HERSHEY — The PIAA on Sunday released the official brackets for the AAA State Wrestling Championships which begin on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Clearfield Bison junior Luke McGonigal (33-1) will be making his third trip to the state tournament in hopes of bringing home his first medal.
In his first round match he’ll face the winner of the preliminary bout between Ben Root (37-7), the South Central 3rd place finisher from Solanco, and Sean Hoover (17-4), the Southwest 4th place finisher.
While eight out of 20 entries in the weight class have prior state tournament experience, only one has earned a state medal in prior trips to Hershey.
But that one is undefeated returning state champion Mike Labriola (40-0) from Bethlehem Catholic. The Nebraska recruit won it all last year at 170, was third at 152 in 2015, and was seventh at 138 in 2014. He brings a career mark of 153-17 in to his final trip to Hershey.
McGonigal only has one other regional champion on his side of the bracket, that being Tim Wallace (35-2) the Southwest Champion from Albert Gallatin. Labriola resides on the other side of the bracket with two other regional champs.
Action gets under way on Thursday for AAA at 4:00 PM with preliminary and first round action, followed by the first round of consolations at approximately 8:15.
The complete bracket can be found here, courtesy the Pa-Wrestling.com website and the PIAA.
