Plenty of underdogs and plenty of state-ranked wrestlers.

Add all that together, and you get what is the Central Sectional wrestling tournament, which begins this morning at Hughesville High School at 10 a.m.

All 13 weight classes are full of talented kids who want to make a run at a high podium finish and advance to next week’s District 4 championships.

So, without any further delay, lets dive into all 13 weight classes and look at what action is in store for fans. All state rankings are rankings entering Friday.

DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Montoursville’s Gage Wentzel wrestles Raiden Felix of Montgomery at 172 pounds. Wentzel is just one win away from becoming Montousrville’s all-time wins leader as he’s currently tied with Montoursville great Gavin Hoffman with 176.

107 POUNDS

Montoursville’s Branden Eisenhour enters as the top seed in the field with an impressive 40-3 record and is ranked No. 4. He receives a bye into the semifinals and will face either Kyle Curland of Central Columbia or Gannon Swank of Muncy. Swank has put together a great season, going 22-6.

On the bottom portion of the bracket, Benton’s Korben Collae (29-7) is ranked No. 14 in the state and is the two seed. He faces Hughesville’s Kellan Smith in the first round. The other quarterfinal sees 23-win Garrett Bacorn of South Williamsport facing Montgomery’s Ian Marquette.

Bacorn has won seven consecutive contested bouts since a 7-3 decision loss to Chenango Forks’ Brody O’Hearn on Jan. 10 and is riding momentum into the postseason. He beat Hughesville’s Smith by fall in 69 seconds on Jan. 20, tech’ed Austin Jones of Wyalusing 15-0, 5:32 on Jan. 28 and on Feb. 3, had a hard-fought 6-3 decision over Troy’s Garrett Parks.

114 POUNDS

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Kile Hartman wrestles South’s Jayden Hamm at 172 during a dual this year. Hartman will wrestle in this year’s Central Sectional tournament at 160 pounds while Hamm is competing at 172.

As a freshman, Montgomery’s Gabe Oberheim is already making a huge name for himself and putting his name on the map. The Red Raider is 42-5 this year with 14 wins via tech fall and 15 by pin. He also is ranked No. 6 in the state and is the top-seeded wrestler at 114. That 42-5 record has him receiving a bye into the semifinals.

He’ll face either Sugar Valley’s Taylor Cantolina or Loyalsock’s Miles Ransom-Rennicks in the semifinals.

Ransom-Rennicks is a freshman as well and is 14-13, but has gained a lot of confidence throughout the year, something coach Chris Engler mentioned earlier this season.

Montoursville’s Ethan Amato (15-9) faces Central Columbia’s Colt Carmean (22-14) in the quarterfinals while Hughesville’s Joey Laubacher (12-15) will look to get past second-seeded Kaleb Collae of Benton, a freshman who’s 17-14.

121 POUNDS

Montgomery has another top-seeded wrestler at 121 in Liam Seeley — and there’s more top-seeded Red Raiders in this tournament yet to come — as he’s 29-6 and has a bye into the quarterfinals. He faces either Wes Hamman of South Williamsport or Owen Peck of Loyalsock.

Hughesville’s Hunter Stevens (14-20) faces Bloomsburg’s Jake Keller (17-11) in a matchup of freshmen in the quarterfinals. On the bottom side of the bracket, Muncy’s Roman Maiorana (19-7) will wrestle Montoursville’s Coltyn Wagner (17-18) and Sugar Valley’s Tobias Conoway (18-7) faces Benton’s Sam Cumberland (22-6). Cumberland is seeded No. 2. in the field.

Seeley will be a tough wrestler to top in 121. He’s already proven himself as a talented wrestler as he has beaten 14 wrestlers who were district qualifiers last year and has wins as well against Southeast Regional qualifier Gabe Baer of Saucon Valley, Northeast Regional qualifier Isaiah Harvey of Wyalusing, Southwest Regional qualifier Liam Purcell of Bald Eagle area and Northeast Regional qualifier Bostyn McMicken of Wyalusing.

That’s a solid resume for Seeley, ranked No. 20 in the state, who no doubt is hoping to claim gold on Saturday afternoon.

127 POUNDS

This bracket has two state-ranked wrestlers on opposite sides who likely will meet up for sectional gold. That would be top-seeded Carden Wagner of Montgomery (33-10), ranked No. 18 in the state, and Muncy’s Gage Swank (27-4), ranked No. 11 in the state. If those two put together two wins and reach the sectional final, it’ll be a fun match for fans to watch.

Wagner will wrestle Central Columbia’s Cole Horrax in the quarterfinals while Swank faces Hughesville’s Finn Styron.

The other quarterfinals see Montoursville’s Brody Bower 917-13) face Sugar Valley’s Hunter Baney (22-5) and South’s Taylor Naugle (20-13) compete with Bloomsburg’s JD Klingerman (11-18).

