Montgomery, Montoursville among schools eyeing the District 4 Duals title
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Gabriel Vanderwall of Montoursville and Landon Moser of Mifflinburg tie up during their match at 285 pounds at Montoursville during a dual in mid-January. Mifflinburg and Montoursville are both state ranked in the top-15 and are in the District 4 Duals tournament, as is state-ranked Montgomery. All three schools are looking to win the District 4 Duals tournament this year, and all three have the talent to do so.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Liam Seeley of Montgomery wins his match against Coltyn Wagner of Montoursville at 121 pounds at Montoursville during a dual this season.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Carter Finck of Montgomery and Teli Bobotas of Montoursville wrestle during their match at 133 pounds earlier this year. The Red Raiders and Warriors are on the same side of the bracket at the District 4 Duals and could meet up in the semifinals.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's Hunter Stevens wrestles South's Wes Hamman at 121 during a high school boys wrestling match at recently. Hughesville faces Troy in a play-in match to see who advances to face top-seeded Mifflinburg at the District 4 Duals. South Williamsport has a first-round matchup against Wyalusing.
MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery’s Josh Knoebel takes down Hughesville’s Colton Gavitt during a dual this year. Montgomery is seeded No. 2 in the Distirct 4 Duals tournament while Hughesville has a play-in matchup against Troy, with the winner advancing to face top-seeded Mifflinburg.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Gabriel Vanderwall of Montoursville and Landon Moser of Mifflinburg tie up during their match at 285 pounds at Montoursville during a dual in mid-January. Mifflinburg and Montoursville are both state ranked in the top-15 and are in the District 4 Duals tournament, as is state-ranked Montgomery. All three schools are looking to win the District 4 Duals tournament this year, and all three have the talent to do so.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Liam Seeley of Montgomery wins his match against Coltyn Wagner of Montoursville at 121 pounds at Montoursville during a dual this season.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Carter Finck of Montgomery and Teli Bobotas of Montoursville wrestle during their match at 133 pounds earlier this year. The Red Raiders and Warriors are on the same side of the bracket at the District 4 Duals and could meet up in the semifinals.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's Hunter Stevens wrestles South's Wes Hamman at 121 during a high school boys wrestling match at recently. Hughesville faces Troy in a play-in match to see who advances to face top-seeded Mifflinburg at the District 4 Duals. South Williamsport has a first-round matchup against Wyalusing.
MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery’s Josh Knoebel takes down Hughesville’s Colton Gavitt during a dual this year. Montgomery is seeded No. 2 in the Distirct 4 Duals tournament while Hughesville has a play-in matchup against Troy, with the winner advancing to face top-seeded Mifflinburg.
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The District 4 Duals tournament is underway today with the first two rounds of the tournament. That includes a few play-in matches and then first-round contests.
There's plenty of talented wrestlers -- and teams in general -- in the Class AA field, so lets take a look at the tournament and the teams in it.
No area teams are competing in this year's Class AAA field.
The District 4 Duals resumes on Saturday at Milton beginning at 11 a.m. with the quarterfinals and 1 p.m. with the semifinals. The championship is scheduled for roughly 5 p.m. at Milton.
Mifflinburg is the top seed in the field as the Wildcats are ranked No. 10 in the state, the highest-ranked District 4 team behind only Montgomery, the No. 2 seed in this year's bracket with a No. 9 ranking in the state.
The Wildcats are 16-0 and are looking to make it to the state tournament for the first time in program history as a team. The Wildcats cruised past Montoursville earlier this month, 43-20, and have scored 60 or more points 11 times this season.
Hughesville wrestles Troy in a play-in matchup at Mifflinburg at 6 p.m. with the winner advancing to face top-seeded Mifflinburg immediately afterwards.
The Spartans are under a new coach this year in Jesse Rocco, who took over after Troy Charles stepped down. Hughesville and Troy both know they're in for a battle against Mifflinburg. Hughesville's Kile Hartman is ranked No. 28 at 160 and a Spartan win could pit Hartman against Mifflinburg's Wesley Smith, ranked No. 30 at 160.
