Class AA State Bracket Analysis

   It's the final week of the high school wrestling season, as everything commences on Thursday morning for the Class AA state tournament in Hershey. Eight of my local wrestlers qualified through the Southwest Regional.
   The brackets can be found at this link - Class AA Brackets
   I have provided some bracket analysis below. Also, I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Bedford Gazette each day this week for features, previews and predictions. Of course, I also plan on having some extra things on this blog as the tournament goes on, along with full coverage in the Gazette's print edition during the event.

Class AA Bracket Analysis
106 Pounds
   Jefferson-Morgan's Gavin Teasdale and Chestnut Ridge's Aaron Burkett have been ranked first and second in the state for pretty much all of this season. They met for the second time in the Southwest Regional final, with Teasdale taking a 3-0 win after beating Burkett in overtime at the Thomas Subaru Tournament in late January. Teasdale's path in the top half of the bracket shows perhaps Brookville's Gavin Park and Boiling Springs' Jalin Hankerson as his toughest potential opponents leading to the final.
   Burkett's in the bottom half and drew Harborcreek's Sam Sallot in the opening round. Win that and it's a likely quarterfinal with unbeaten Kevan Gentile of Jim Thorpe. Gentile has been ranked in the top five for awhile but he seems a bit of an unknown. The little bit I've read on the junior is that he's having a breakout year after battling injuries in the past. Also down below is Benton's Alan Diltz. Two years ago at state duals, Burkett pinned Diltz. Of course, that's quite a long time ago and Diltz appears to have greatly improved since.

113 Pounds
   This is one of the more interesting weights in my opinion. I could see any one of six wrestlers win the title. On the top half is Central Cambria's Max Murin, Muncy's Angelo Barberio, and Jamestown's Farris Messai, while Lancaster Catholic's Joe Lobeck, Penn Cambria's Nolan Link, Reynolds' Gage Bayless, Brockway's Ryan Carlson, and Line Mountain's Cameron Newman down below. If you're looking ahead to quarterfinals, Lobeck beat Link in a close first-rounder at 106 last year. One of the great stories to come out of regionals for me was Everett freshman Liam Flaherty, who finished fifth to earn a ticket to the Giant Center. Flaherty, who attends school at Southern Fulton but wrestles at Everett in a co-op, drew Southern Columbia's Shane Casey in one of the new pigtail bouts for this season. The winner gets Lobeck.

120 Pounds
   The four region champions here are the likely top contenders to win it all, but it is a fairly deep weight  class. Brookville's Taylor Ortz, Athens' Brian Courtney, Bishop McDevitt's John Pipa, and Huntingdon's Collin Glorioso will all face pigtail round winners. Darkhorses here could include Jefferson-Morgan's Brendan Howard, Tri-Valley's Caleb Bordner, and Reynolds' Cole Matthews. Howard and Bordner will meet on Thursday. Chestnut Ridge's Justin McCoy drew Trinity's Andrew Wert, with the winner likely seeing Ortz in the quarterfinals.

126 Pounds
   The top half of this bracket is a beast, with Forest Hills' Triston Law, Reynolds' Seth Hogue, and Boiling Springs' Grant Bond there among others. Hogue and Bond could meet in a quarterfinal. At the state duals, Hogue beat Bond, who appears healthy after missing a good bit of the regular season. Bedford's Jonathan Gabriel, who lost to Law on Saturday night, gets Brookville's Cole Aaron in the first round in the bottom half of the draw. Win there and the state runner-up at 113 last year should see Tri-Valley's Sammy Hepler, who defeated Bond in the Southeast Regional final. Gabriel earned a close victory over Hepler to win his third Thomas Subaru championship earlier this season.

132 Pounds
   Defending state champion Korbin Myers would be a solid bet to come out of the top half here as the bottom side looks to be a tougher choice. Those attempting to knock off the Boiling Springs' senior would be Derry's George Phillippi, a former state champ, Schuylkill Valley's Josh Giorgio, Reynolds' Mike Bartolo, and Warrior Run's Zack Lebarron. Giorgio was a state finalist last year at 126, while Lebarron is still unbeaten.

