DuBois – On the strength of their 13-0 record, and the fact that they have already beaten all of the other AAA schools, Clearfield has earned the #1 seed for Saturday’s District IX Team Wrestling Championships.
Curwensville (10-6) is the #4 seed in the AA half of the championships. The Golden Tide will face the #5 seed Brockway Rovers (4-3) in the quarterfinals at 10:00 a.m. Brockway defeated Curwensville 36-30 back on December 16. If the Tide can knock off Brockway, they will have to face off with the top seeded Ridgway Elkers (20-2). Ridgway defeated Curwensville 39-23 on January 15.
Ridgway has won three AA team titles since the inception of the team concept in 1999. They are the defending AA champions, having beaten Port Allegany in last year’s finals.
Clearfield will begin their quest for the AAA title in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. against the Punxsutawney Chucks (7-2). Clearfield beat Punxsutawney 45-19 on December 16. The other semifinal match will pit St. Marys and host team DuBois.
The AAA finals are set for 2:30 p.m., while the AA final will follow at 4:00 p.m.
Defending champion St. Marys has won the most AAA team titles with four, while Clearfield and DuBois have each won three. Clearfield’s last championship was in 2005 when they beat DuBois for the third year in a row. The 2006 DuBois squad is the only AAA team from the district to win any matches at the state duals championship in Hershey.
The AAA champion will wrestle the third place team from District 7 (WPIAL) on Tuesday February 3, with the winner advancing to Hershey for the state dual championships on February 6 and 7. The AA champ will advance directly to Hershey.
The complete seeds for Saturday’s duals are as follows:
AA
1. Ridgway (20-2)
2. Smethport (6-1)
3. Port Allegany (9-6)
4. Curwensville (11-6)
5. Brockway (4-3)
AAA
1. Clearfield (13-0)
2. St. Marys (7-3)
3. Dubois (12-4)
4. Bradford (15-7) – eliminated by Punxsy 54-20 Thursday
5. Punxsutawney (7-2)