BROCKWAY – Two-time champion Jake Keller of Curwensville was one of 10 underclassmen to walk out of Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium with District 9 Class AA wrestling title plaques a year ago, and he is one of six who were awarded No. 1 seeds for the 2012 tournament during the coaches’ seeding and pairings meeting in Brockway Area High School Tuesday night.
The Golden Tide senior 132-pounder, who stood atop the winner’s stand at 119 in 2010 and 130 last year, has compiled a 28-2 record this season to climb into fourth place on the school’s all-time win list with 106.
Six of Keller’s teammates also received seeds.
Junior Brad Stubbs (9-5) is No. 3 at 285, senior Chad Desmett (11-11) No. 5 at 182, freshman Sam Bressler (14-13) No. 6 at 106, sophomore Tyler Mays (15-10) No. 7 at 120, junior Spencer Smeal (6-6) No. 7 at 220 and sophomore Dakota Royer (8-19) No. 8 at 152.
Joining Keller as returning champs to be accorded top seeds are Smethport junior Trent Neely (19-6) at 106, Ridgway senior Corey Bush (28-1) at 126, Port Allegany junior Alex Gular (26-6) at 170, Brookville senior Tyler Dombrowski (25-13) at 182 and Brookville senior Logan Stout (32-4) at 192.
Like Keller, Bush and Gular will be seeking their third district championships.
Bush, whose only loss was 4-3 (OT TB) to Keller in the Golden Tide’s season finale, ruled at 103 in 2010 and 119 last year, while Gular has reigned at 145 and 152 in his first two varsity campaigns.
Neely won at 103, Dombrowski at 171 and Stout at 215 last February.
Keystone senior Tanner Hannold (29-5), the champ at 140 two years ago, is the No. 1 seed at 152.
Rounding out the top seeds are Redbank Valley sophomore Willie Gruver (24-3) at 113, Brookville freshman Dalton Zimmerman (29-9) at 120, Brookville sophomore Brock Zacherl (19-1) at 138, Kane sophomore Evan Delong (31-1) at 145, Redbank Valley junior Cole Shirey (31-2) at 160, Brockway senior Zachary Brinkley (26-3) at 220 and Kane senior Josh Kibbie (29-1) at 285.
A trio of 2011 titlists had to settle for No. 2 seeds, Brookville senior Trey Constable (14-6) at 113, Ridgway senior Slade Horner (25-3) at 145 and Brookville sophomore Zach Vroman (23-13) at 152. They earned top honors at 112, 135 and 140, respectively.
Another former champion hoping to add another crown is Brookville senior Brett Smith (31-5), seeded fourth at 160. He won the 112 title as a freshman in 2009.
Senior Dylan Zimmerman, who was the 145 champ in 2011 and started the season at that weight, is no longer on the Brookville squad.
Brookville, which placed fourth in the state in the Class AA Team Duals earlier this month and set a school standard for wins with a 20-6 record, has all 14 entries seeded, including four firsts, two seconds and two thirds, and none lower than sixth.
Redbank Valley (8-2) and Ridgway (19-5) each have 12 seeded hopefuls, while Kane (14-1) and Smethport (14-3) have nine apiece and Oswayo Valley (8-5) and Port Allegany (9-11) have eight apiece.
Trailing Curwensville (6-14) are Cameron County (6-9), Coudersport (6-7) and Cranberry (10-10) with five each, Clarion (1-9) and Sheffield (7-13) with four apiece and Brockway (3-8), Johnsonburg (2-17) and Keystone (0-6) with three apiece.
The 16 teams will weigh in Friday afternoon for the preliminary round at 3 p.m. Quarterfinals and two consolation rounds, all on three mats, will complete the long opening session.
Survivors will return Saturday for the championship semifinals on two mats and consolation quarterfinals on one mat at 10 a.m. Consolation semifinals will follow.
The evening session timetable shows consolation finals at 5:00, the Parade of Champions and then the gold medal bouts at approximately 6:30.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $6 for students for all sessions or $5 for adults and $2 for students per session.
Complete AA brackets can be found here courtest Bob’s Corner on crossfacewrestling.net: http://crossfacewrestling.net/Documents/2012%20District%20IX%20Class%20AA%20Tournament%20Brackets.pdf