Review and Preview - January 16

   This week's review isn't all that much, as there was nothing on the weekend from a local perspective and just a few dual meets last night.
   Of note there is Chestnut Ridge's Jared McGill, who controlled the bulk of the 182-pound bout against Penn Cambria's Derek Brown in a 17-6 major decision that featured the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked wrestlers at 170 by PA Power Wrestling.
   On to the preview:

Lions looking to pounce
   Over the next six days, we should find out a lot about how Chestnut Ridge stacks up with many of the state's higher-ranked Class AA teams.
   Saturday, weather permitting as we're all awaiting a weekend snowstorm, is the annual Ultimate Duals at Brookville. As of PA Power's latest rankings, the event will feature No. 1 Reynolds, No. 4 Burrell, No. 6 Chestnut Ridge, No. 8 Brookville, and No. 17 Freedom.
   A link to the schedule: Ultimate Duals Schedule.
   Chestnut Ridge draws Brookville and Reynolds right out of the gate.
   Then on Tuesday night, the Lions travel to No. 9 Westmont-Hilltop for a dual that will determine the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship.
   As I've stated before, the Hilltoppers might not have the names that jump off the page, but they're a pretty solid group from top to bottom. I'm hoping to do a bout-by-bout preview in time for Tuesday's showdown.
   Chestnut Ridge received a little reinforcement in the upperweights with the addition of senior Mason McVicker to the roster. McVicker, who wrestled in the junior high ranks for the Lions, has been in practice for a week or so and he picked up a first-period pin against Greater Johnstown yesterday. He gives Greg Lazor another option in the 170-182 area.

Long Range lookahead
   It's not so much long range, but the Thomas Tournament is fast approaching — next weekend.
   I'll certainly have more on this as it gets closer, on here and for the Bedford Gazette, but here's a quick glance at the team list. I was told last night that South Fayette was a late scratch, so it looks like a 26-school field.

   2019 Thomas Tournament - Athens, Bedford, Berlin, Beth-Center, Burrell, Cambria Heights, Central, Central Cambria, Chestnut Ridge, Claysburg-Kimmel, Conemaugh Township, Everett, Freedom, Greenville, Jefferson-Morgan, Newport, North Star, North Schuylkill, Northern Bedford, Northern Garrett (Md.), Meyersdale, Mount Pleasant, Penn Cambria, Somerset, Tri-Valley, Tussey Mountain.