State Tournament Results
Tennessee dual meet state champions were Bradley Central in Division I Class AAA, Red Bank in Division I Class A-AA, Father Ryan in Division II, and Webb School of Knoxville in Division II Invitational.
North Carolina dual meet state champions were West Forsyth in Class 4A, Morehead in Class 3A, Newton-Conover in Class 2A, and Rosewood in Class 1A.
Link: State tournament results page
Six nationally ranked teams to battle for Class AAA title in Keystone State
The GIANT Center in Hershey, Pa. will have six nationally ranked teams within its confines this weekend seeking the Class AAA state dual meet title. The favorites are No. 6 Bethlehem Catholic, who won the District XI title this past weekend; last year in their Class AAA debut, the Hawks fell to eventual champion Franklin Regional narrowly in the state semifinal. Since the same bracket configuration is in effect as last year, it looks like Bethlehem Catholic will have to clear an elite District VII champion - this year it's No. 10 Belle Vernon - in the semifinal round.
That presumes each team advances to that point. The nominal roadblock facing Bethlehem Catholic is a likely quarterfinal with Central Dauphin, while the Leopards likely have to face No. 46 Council Rock South in the quarterfinal (the Hawks were runners-up in District I this past week).
Three nationally ranked teams also populate the upper bracket. No. 35 Kiski Area is looking at a very tough opening round match against Cumberland Valley (district III champions) after suffering a 27-25 upset loss on the hands of Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL semifinal. Should the Cavaliers clear that match, it's a likely quarterfinal date with No. 21 Nazareth (district XI runners-up), who draws District VI champion Miffin County in the opening round. No. 20 Boyertown (district I champions) should clear to the semifinal, though Canon-McMillan (district VII runners-up) could pose a challenge in the quarterfinal.
The 16 teams who advanced to the GIANT Center wrestle a preliminary bout on Thursday, quarterfinal and semifinal bouts on Friday (along with the first two rounds of consolation), consolation quarterfinal and semifinal bouts on Saturday morning, before the championship and consolation final on Saturday afternoon.
In Class AA competition, the top two ranked teams in the state are looking at a collision course in the semifinal, as Brookville and Reynolds both won their respective district dual meet tournaments (District IX and District X); Chestnut Ridge (District V champion) is the most likely finals opponent.
Potential St. Edward vs. Elyria showdown in Ohio state dual championships
The first week of four in a clash between the top teams in Ohio's Division I (big schools) is slated to take place this Sunday at St. John Arena on the campus of The Ohio State University. No. 7 St. Edward and No. 17 Elyria are the top two seeds, which means they should meet in the championship dual meet. Last year the teams met in the semifinal round, with St. Edward winning eight bouts on the way to a 34-24 victory; the Eagles would get upset in the final, but then win the individual bracket tournament with Elyria finishing as runners-up.
St. Edward is prohibitively favored to clear to the final, drawing an opening round match against Cincinnati Elder and then a semifinal against either Fairfield or Massillon Perry. Elyria is also favored to reach the final, as they should clear the opening round against Delaware Hayes before facing either defending state dual meet champion Brecksville or Dublin Coffman in the semifinal; if it's Brecksville, the Bees could post a slight matchup problem. However, Brecksville is susceptible to an opening round upset in their own breath.
On paper, a championship match between St. Edward and Elyria is one that could be won by either team. The Eagles are favored in six weights, the Pioneers in five, and three toss-up bouts. However, the most likely scenario is that St. Edward wins, as Elyria is probably going to have to win eight matches to overcome the bonus point advantage that the Eagles have in the lower half of the lineup.
In the individual tournament, the teams have been assigned to the same sectional next week, which means they'll be in the same district the last weekend of February as well in prelude to the state tournament.
No. 3 St. Paris Graham is prohibitively favored to win the Division II state tournament, which would make the Falcons four-for-four in dual meet titles; they seek a 16th straight title in the individual tournament the first weekend of March. For Division III, No. 25 Delta is favored to win a fourth straight dual tournament title.
Batavia (Ill.) sectional features three Fab 50 teams
This weekend in Illinois is state qualification weekend. In Class AAA (big schools), one of the four sectional tournaments has three nationally ranked teams: No. 15 Carl Sandburg, No. 19 Marmion Academy, and No. 41 Montini Catholic. With four state qualification spots for each weight class, there are likely to be some cannibalistic sectional tournament climates.
106: Two nationally ranked wrestlers won regional titles last week, No. 12 Joey Melendez (Montini Catholic) and No. 18 Hassan Johnson (Brother Rice); they anchor the first and third quarters of the draw.
113: The top two wrestlers in the state anchor this weight class, No. 2 Real Woods (Montini Catholic) and No. 20 Louie Hayes (Carl Sandburg); they are in the second and third quarters of the draw. Woods beat Hayes in the Cheesehead final for the only loss either wrestler suffered this season.
126: Three returning state placers are in this weight class, Jacob Silzer (St. Rita) and Jimmy Pawleski (Montini Catholic) won regional titles last week, and anchor the first and third quarters of the draw. Zach Villarreal (Lyons Township) was runner-up to Pawleski last week and is in the second quarter.
132: Nationally ranked wrestlers Rudy Yates (Carl Sandburg) and Dylan Duncan (Montini Catholic) anchor the lower quarters of the draw; the returning state champions are ranked No. 5 and No. 7 respectively. The third ranked wrestler in the state, returning state runner-up Anthony Cheloni (Marmion Academy) anchors the second quarter. Three other state ranked wrestlers (top 12 per Illinois Matmen) are in this tournament: Amir Hooks (Downers Grove South), runner-up to Yates last week, is in the top quarter; Tyler Zeman (Lyons Township), runner-up to Duncan last week, is in the second quarter; while Aaron Kruk (Naperville North), runner-up to Cheloni last week, is in the fourth quarter. Two of these six are not making state.
138: Four wrestlers that have previously placed at the state tournament are present in this weight class, along with another state ranked wrestler. Leading the way are Will Lewan (Montini Catholic) and A.J. Jaffe (Marmion Academy), both of whom were nationally ranked earlier this season; the 1st and 3rd ranked wrestlers in the state anchor the middle two quarters of this draw. The other two regional champions are 2014 state placers Jimmy McAuliffe (Reavis) and Christian Robertson (Carl Sandburg), who occupy the top and bottom quarters. State ranked Mac Casella (Lyons Township), runner-up to Lewan last week, is in the top quarter; while returning state qualifier Julian Blanco (Riverside-Brookfield) is in the second quarter.
182: The top three kids in the state, all of whom are nationally ranked, exit this weight class. No. 7 Nathan Traxler (Marmion Academy), returning state champion, is alone in the upper half bracket; while No. 13 Jack Jessen (Willowbrook) and No. 20 Patrick Brucki (Carl Sandburg) occupy regional champion positions in the lower bracket.
195: Five of the top eight in the state rankings exit this sectional, though none is going to beat the nationally ranked Christian Brunner (Dundee-Crown) at the state level in all likelihood. Andrew Leonard (Wheaton-Warrenville South) and Max Ihry (Waubonsie Valley) both lost to Dylan Ervin (Metea Valey) last week at the regional, and are in the top two quarters of the draw; returning state placer Ihry is likely to draw Cole Bateman (Carl Sandburg), who qualified for state last year, in the quarterfinal round. Sergio Villalobos (Downers Grove South) and Ervin are regional champions in the lower quarters of the bracket.
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