District 5 Duals Saturday

District 5 Duals at Chestnut Ridge
Semifinals, 11 a.m.
Championship, 2 p.m.

Semifinal Matches
(1) Chestnut Ridge vs. (5) Somerset
(2) Bedford vs. (3) Berlin

Outlook
    Top seed and three-time defending champion Chestnut Ridge is a prohibitive favorite to claim its fourth straight title tomorrow. That said, you never know. The Lions didn't get a chance to face Somerset this season as the scheduled regular season dual was scrapped by the snowstorm two weeks ago. The Golden Eagles wrestled well in Thursday's 43-30 first round win at Everett, but with all due respect, Chestnut Ridge is a completely different animal. Hard not to see the Lions winning big in this one.
   On the other side, this is a match that could go either way based on individual matchups. Bedford has a lot of advantages down low and through the middle and that's where the Bisons will need some bonus points. Berlin will be relying on its upperweights to get the job done. I'm not sure how Berlin's two lowerweights that quit before Thursday fit into the Bedford matchup, but it doesn't help for sure. If the Mountaineers were to meet the Lions for the title in the afternoon, I could see Chestnut Ridge coach Greg Lazor using Cody Brown at 106 and bumping Aaron Burkett and Dylan Williams up to try and maximize wins and/or bonus points. In the regular season dual, Ridge had pins from Burkett and Williams at 106 and 113 as part of of its 42-30 victory. The 120-pound bout between Seth Harbaugh and Bryce Belcher was 2-1 in favor of the Lion wrestler.
   The Pick: Chestnut Ridge.

Looking Ahead
   Obviously, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the upcoming state duals will be intriguing, as I'm not sure there's a clear cut favorite in Class AA. The bracket is the same as last year, meaning the District 5 champion will face the winner of Monday's prelim between the District 3 and District 6 runner-ups on Thursday afternoon at Hershey's Giant Center.
   In District 6, I think Huntingdon and Mount Union will be the two finalists, and while I'm still leaning toward the Bearcats to get the automatic bid to Thursday, it's pretty slight. They only beat the Trojans by five points during the regular season and I am hearing that Huntingdon would only use Jacob Oliver in an "if needed" situation. Oliver suffered an injury in January's Escape the Rock finals and has been out of the lineup since.
   In District 3, it should be a barnburner final between Boiling Springs and Northern Lebanon. Last year, the Bubblers dominated the Vikings on their way to the state championship. But Boiling Springs lost a boatload of top talent while Northern Lebanon has a lot back and might be the slight favorite. This will be a final I'll be paying attention to.
   There's still a ways to go until Thursday, but I think Chestnut Ridge would relish another shot at Boiling Springs if given the opportunity should they be 5-1 and 3-2 on Thursday. The Bubblers have been a thorn in the side of Bedford County for the last four years, beating Bedford in the 2012 state semifinals before defeating Chestnut Ridge in the 2013 and 2014 quarterfinals and of course last season's championship match.