaron Burkett (106) and Austin Buttry (285). If seeds hold early, Burkett would draw Parkland's Jacob Lizak, a fellow sophomore, in a quarterfinal. At the King of the Mountain, Lizak was at 113, and defeated Bedford's Jonathan Gabriel, 3-1, in the fifth-place bout. For Buttry, heavyweight is a top-loaded bracket that includes Solanco's Thomas Haines, Mifflinburg's Nazar Mironenko, and Burrell's Allan Beattie along with the state-placer Buttry. Haines and Mironenko are both former PIAA champions, and Buttry split a pair of bouts with Beattie last season.
   Aside from seeing what some of Chestnut Ridge's better wrestlers can do, there's plenty to see. Kennard-Dale's Chance Marstellar (170), Haines, and Kittanning's Jason Nolf (145) are arguably the three highest profile Pennsylvania studs right now. 120 could be a tremendous final featuring Latrobe's Luke Pletcher and Parkland's Ethan Lizak. Pletcher topped Lizak, 4-3 in a tiebreaker, in the King of the Mountain final. Those two could see each in the state final unless one drops and tries to challenge the impressive frosh Spencer Lee of Franklin Regional at 113 later in the season. Also for Franklin Regional, Devon Brown is the top seed at 106. A defending Class AA state champ from Saegertown, he was recently reinstated to wrestle this year by the PIAA after being denied by the WPIAL when the District 10 school argued the move was for athletic intent. Plenty of other PA and out of state studs in the building, just too many to name here.

Southmoreland Holiday Classic
   Teams: Albert Gallatin, Baldwin, Bentworth, Blairsville, Burgettstown, Butler, Corry Area, Elwood City, Forest Hills, Freedom, Gateway, Greenville, Grove City, Hickory, Holidaysburg, Jeannette, Jefferson-Morgan, Knoch, Laurel Highlands, Ligonier Valley, Marion Center, Meyersdale, Mt. Pleasant, North Star, Northern Bedford, Slippery Rock, Somerset, South Side Area, Southmoreland, United, Valley, West Greene.
   What to watch for: While not on the PowerADE level, this is a pretty strong tournament, and Northern Bedford is entered this year again, along with fellow District 5 teams Meyersdale, North Star, and Somerset. Blairsville's Andrew Doak and Southmoreland's Austin Griffiths, both Class AA state placewinners are two of the top wrestlers expected in the field.