SW Regional: Saturday Morning Eyecatchers

   Here are some things to look for this morning at the Southwest Regional.

 Three Semifinal Weights to Watch

120 – Huntingdon’s Collin Glorioso vs. Burgettstown’s Austin McDermitt; Jefferson-Morgan’s Brendan Howard vs. Westmont’s Carnell Andrews

   Should be two good ones here. Glorioso-McDermitt is a semi I’ve been looking forward to since the brackets were released. The Huntingdon junior was part of a strong first day for the Bearcats. The other side pits WPIAL champ Howard against freshman Andrews, who was solid with four takedowns of Chestnut Ridge’s Justin McCoy in the quarterfinals.

160 – South Fayette’s Jared Walker vs. Westmont’s Anthony Walters; Berlin’s Bryce Fochtman vs. Blairsville’s Drew Doak

   A senior vs. a freshman on the top of the draw here with defending state runner-up Walker taking on another of Westmont’s heralded freshmen group. Walker finds ways to win, which is the bottom line here, but he often looks less than impressive doing so. Walters made an escape stand up to get past Chestnut Ridge’s Colby Hillegass in the quarters. Doak is still unbeaten and might have looked as good as anybody that wrestled two bouts on Friday, with a first period pin and a 17-6 major decision to his credit. Fochtman is one of five Berlin semifinalists, though all of them may be considered underdogs in the morning round.

170 – Cambria Heights’ Levi Niebauer vs. Beth-Center’s Anthony Welsh; South Park’s Greg Bulsak vs. Berlin’s Taylor Cahill

   One of the tougher weights statewide has four good semifinalists in this Southwest Regional. Niebauer, a state medalist a year ago, rang up a pin in his only action yesterday, while Welsh powered past Penn Cambria’s Jacob Driskel and Bedford’s Daniel Brett. On the bottom, it’s two district champions in Bulsak and Cahill. Cahill had a pair of pins on Friday to secure his state tournament slot.

   There should be other good semifinals, including at 152 with Chestnut Ridge’s Trent Crouse taking on Huntingdon’s Jacob Oliver in a highly-anticipated showdown. Given some pressure is off now that Crouse has finally earned a trip to the state tournament, I’m interested to see how his style matches up with Oliver.

Locals’ Road to Hershey

   Four of my coverage area wrestlers – Chestnut Ridge’s Aaron Burkett (106), Crouse (152), and Conner Buttry (195), along with Bedford’s Jonathan Gabriel (126) – have already punched their tickets to Hershey. Here’s a look at what lies ahead for the rest of the Bedford County contingent in the second round of consolations. These wrestlers need two wins to get inside the top six which would mean a date in Hershey next week:

113 – Everett’s Liam Flaherty: faces Huntingdon’s Izac Benson, who pulled off an early stunner by pinning McGuffey’s Gage Nicolella, the D7 champ.

113 – Northern Bedford’s Zach Clark: in the same part of the consolation bracket as Flaherty. Clark gave Penn Cambria’s Nolan Link a battle in a quarterfinal loss, 9-4, and meets Mount Pleasant’s Alex Miscovich this morning.

113 – Chestnut Ridge’s Dylan Williams: Williams suffered a heartbreaking loss to West Branch’s Joey Couteret last night. The Lions’ sophomore led 4-1 late before Couteret rallied to force sudden victory overtime and scored the winning takedown. Williams will have to regroup against Burrell’s Trent Bechtold, and then could possibly see Nicolella with a state berth on the line.

120 – Chestnut Ridge’s Justin McCoy: After falling to Andrews, McCoy drops into the loser’s bracket and will face Marion Center’s David Wiles, who eliminated Northern Bedford’s Trey Childers. If McCoy wins, he’ll get either Central’s Braeden Swab or Somerset’s Quinn Cole. McCoy pinned Cole in last week’s district semifinals.

126 – Chestnut Ridge’s Luke Hobson: After losing in the opening round yesterday, Hobson bounced back with a wrestleback victory and now draws WPIAL champ Hunter Neely of Bentworth, who lost in the quarters.

126 – Northern Bedford’s Jared Helsley: Helsley also lost in Round One, and came back to pin Richland’s Stephen Rouser last night to remain in the tournament. Like Hobson, Helsley gets a WPIAL wrestler in South Allegheny’s Justo Hernandez.

132 – Chestnut Ridge’s Morgan Deremer: Deremer also went into the consolations early and stayed alive to today with a win over Burrell’s Jason Roberts. Deremer’s gift for that is a bout with South Fayette’s Shane Ging, who ended Crouse’s season a couple of years ago in Johnstown. Should Deremer win, he might see Berlin’s Joe Swank in a go to states or go home third round consolation. Swank has two wins over Deremer this season, but it was just 6-5 last weekend.

132 – Everett’s Ben Stover: Stover received a bye in the consolation’s first round and now gets Richland’s Adam George, who was upset in his quarterfinal bout.

138 – Chestnut Ridge’s Derrick Claar: Claar lost a tight 2-1 quarter to Southmoreland’s Evan Myers. Still looking for an elusive trip to the individual state tournament in his last chance, Claar starts his wrestleback journey against Chartiers-Houston’s Ben Hritsko.

138 – Northern Bedford’s Carter Replogle: A first round winner, Replogle dropped into the consolations and will draw Huntingdon’s Tyler Scott. Replogle is on the opposite side of the consy bracket from Claar.

160 – Chestnut Ridge’s Colby Hillegass: Hillegass battled Westmont’s Walters before losing, 1-0. That puts him in the consolations against West Branch’s Clayton Green, then maybe the winner between Huntingdon’s Jon Wagner and North Star’s Dillion Charlton, whom Hillegass beat in the D5 Tournament last weekend.

170 – Bedford’s Daniel Brett: Brett will face Bellwood’s Zach Mock in the second round of consolations early. After that if he wins, it’s either Blairsville’s Nick Pecze or Southmoreland’s Brennen Coles.

170 – Everett’s Wes Graham: In an interesting twist, all three of Everett’s competitors wrestled only one bout on Friday, thanks to each of them receiving first round consolation byes. Graham will try to keep his season going against Burgettstown’s Jake McKee.

182 – Chestnut Ridge’s Brandyn Beaver: Beaver faces Juniata’s Taylor Foster, who came into the tournament with only one loss but fell in the quarterfinals.

285 – Chestnut Ridge’s Shane Davis: Davis was pinned in a quarter by Jefferson-Morgan’s Ian Wolfe. The path for the Lion senior starts with Washington’s Keirs Gloady. The winner there gets either United’s Andrew Deitman or McGuffey’s Ryan Steinstraw.