138 Pounds
   Another Boiling Springs ace, Kyle Shoop, is one of the favorites in this weight. His path to the finals probably sees a potential roadblock in Saegertown's Tyler Vath. Down below, we have South Fayette's unbeaten Mike Carr and Wyalusing's Collin Edsell. Locally, Chestnut Ridge's Derrick Claar has a pigtail bout with Smethport's Adam Shunk. The winner of that one orders up a tall task in the tiltmaster Shoop.

145 Pounds
   The top half of this bracket looks pretty wide open to me, and I could definitely see Ligonier Valley's Robby Patrick in the state finals as a freshman. The bottom is tougher on paper, with Southern Columbia's Kent Lane, a finalist last year, Saegertown's Nick Monico, and Biglerville's Nate Newberry among the contenders.

152 Pounds
   In no particular order, Southern Columbia's Billy Barnes, Brookville's Jimmy Miller, and Huntingdon's Jacob Oliver are the top half's best bets, but don't be surprised if Chestnut Ridge's Trent Crouse or Annville-Cleona's Jeff Inman make some noise. Crouse took Oliver to the limit in a 9-8 regional semifinal loss. The Lion senior seems to have drawn a favorable first round date with Tri-Valley's Anthony Snyder, before probably seeing Miller next. Crouse and Miller did not meet in the Ultimate Duals. Down below, South Park's Jake Wentzel and Pius X's Michael Comunale appear headed for a semifinal showdown. On a side note, Pius X is closing its doors after this school year, so maybe Comunale has a little extra motivation to send his school out with a champion.

160 Pounds
   This bracket is a minefield. I do think Berlin's Bryce Fochtman put himself in a good spot by winning the Southwest Regional. Slotted at the very bottom of the draw, Fochtman could see the semifinals where probably either John Vaughn of Boiling Springs or Cody Mulligan of Saegertown will await. Mulligan is an impressive freshman. Up top, Mifflinburg's Cole Walter is one possibility, though he'll probably have to beat Blairsville's Drew Doak and South Fayette's J.J. Walker just to get to the final. Walker was the runner-up at this same weight last March. I don't know much about Redbank Valley's Keshon Truitt, but the fact he beat Mulligan for the Northwest Regional title means he can't be much of a slouch.

170 Pounds
   Another very good weight here with no definitive favorite from my perspective. I would say South Park's Greg Bulsak and Bermudian Springs' Briton Shelton are slight top picks from each side of the bracket, but I wouldn't be sleeping on names such as Gavin Hoffman, Jason Lynch, or Levi Niebauer to mention a few. Hoffman is another impressive upperweight freshman in Class AA, and he'll see Lynch in Round One, with the winner likely getting Bulsak. Niebauer, a sixth place medalist last season, could battle Shelton in the quarterfinals. Bedford's Daniel Brett has had a really good postseason so far and his first state tournament bout will be against Boiling Springs' Travis Wickard.

182 Pounds
   Gavin Hoffman's big brother Garrett is a likely selection to emerge from the top half at 182. The Montoursville junior is 42-0. Down below, Bermudian Springs' Colton Dull and Penns Valley's Corey Hazel are the regional champions. Though third in the Northwest Regional, Greenville's Gage Gladysz could be a darkhorse from that part of the bracket.

195 Pounds
   In the top half here, regional champions Alek Hummel of North Schuylkill and Dylan Reynolds of Saegertown are a combined 88-1 this season. Also up top are Benton's Logan Womelsdorf, Chestnut Ridge's Conner Buttry, and Berlin's Toby Cahill. Buttry's first rounder is against Canton's Tyler Cole. Win that and it should be a date with Reynolds, who defeated the Lion junior at the Powerade Tournament. On the bottom, Blairsville's unbeaten Scott Thompson is the likely bet to await whomever in the championship round.

220 Pounds
   Bermudian Springs' Sam McCollum and West Branch's Buzzy Maines are both unbeaten and on opposite sides here. But there are several other contenders, including Kittanning's Jacob Robb, Reynolds' Cole Rickert, and Wyalusing's Dylan Otis. Robb was leading Maines 7-4 in the Southwest Regional final when the West Branch returning state finalist put Robb on his back for a pin.

285 Pounds
   Burrell's Allan Beattie and Southmoreland's Jake Beistel are the top two ranked kids at heavyweight . Beattie defeated Beistel for the Southwest title and thus they are are opposite sides of the draw. Beattie could have an interesting quarterfinal against the winner between Bermudian Springs' Brady Linebaugh and Reynolds' Gene Ringer.