Ultimate Duals Preview

   Saturday's Ultimate Duals has been circled on my calendar for some time and is expected to be as good as ever. For starters, each of the six teams is ranked by both of the state's major services — Off the Mat by Mark Dugan, and PA Power by Jeff Upson.

   For the third straight year, Chestnut Ridge is making the trip to Brookville. Below is some more information on the event:

20th Annual Johnson Motors Ultimate Duals

Teams (with state rankings)

Chestnut Ridge (#1 PA Power, #4 Off the Mat)

Reynolds (#1 Off the Mat, #2 PA Power, also #45 nationally by Intermat)

Brookville (#3 Off the Mat, #3 PA Power)

Greenville (#8 Off the Mat, #11 PA Power)

Saegertown (#10 PA Power, #20 Off the Mat)

Burrell (#18 PA Power, #24 Off the Mat)

Schedule

8 a.m. - Greenville vs. Saegertown, Burrell vs. Chestnut Ridge

9:30 a.m. - Brookville vs. Saegertown, Chestnut Ridge vs. Reynolds

11 a.m. - Brookville vs. Burrell, Greenville vs. Reynolds

12:30 p.m. - Burrell vs. Saegertown, Chestnut Ridge vs. Greenville

2 p.m. - Reynolds vs. Saegertown, Brookville vs. Chestnut Ridge

3:30 p.m. - Burrell vs. Reynolds, Brookville vs. Greenville

5 p.m. - Burrell vs. Greenville, Chestnut Ridge vs. Saegertown

6:30 p.m. - Brookville vs. Reynolds

Likely Twitter updates - Follow @r_spring21 or @WrestlingRidge

Other Fast Facts

— In Dugan's latest Off the Mat rankings, there are 19 wrestlers expected in this dual meet tournament that are ranked in the top six at their weight classes, including three #1's with Chestnut Ridge's Aaron Burkett at 106, Reynolds' Cole Matthews at 126, and Brookville's Tate Ortz at 132.

— Chestnut Ridge has gone 3-2 in each of its previous two appearances, losing to Brookville and Reynolds on both occasions.

— Reynolds, who with host Brookville has attended all 19 previous editions of the Ultimate Duals, sports a strong 62-12 all-time record at the event.

The Outlook

   Frankly, there isn't enough time to mention all the individual talent that will be here, which makes things more interesting given that it is a dual meet format and matchups will dictate outcomes. Brookville has won this tournament twice in a row, beating Reynolds in the standalone nightcap dual each time. Chestnut Ridge has as much talent as anybody in the building on Saturday in my opinion, and the key for the Lions will be to limit bonus points as much as possible where they will be heavy underdogs (Example: against Matthews, Cole Rickert (220) and Gene Ringer (285) of Reynolds). 

Chestnut Ridge coach Greg Lazor on Reynolds

   "Reynolds had a great Powerade Tournament, and is always solid from top to bottom. There will be some marquee matches I am looking forward to. They have (Gage) Bayless, Matthews, and (Seth) Hogue, as well as two nice anchors up top in Rickert and Ringer."

Lazor on Brookville

   "Brookville might be the most solid team there this weekend. It's hard to find a weak spot from top to bottom. There should be many great bouts with (Gavin) Park, Ortz, (Cole) Aaron, (Caleb) Hetrick, and (Noah) Cieleski."

Lazor on the Others

   "All the teams are tough. If they weren't, they wouldn't be in this tournament. Of the other three, Greenville would be the darkhorse. (Blake) Reynolds and (Gage) Gladysz up top are two of the state's best, and there are a lot of quality kids below them. The whole weekend will be a grind, but it will be fun."