Swank is approaching 100 wins for his career as he sits at 94 entering today’s tournament. Three wins in the winners’ bracket on Saturday will put him three away from the milestone going into districts.

Ever since suffering a loss via injury on Jan. 17 to Berwick’s Carmen Malt, Swank has gone 8-1 in contested bouts with the lone loss coming to Reynolds’ Logan Stewart via major decision, 8-0.

For Wagner, he’s at 109 career wins and counting as he has won 15 via pin this season and 11 by tech.

133 POUNDS

Montoursville’s Teli Bobotas is seeded No. 1 at 133 and the Warrior is 37-6 as a senior and ranked No. 8 in the state. He’s the lone state-ranked wrestler in the field at 133. Bobotas enters his senior year with a lot of accomplishments. He’s at 164 career wins after surpassing the 150 milestone earlier this season. He’s won two sectional gold medals in his career, has a gold, silver and bronze district title, and has a silver and two bronzes from regionals.

But the one thing that’s eluded him so far in his outstanding career is a state medal, and Bobotas no doubt is hoping to change that this year.

But first, the sectional tournament is at hand. Bobotas has a bye into the quarterfinals and faces either Bloomsburg’s Shiloh Welsh or Montgomery’s Carter Finck. Bobotas is a favorite to win the title at 133 in sectionals and will be a tough opponent for anyone to try and beat. He’s approaching his third consecutive 40-win season as well.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Ethan Wodrig of Hughesville (27-16) is the No. 2 seed and faces Sugar Valley’s Gabe Standish. The other quarterfinals will see Carter Brown of Loyalsock wrestle Benton’s Gunner Sternhagen and Muncy’s Kase Snyder face South Williamsport’s Jonah Caputo.

139 POUNDS

As a freshman, Chase Boozer of Muncy has shown he’s been more than varsity ready. The Indian is an impressive 33-3 this year with 24 wins coming by fall as he’s beating opponents convincingly.

In 2026, Boozer has suffered just one loss which came at the hands of returning PIAA Class AA eighth-place finisher Drake McClure of Bentworth by decision, 5-3. The only other wrestlers to beat Boozer this year are Cranberry’s Dalton Wenner by decision, 7-6, and Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest by tech fall, 21-4, 1:37.

Only three losses all coming to state medalists — Wenner took seventh in Class AAA and Forrest is a Class AA state champ — is a pretty darn good resume as a freshman.

Boozer will face either Sugar Valley’s Landon Pletcher or Central Columbia’s Garrett Panco.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Montgomery’s AJ Kroft (32-11) is the No. 2 seed and Bloomsburg’s Anthony Barra enters ranked No. 16.

Kroft will face Loyalsock’s Connor Phillips and Barra wrestles against Montoursville’s Kaden Kleinman (27-14). Benton’s Caiden Shuckers (21-10) will face South Williamsport’s Jackson Bower (13-9).

145 POUNDS

Everyone at 145 is wrestling for second because Brandt Harer is taking home gold here. That’s not a knock on anyone in the field, but rather just shows how talented and good Harer is. No one’s beaten Harer since March 11, 2023, and no one in the Central Sectional will be able to knock him off.

Harer’s 45-0, ranked No. 2 in the state and is nationally ranked, and has won 33 bouts by tech fall.

One thing to keep an eye on is if Harer wins all three of his matches en route to sectional gold by tech fall, he’ll become the second wrestler in state history to reach 100 tech falls for his career. The other? Bo Bassett of Bishop McCort, who is also at 145 pounds this year and reached the milestone in the state duals tournament.

Harer will face either Central Columbia’s Ethan Miller or Montoursville’s Maxton Williamson.

The rest of the bracket will see Brogan Sherwood of Hughesville (14-18) wrestle Bloomsburg’s Alex Billmeyer (18-14), Loyalsock’s Ivan Baker (25-7) wrestle Sugar Valley’s Wyatt Conoway (16-10) and Benton’s Daniel Sleiman (11-13) face South Williamsport’s Garrett Lorson (19-6).

152 POUNDS

Montgomery’s Trace Furman is the top seed at 152 with a 35-7 record and is ranked No. 16 in the state. Furman is a junior and is closing in on another 40-win season after going 42-18 as a sophomore. Furman awaits his opponent and gets either Muncy’s Chayce Scampone or Bloomsburg’s Chad Coolbaugh.

Furman is a favorite to win the sectional title at 152 and is the only wrestler with 30 or more wins in the field.

