This past week's highlight event was the Ultimate Duals at Brookville, which I covered for the Bedford Gazette. Chestnut Ridge won three of its five duals minus two starters, Jared McGill and Brandyn Beaver. The Lions beat Burrell, Greenville, and Saegertown.
McGill suffered a broken nose in practice last Tuesday. He was cleared to compete, but Greg Lazor kept his standout freshman on the sidelines. Given more important matters down the road, which includes this week's home dual with Berlin, as well as upcoming big events with the Thomas Subaru Tournament and the district duals, Lazor wants his best 14 on the mat.
Obviously, I would have liked to have seen a full-strength Chestnut Ridge squad there, as it's sort of a mini-preview of what the state duals next month may look like, assuming each of those teams from Saturday reach Hershey (Brookville, Reynolds, Chestnut Ridge, Burrell, and Greenville seem likely). That said, holding McGill out made complete sense, while the absense of Beaver didn't help in the losses to Brookville and Reynolds.
Reynolds won 10 bouts in a 47-18 victory, with the lopsided score coming on the Raiders' strength of their studs. Lazor also couldn't get any matchups in his favor based on what was missing in his lineup, as Reynolds basically was heavily favored in two of every three bouts. Do the Lions win with a 100% lineup? I'm not so sure, but I would have liked to have seen how things played out.
Brookville beat Ridge by seven points, then turned the nightcap into a rout by beating Reynolds, 36-20, essentially laying claim to the #1 ranking in the state (Chestnut Ridge was #1 by PA Power, while Off the Mat had Reynolds on top). The District 9 team got out of the box quickly, which may have forced Reynolds coach Casey Taylor to bump state champion Cole Matthews against placewinner Tate Ortz at 132. Ortz picked up a 10-2 major.
Assuming Brookville and Reynolds (as District 10-1) get to Hershey, they would be paired on the same side of the bracket, as was the case last year when eventual champion Boiling Springs beat both on the way to the title. The bracket is the same as last year, with the District 5 champion on the bottom with the play-in winner of District 3-2 vs. District 6-2 in the opening round, and probably D7-1 in the quarters.
There are certainly going to be other contenders, including that 3-2/6-2 winner (maybe Huntingdon, Mount Union, Boiling Springs, or Northern Lebanon), D11 frontrunner Saucon Valley, or D4 teams Montoursville or Wyalusing, so state duals should be an exciting time again.
That's a look far ahead, but here's what's on tap this week. Keep in mind that next week is the Thomas Subaru Tournament, with the makeup date between Bedford and Westmont-Hilltop three days before.
Tuesday
Moshannon Valley at Claysburg-Kimmel
Southern Huntingdon at Everett
Frankfort (WV) at HOPE for Hyndman
Bedford at Cambria Heights
Northern Bedford at Bellwood-Antis
Wednesday
Mount Union at Tussey Mountain
HOPE for Hyndman at Berkeley Springs (WV)
Thursday
Northern Bedford at Bedford
Berlin at Chestnut Ridge
Portage at Claysburg-Kimmel
Friday
Central at Everett
Northern Garrett (MD) at HOPE for Hyndman
Tussey Mountain at Moshannon Valley
Saturday
Claysburg-Kimmel Duals
Somerset at Chestnut Ridge
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