District Duals to Watch

   The high school wrestling season is getting serious now, with state team qualifiers being determined this weekend across Pennsylvania.
   I'll be at Chestnut Ridge for the District 5-AA semifinals and final, where the host Lions will be shooting for their seventh consecutive title as the heavy favorite once again. Of course, you can read my coverage in the Bedford Gazette.
   While I'm not sure there will be a whole lot of intrigue from a dual meet perspective in Fishertown, there are plenty of other districts that will have my eye. Here's a look at that:

District 3-AA
   The quarterfinals and semifinals have been wrestled and the two teams standing in the championship bracket are Newport, who was the fourth seed, and Hamburg, the third seed. Newport knocked off unbeaten Northern Lebanon 35-27 in the semifinals. On the other side of the draw, Hamburg beat perennial D3 powers Boiling Springs (40-24) and Bermudian Springs (43-24) in back-to-back matches.
   So both the Buffaloes and Hawks have clinched berths in Hershey, while those other three along with Upper Dauphin will battle in the consolation bracket to determine third place, which advances to a state play-in dual on Monday night.
   When the new state brackets came out for this cycle, the champions from D3 and D5 were potentially matched up in a quarterfinal, which of course could have meant another chapter in the Boiling Springs-Chestnut Ridge rivalry.
   That won't happen, at least not in that round this year after the Bubblers lost to Hamburg. Instead, the D3 champ could have an interesting first round match with either the District 6 runner-up or the District 10 third placer before a possible state quarter draw with 5-1 or 7-2.

District 6-AA
   Earlier this afternoon, the semifinalists were determined after the cold weather this week caused matches to be moved.
   Huntingdon is the top seed, and the Bearcats moved into the final four at Tyrone with a 41-18 win over Bald Eagle Area. They will meet fourth seed Glendale in the semifinals.
   The other semi will be a conference rematch between second seed Westmont Hilltop and sixth seed Forest Hills. The Rangers knocked off Penns Valley on Friday. In their regular season dual, Westmont beat Forest Hills, 39-29.

District 11-AAA
   While my newspaper coverage is directed towards the Class AA side of things, the District 11-AAA Duals looks like the best place to be tomorrow.
   Here's your semifinalists: Liberty, Bethlehem Catholic, Northampton, and Nazareth.
   And the latest state rankings by PA Power: Liberty, 2nd; Bethlehem Catholic, 3rd; Northampton, 5th; Nazareth, 6th.
   In the semis, Liberty gets Nazareth while Becahi and Northampton battle. Liberty and Nazareth split a pair of duals this season so far, including one on criteria, while Bethlehem Catholic owns a six-point win over Northampton. And Liberty handed Bethlehem Catholic a rare defeat a few weeks ago.
   Frankly, all four of these teams deserve a berth in Hershey, but only two will get there.