Hughesville’s Landen Puderbach is the third seeded wrestler at 152 and is a sophomore with a 26-17 record. he faces South Williamsport’s Louis Mazzullo in the quarterfinals. Central Columbia’s Josiah Hosler wrestles Benton’s Keaton Brokenshire and Sugar Valley’s Daedreynn Hopkins faces Montoursville’s Haze Mullens, with the winner advancing to take on Loyalsock’s Kayden Keefer, a senior who’s the No. 2 seed with a 19-4 record.

160 POUNDS

Kile Hartman of Hughesville has never stood at the top of the podium at the Central Sectional tournament and he’s hoping this year is the year he finally breaks through and does so. Hartman is a junior and is 35-10 this year. Not only is he the top seeded wrestler in the bracket, he’s also the only state-ranked wrestler at the sectional tournament at 160 as he’s No. 23.

Hartman will face Loyalsock’s Coper Cowden in the quarterfinals. Hartman has 11 wins this year by tech fall and 15 by pin.

South Williamsport’s Cade Lusk is 25-8 as a sophomore and faces Wyatt Schrader of Bloomsburg (19-13). If Lusk and Hartman win, it’ll set up a matchup between those two ina. rematch from early December in which Hartman won by major decision, 12-0. A second match between them didn’t happen when the two schools met on Jan. 20 as Hartman wrestled at 172 that night against Jayden Hamm.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Montgomery sophomore Josh Knoebel is 33-10 and faces Benton’s Brady Thomas while Montoursville’s Blake Frey, a freshman who’s 20-8, wrestles Grayson Hastings of Sugar Valley. Knoebel has won 21 matches by pin this year.

172 POUNDS

This weight class is one to keep an eye on Saturday as Montoursville’s Gage Wentzel is looking to make school history. One win by Wentzel on Saturday will give him 177 for his career and make him Montoursville’s all-time wins leader, moving him past former Warrior great Gavin Hoffman on the leaderboard.

It’s an outstanding achievement given how talented Hoffman was and that speaks to the talent that Wentzel has.

Wentzel (37-2) is ranked No. 2 in the state at 172 and is behind only Faith Christian’s Nick Singer. Wentzel will face either Central Columbia’s Logan miller or Bloomsburg’s Christian Levan. In the bottom half of the bracket, Raiden Felix (20-17) wrestles Benton’s Ryder Wilson and Loyalsock’s Curtis Lewis will wrestle 29th-ranked Jayden Hamm of South Williamsport (26-5).

Felix has only one sectional title to his name, taking fourth last year as a junior after not qualifying the previous two seasons, but he’s hoping to get further up the podium this year.

189 POUNDS

Montoursville’s Hayden harvey is 36-2 this year and is the No. 1 seeded wrestler in the 189 bracket and is also the lone state-ranked wrestler as he’s No. 6 currently. Harvey is one of three Warriors this year to break the 100-win mark and is hoping to make it three for three at sectional tournaments with another gold medal.

Harvey’s two losses came on the same day on Dec. 29 when he lost by decision, 4-2, to Dustin Kohn of Mountain View, Virginia before suffering a loss via injury to Bishop McDevitt’s Ryan Lengal.

Harvey has a bye into the semifinals and faces either Benton’s Zachary Wolfe or South Williamsport’s Cole Gerber (20-11). Montgomery’s Gage Furman (18-19) will wrestle Muncy’s Liam Driscoll (11-3) and Loyalsock’s Issac Probst (10-16) faces Bloomsburg’s Hunter Collett (26-10), the two-seed in the bracket.

215 POUNDS

Hughesville’s Colton Woolever is 31-15 this year and is three wins from doubling his win total as a freshman last year. Woolever is the No. 1 seeded wrestler at 215 and has a bye into the semifinals. The Spartan is also hoping to better his finish at last year’s sectional tournament when he took home a bronze medal.

That run to the top of the podium begins when Woolever takes on either Muncy’s Dylan Sander or Bloomsburg’s Malcolm Tagba.

Central Columbia’s Noah Miusselman 912-14) will wrestle Zane Butler of Montoursville and South Williamsport’s Ben Werner competes against Montgomery’s Evan Hugar, a sophomore who’s 26-16 and is seeded second.

The field looks as if Woolever and Hugar could meet up for the title, which would be a good rematch from earlier this year when Hugar won a narrow matchup, 2-1. If those two collide for the title, expect a good matchup once again.

285 POUNDS

Last but not least, we’ve reached the heavyweights. Central Columbia’s Clayton Whitenight is 27-8 and seeded at the top of the bracket as the No. 14th-ranked wrestler in Pennsylvania. He receives a bye and faces either Oz Bird of South Williamsport or Tristan Van Fleet of Loyalscok.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Montoursville’s Gabriel Vanderwall (17-20) wrestles Keigan Clark of Montgomery (13-16) in the semifinals, with a win-and-you’re-in matchup for a final berth.