Another Monday is here which means another week of wrestling. That said, all eyes locally will be on Bedford High School come Friday for another edition of the Thomas Subaru Tournament. Wrestling begins at 10:30 a.m. in the 28-team, two-day event.
I'll have more on this as the week continues, and please do me a favor and pick up a copy of Friday's Bedford Gazette, which will feature a special pull-out section on the tournament. I take a lot of pride in putting this together every year, and it will certainly have you all ready for the wrestling. Your 75 cents is well worth it.
Looking back
My first full day Saturday coverage of the season happened at this past weekend's Brookville Ultimate Duals, and the wrestling didn't disappoint. It was basically much of last year's Class AA State Duals crammed into about 12 hours.
Chestnut Ridge's 31-29 win over Burrell certainly provided early fireworks, as Lion 220-pounder Shane Davis scored a pin in a bout where he needed at least a technical fall to hand his team the match victory.
The remainder of the day showed what most of us know in top-level team duals, that it's all about individual matchups: Burrell beat Brookville. Brookville beat Chestnut Ridge. Reynolds hammered both Burrell and Chestnut Ridge. But Brookville beat Reynolds to win the tournament. Here's a link to the results — 2014 Ultimate Duals Results.
Here's some other quick impressions from the event:
— While I don't expect anyone to seriously contend with Bethlehem Catholic for the Class AA team title, the battle for the other state team medals will be interesting. Certainly Brookville, Reynolds, and Burrell should be in the mix. Whoever comes out of District 5, Chestnut Ridge or Berlin, would likely be a challenger as are District 3 kingpins Boiling Springs and Bermudian Springs. The District 6 contingent, probably some variety of a two-team combination of Huntingdon, Mount Union, and West Branch, should be in it also.
Boiling Springs beat Bermudian on Saturday night. And kudos to Berlin for a nice win over Greenville at the Mountaineer Duals.
— Chestnut Ridge's Derrick Claar has been wrestling about as well as anyone this winter and I expect him to be a player in the postseason beyond the regional level. Claar notched a very good 4-2 win over Brookville's Dalton Zimmerman, a sixth-place state medalist at 132 last season. Claar's double leg takedown in the third period was as textbook as you could teach it, and he scrambled for another two points for the winning move.
— Speaking of Ridge, here's hoping that Austin Buttry's injury is not serious. After losing 6-2 to Burrell's Allan Beattie, he was tied up early in the first period with Reynolds' Gene Ringer, when the Raider heavyweight got leverage and put Buttry to his back for a surprising pin. Buttry sat out the rest of the day with a shoulder issue. The Lions don't compete until Friday, so Buttry does have time to get ready for the Thomas and a possible rematch with Beattie if he is ok to go. Obviously, having the returning state placewinner in the lineup is key for Chestnut Ridge to defend its Thomas Tournament championship and go after a second straight District 5 Duals title next week.
The week ahead
With another round of winter weather in the forecast for Tuesday, it looks like that could be a complete wipeout of local matches. But here's the week's outlook as of now.
Tonight
Southern Huntingdon at Northern Bedford
Tuesday
Richland at Bedford
Claysburg at West Branch
Southern Huntingdon at Everett
Mount Union at Northern Bedford
Tussey Mountain at Shade
Wednesday
HOPE for Hyndman at North Star
Thursday
Glendale at Claysburg
HOPE for Hyndman at Portage
Friday
Thomas Subaru Tournament at Bedford
Saturday
Thomas Subaru Tournament at Bedford
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