D5 Rewind, SW Regional Preview Part 1

   I attended the District 5 Tournament on Saturday, but unfortunately had to rush home early due to a family emergency. So I didn't see the finals or consolation finals, and from the looks of it, there was plenty of good action in those rounds. My thoughts in brief below:

— First off, congratulations to Bedford's Ryan Easter for winning his fourth district championship.
— And nice to see all the Bedford County teams produce at least one regional qualifier.

   Now, onto the Southwest Regional which begins on Friday afternoon at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown. Here's the schedule:

Friday
1 p.m. - Preliminaries
4 p.m. - Quarterfinals/First Round Consolations
7 p.m. - Second Round Consolations

Saturday
11 a.m. - Semifinals/Third Round Consolations
1:30 p.m. - Consolation Semifinals
5 p.m. - Finals, Third Place Bouts, Fifth Place Bouts (three mats at same time)

   Link to Brackets: http://LiveResults.escapesports.com/PIAA/2014-PIAA-Region-SW_AA.html#

Tournament Breakdown from 106-145

   106 - A pretty solid weight to begin with. The byes belong to Chestnut Ridge's Aaron Burkett and South Park's Dallas Bulsak. District 6 champion Max Murin of Central Cambria is 30-0 and has been ranked higher than anyone else in this field most of the season. He could see Bulsak in the bottom bracket semifinal. Burkett is up top and draws the first round winner between Ligonier Valley's Carlos Chavez and Southmoreland's Cole Lambie. The other name to watch up top is Penn Cambria's Nolan Link, who dropped a one-point bout to Murin in the D6 final. Northern Bedford's Zach Clark is also in the bracket and faces Bentworth's Hunter Neely in the opener.

   Predicted D5 wrestler to qualify for states: Burkett.

   113 - One of the top weights in the state will be 113, and the regional draw in Johnstown looks very strong as well. To me, the top half of the pairings is tougher, with Huntingdon's Collin Glorioso getting the bye up there. Also up top are Southmoreland's Austin Griffiths, Jefferson-Morgan's Brendon Howard, and Central's Brock Biddle. Bedford's Jonathan Gabriel is down below, and I think he got about the best draw possible, being away from Glorioso, Griffiths, and Howard. The bottom half bye went to Burgettstown's Austin McDermitt, who Gabriel should see in the semifinals. Also in here locally are Chestnut Ridge's Blake Dunlap and Northern Bedford's Trey Childers.

   Predicted D5 wrestler to qualify for states: Gabriel.

   120 - The byes are in the names of Derry's George Phillippi and Berlin's Joe Swank. Phillippi is the defending 113-pound state champion. I expect Phillippi to reach the final on top, while a Swank vs. Forest Hills' Triston Law semifinal down below should be good. The locals are Bedford's Kyle Mehle and Chestnut Ridge's Dustin Ickes.

   Predicted D5 wrestler to qualify for states: Swank.

   126 - Unbeaten John Demaske of Jefferson-Morgan headlines this weight, as a returning fourth-place state medalist. Richland's Adam George, the D6 winner, has the other bye here. Names to watch include Valley's Pat Dewitt, Cambria Heights' Joe Davis, and Mount Pleasant's Mike Novak, among others. Bedford's Jake Warren is opposite George in the bottom half of the draw, while Northern Bedford's Jared Helsley is up top.

   Predicted D5 wrestler to qualify for states: None.

   132 - This weight looks like it will turn out to be a finals matchup of Bedford's Ryan Easter and South Fayette's Mike Carr. Carr decisioned Easter in the Thomas Subaru finals last month, but Easter beat him last year in the Bedford tourney. On paper, this is not a strong group overall after Carr and Easter. Records can be deceiving, but 10 of the other 12 wrestlers in the bracket have at least 11 losses.

   Predicted D5 wrestlers to qualify for states: Easter, Meyersdale's Tanner Hetrick.

   138 - South Park's Jake Wentzel has the bye on top of this draw, while Chestnut Ridge's Derrick Claar has it on the bottom. Claar has not wrestled well in two previous regional appearances, but I like his chances to get through this time. Bedford's Garrett Thomas, who finished sixth last year and is in his final shot to get to states, could get Wentzel in a Saturday semifinal. Tyrone's Jason Schopp won the D6 title and is in the same half as Claar.

   Predicted D5 wrestlers to qualify for states: Claar, Thomas.

   145 - Two-time state champ and Penn State recruit Jason Nolf of Kittanning is the decisive favorite here, but this weight will be fun to watch. Nolf has the top bracket bye, while Chestnut Ridge's Trent Crouse is in that spot on the bottom. Like Claar, classmate Crouse hasn't had a lot to celebrate at the regional before. Names to know here: Nolf, Crouse, Richland's Nick Naglic, Berlin's Braden Fochtman, Mount Pleasant's Austin Mears, Huntingdon's Jacob Oliver, Beth-Center's Tony Welsh, and Burrell's Corey Falleroni.

   Predicted D5 wrestler to qualify for states: Crouse.

I will have 152-285 later in the week.