Mifflinburg enters the District 4 Duals with six state-ranked wrestlers in the lineup with Jack Gramly (No. 19 at 27), Bradley Wagner (No. 3 at 133), Ben Straub (No. 5 at 139), Lane Kenamond (No. 19 at 145), Landon Tucker (No. 4 at 215) and Landon Moser (No. 15 at 285).
Nine-seeded Warrior Run, winner of last year's District 4 Duals tournament, heads to eighth-seeded Milton for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday.
The Defenders bring a solid lineup against Milton, which includes five state-ranked wrestlers in Chase Wirnsberger (No. 13 at 127), Reagan Milheim (No. 2 at 160), Max Wirnsberger (No. 3 at 172), Tyler Ulrich (No. 6 at 189) and Noah Johnson (No. 12 at 285).
Those studs in the lineup will be tough to beat for Milton and can help provide key points to advance.
Montoursville is seeded third and is also a top-15 ranked team in Pennsylvania. The Warriors are 15-4 and are ranked No. 12 in the state. The Warriors await their opponent and will get either Muncy or Mount Carmel, who wrestle at Montoursville at 6 p.m.
If Muncy defeats Mount Carmel, a matchup of ranked wrestlers at 107 could happen with No. 27 Gannon Swank of Muncy and No. 3 Branden Eisenhour of Montoursville.
Chase Boozer of Muncy is state-ranked at 139, entering at No. 10 this week and Muncy's Gage Swank is ranked No. 12 at 127.
The Warriors have a number of state-ranked wrestlers in the lineup, which includes Branden Eisenhour (No. 3 at 107), Teli Bobotas (No. 9 at 133), Blake Fry (No. 23 at 152), Hayden Harvey (No. 5 at 189) and Gage Wentzel at 172. Wentzel, a senior, is Montoursville's highest-ranked wrestler as he's No. 2 in Pennsylvania.
On the bottom half of the bracket, Montgomery awaits either Central Columbia or Sullivan County in its matchup. Montgomery is an impressive 21-0 this year and has steam rolled numerous opponents much like Mifflinburg. Montgomery has scored 50 or more points in 12 of its duals this year and coach Denny Harer has preached bonus points to his team.
And they have delivered more times than not with numerous major decisions, tech falls and pins this year.
The Red Raiders have a total of six wrestlers ranked in Manny Stoltzfus (No. 16 at 107), Gabe Oberheim (No. 7 at 114), Liam Seeley (No. 18 at 121), Carden Wagner (No. 18 at 127), Brandt Harer (No.2 at 145) and Trace Furman (No. 20 at 152).
That lineup is tough to beat, not to mention Montgomery's other talented wrestlers, and teams know they are in for a tough matchup when facing Montgomery.
Tenth-seeded South Williamsport heads to Wyalusing for a first-round matchup against the seventh-seeded Rams. The Mounties have a state-ranked wrestler at 172 in Jayden Hamm, ranked No. 28.
Fifth-seeded Southern Columbia hosts No. 12 Towanda and No. 4 Line Mountain hosts No. 13 Northeast Bradford.
Williamson, seeded sixth, hosts No. 11 Canton. Williamson has a pair of top-10 ranked wrestlers in Zander Wilson (No. 5 at 114) and Luke Sottolano (No. 7 at 285).
PREDICTIONS
PLAY IN: Hughesville over Troy, Mount Carmel over Muncy, Central Columbia over Sullivan County. FIRST ROUND: Mifflinburg over Troy, Warrior Run over Milton, Southern Columbia over Towanda, Line Mountain over Northeast Bradford, Montoursville over Mount Carmel, Williamson over Canton, South Williamsport over Wyalusing, Montgomery over Central Columbia. QUARTERFINALS: Mifflinburg over Warrior Run, Line Mountain over Southern Columbia, Montoursville over Williamson, Montgomery over South Williamsport. SEMIFINALS: Mifflinburg over Line Mountain; Montgomery over Montoursville. FINAL: Mifflinburg over Montgomery. THIRD-PLACE WINNER: Montoursville.