CLARION — Curwensville Area High School junior Shae Bloom, a two-time Class AAA champion for DuBois, was awarded the No. 1 seed at 138 pounds for the District 9 Class AA Wrestling Tournament during the seedings and pairings meeting of coaches in Clarion High School Sunday afternoon.
Bloom (25-2) was ranked No. 6 in the state by Off The Mat last week.
His titles as a Beaver matman were at 106 in 2013 and 126 in 2014.
Based on seeds, senior 152-pounder Jake Lancaster would be the only other Golden Tide entry in the hunt for a trip to the Northwest Region Tournament as the top four finishers qualify. Lancaster, the district champ at 126 two years ago, received the No. 4 seed.
Several other Golden Tide hopefuls would have to outperform their seeds to extend their seasons as junior Hunter Lancaster (160), sophomore Kaleb Witherite (170) and junior Ben Junod (182) are seventh at their weights while freshman Anthony Winebold (106) is eighth.
Rounding out the Curwensville entries will be Seth Woolcock at 113, Jeremy Gardner at 120, Ethan Collins at 126, Sam Bressler at 145, Jake Stiles at 195 and Seth Connors at 285.
The No. 1 seeds include a trio of returning champions, Brockway junior Ryan Carlson (23-3) at 113 and Brookville junior Taylor Ortz at 120 both up a weight and Brookville junior Bryce Town (19-5) back at 220. Ortz also was the titlist at 106 in 2013.
Five wrestlers who lost in the finals a year ago will be looking to make the step up to the top of the medal stand as No. 1 seeds, Brookville sophomore 106-pounder Gavin Park (24-7), Brockway junior 132-pounder Mason Lindenmuth (23-2), Smethport junior 145-pounder James Duffy (26-1) and Brockway senior 170-pounder Anthony Benson (25-2) back at the same weights while Brookville senior Miller (27-6) has dropped from 160 to 152.
Other top seeds are Redbank Valley junior Tanner Altobelli (26-6) at 126, Redbank Valley senior Keshon Truitt (25-4) at 160, Keystone senior Zach Stiglitz (25-3) at 182, Clarion junior Zach Sintobin (22-6) at 195 and Cameron County senior Jack Karsten (26-1) at 285. Altobelli and Karsten earned bronze medals while Stiglitz and Sintobin lost in the consolation finals last year.
The tourney gets under way in Clarion University’s Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium Friday at 3 p.m. with preliminaries, quarterfinals and two consolation rounds.
Survivors will return Saturday for the championship semifinals and consolation quarterfinals at 9:30 a.m. The final session is set for 5 p.m. with the consolation finals, the District 9 Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductions, the Parade of Champions and the championship bouts.
Click here for the complete brackets, courtesy Bob Imhof and Ridgway wrestling.
Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students per session. Series tickets will be available on Friday.