CLEARFIELD – The D4/D9-AAA Wrestling Championships will be held this Saturday in the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium.
While DuBois secured the most number one seeds in the tournament with four, they are by no means a sure victor in this year’s district championship. Shikellamy defeated DuBois in the D4/D9 Team Championships this month.
Clearfield and Shikellamy each have three number one seeds, and both Saint Marys and Selinsgrove have two number one seeds. Rounding out the 7-team tournament are Punxsutawney and Williamsport.
The top four wrestlers from each weight class will advance to the Northwest Regional Tournament at the Altoona Area High School Field House on March 2 and 3.
Earning top seeds for the Bison are seniors Matt Ryan (22-7) at 120, Hunter Wright (22-9) at 160, and Luke McGonigal (27-0) at 195.
Ryan took third in last year’s tournament, and was a runner-up in the 2016 district finals.
Wright placed second in last year’s district finals after sustaining an injury the night before. He didn’t wrestle at regionals. As a sophomore, Wright placed fourth at 160.
McGonigal will be looking to become a four-time district champion, after winning titles at 145 as a freshman, 170 as a sophomore and junior, and now 195 as a senior. McGonigal was awarded with the outstanding wrestler award last year, and went on to place second at the PIAA AAA state championships.
Bison sophomore 113 pounder Peyton Smay (10-12) and junior 152 pounder Caleb Freeland (16-9) each scored second seeds. Smay placed third last year as a freshman, while Freeland did not place.
Clearfield’s lone third seed is junior Jude Pallo (15-13) at 126. As a freshman, Pallo placed fourth at 113.
Clearfield junior Avry Gisewhite (16-12) earned a fourth seed in a full weight class at 220, while sophomore Nate Barr (9-9) and freshman Angelo Maines (8-17) each received fifth seeds. Finally, the Bison scored three sixth seeds out of senior Quentin Edwards (11-16) at 132, junior Cole Smay (1-5) at 145, and sophomore Brett Zattoni (4-12) at 170. The Bison did not enter wrestlers at 182 or 285.
DuBois’ four number one seeds are Chandler Ho (25-6) at 106, Ed Scott (27-2) at 126, Dalton Woodrow (26-6) at 132, and Kolby Ho (26-4) at 145.
Shikellamy’s three top seeds are Jared Zartmen (13-13) at 113, Noah Supsic (27-5) at 152, and Josh Krieger (25-5) at 182.
With two top seeds each are Saint Marys with John Wittman (14-11) at 138 and Zach Becker (28-4) at 170 and Selinsgrove at 220 and 285 with Nate Schon (21-0) and Adam Ritter (25-7), respectively.
There are six returning champions from last year’s district tournament, and two of them will meet. Ed Scott (Dub) jumped from 113 to 126 this year. Dalton Woodrow (Dub) won at 120 last year and will wrestle at 132 this year. Kolby Ho (Dub) won at 132 last year and is wrestling at 145 this year. Alec Bittler (St Mary) was a champion last year, but is ranked second beneath Kolby Ho at 145. Bittler won his title at 138 last year. Luke McGonigal (Clfd) will be bumping up two weight classes this year, going from 170 to 195. Finally, Josh Krieger (Shik) dropped a weight class from his champion weight last year at 195, settling in at 182.
Wrestling will begin with the quarter finals at 9:30 AM on Saturday morning. Following that, two rounds of consolations and the semi-finals will be held before a third round of consolation matches. The Parade of Champions and Hall of Fame is projected to be held at 4:00 PM, with the finals and consolation finals beginning immediately thereafter on two mats.
Complete live brackets can be found here via FloWrestling.