The road to Hershey takes its second lap through Williamsport this weekend at the Class AA Northeast Regional, and 12 area wrestlers, seven of them from Line Mountain, are still in the hunt.
The regional, consisting of wrestlers from districts Four and Two, has been dominated by the former contingent for years, and this year should be no different, despite the fact that some District 4 observers are convinced that the district is down this year.
The district may not have the usual number of wrestlers who are locks to place highly at the state tournament but it's still likely the best AA district, top to bottom, in the state, and the vast majority of Northeast qualifiers should come from there.
Here's a look at the classes:
106: Williamson sophomore Tyrus Hamblin (30-1) was very impressive in winning the district title. Mifflinburg's Noah Kuba, the district runnerup, should meet him in the finals again. The real battle
will be for the third and final qualifying spot, as it usually is at the regional, where the consolation finals are as eagerly awaited as the championships. Line Mountain's Cameron Newman (26-14), Central Columbia's Taylor Johnson (30-8) and District 2 champ Dominick Degraba of Dallas (39-8) should be in the mix.
113: Mifflinburg senior David Sheesley (26-3) had a little too much for Benton's Matt Welliver (27-6) in the district final and should again. The consolation bout is likely to come down to a pretty impressive bout - Montoursville's Caleb Pearson (33-2) against 2011 state placewinner Vito Pasone of Meyers (30-4). Canton's Daniel Killian (26-13), the sixth-place finisher in District 4, is in the tournament because Sullivan County's Shawn Nitcznski broke his ankle last week.
120: Mifflinburg freshman Cole Walter (32-4) had a close win over Williamson's Logan Everett (31-2) in the district final, and they should meet again. Troy's Clint Vermilya (34-6), Southern Columbia's Kent Lane (29-4) and South Williamsport's Andrew Gipe (23-5) are the best of the rest.
126: Another Williamson wrestler, freshman Billy Barnes (27-3), looked very good in winning the district title. Line Mountain's Mason Zimmerman (30-11) will have to navigate a fairly tough field, including Lake-Lehman's Austin Harry (34-1) and Warrior Run's Jared Watson (36-2), to advance.
132: A district final rematch between Benton's Colt Cotten (30-2) and Line Mountain's Seth Lansberry (36-3) is likely for the final, and don't be surprised if Lansberry gets the win this time. Warrior Run's Brad Hain (31-7), Sayre's Jesse Buck (32-4) and Wyoming Area's Andrew Schutz (27-2) should battle it out for third.
138: Montoursville's David Batkowski (34-1) should win over Northeast Bradford's Zack Green (33-2) in another District 4 finals rematch. Third place should be a battle between East Juniata's Sean Heggs (34-2) and Muncy's Heath Strickland (35-7).
145: Unbeaten Kyle Barnes of Hughesville (34-0) looked very good in beating Line Mountain's Adam Kritzer (34-6) in the district final, and they look like they're going to match up again. Muncy sophomore Isaiah Bobotas (35-8) is the pick for third.
152: Milton sophomore Ryan Preisch (31-1) was an easy winner in the district final over Towanda's Zack Ripic (34-3) and they're likely to battle again as well. Benton sophomore Jeric Kasunic (26-8) looks to be the best of the rest of the field.
160: Another rematch situation, with Central Columbia's unbeaten Kurt Meske (34-0) against Mifflinburg's Ty Walter (20-2) in the final again. Lake-Lehman's Nick Shelley (24-3) and Line Mountain's Cody Rebuck (30-14) are the likely competitors for third, although Mount Carmel's Meyrick Lamb (22-7) had a pretty impressive district tournament and will be in the mix.
170: District 4 redux again, between Muncy's Troy Hembury (36-1) and Mount Carmel's Brett Przekop (26-2). Lackawanna Trail's Marvess Rosiak (37-5), Milton's Donald English (24-7) and Montgomery's Garrett Shnyder (33-8) will duke it out for third.
182: Benton's Jake Mankey (35-1) and Lewisburg's Patrick Ostrowsky (29-4) look headed for another rematch. Wyalusing's Anthony Clark (36-5) and Hanover Area's Steve Radzwilla (29-4) are consolation hopefuls.
195: Milton's Ryan Solomon (28-1) and Lewisburg's Brandon Smith (29-3) are the best of the field. Again, the real battle should be for third, between Bloomsburg's Ryan Longenberger (27-5) and Western Wayne's Conner Rosensweet (35-5).
220: Start spreading the news - District 2 gets a champ. Lackawanna Trail's Eric Laytos (32-0) is a 2010 state champ and two-time state placewinner and 118-9 for his career. Central Columbia's Eric McCracken (33-3) is good but probably not that good. Another good battle for third, between North Penn's Nathan Stettler (33-3) and Wyalusing's Dylan Otis (38-7).
285: Mifflinburg's Nazar Mironenko (36-3) and Valley View's Mike Galantini (24-2) look to be the top two. Hughesville's Derek Earnest (27-4), North Penn's Nathan Kriner (31-5), Western Wayne's Joseph Ingaglio (35-3) and Midd-West's Jake Heintzelman (31-9) are the best of a competitive field in the running for third.
Tough picks
As I wrote last week, I picked how I thought each district weight class would finish, 1 through 5, and assigned points on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a score of 210 points being the maximium.
My total for the tournament - 83 points.
That doesn't sound so good but in reality, it wasn't too bad. I correctly picked the winner in nine of 14 weights. That was the easy part. The difficult part was getting the other four spots in the right order. The most points I got was 12 at 182, where I correctly picked the top three finishers. At one weight, 160, I was totally shut out, despite picking four of the five kids who advanced.
The problem wasn't in correctly picking who would advance, but in the order. On at least five occasions, I picked the right kids, but not in the right place, which resulted in no points. I correctly picked 57 of the 70 kids who advanced - just not in the right order most of the time.
The way I figure it, my score is similar to a curved grading system in school. If I'd have scored half of the 210 points, that would have been an A. On that basis, my 83 gives me a B-minus or C-plus. Not great, but not bad.
(Souders is a sports writer for The News-Item)