Breaking down the District Duals quarterfinals

The district's top teams are set to meet in the quarterfinals of the District 4 Duals in Milton on Saturday morning.

The matchups are set with Athens taking on Muncy, Towanda meeting Benton, Wyalusing facing Danville and Warrior Run squaring off with Mifflinburg.

Let's take a look at each of the matchups weight by weight and see who may square off during Saturday's action. All matchups based on wrestlers who have appeared the most times at each weight for a team during the season.

TOWANDA VS. BENTON

103 pounds: Towanda will likely send Ben Lamphere (19-11) to the mat, while Matthew Welliver (13-6) answers for Benton.

112: This could be a matchup of district-ranked wrestlers, as Colt Cotton (17-3) on the year for Benton could meet up with Cody Wheeler (28-1).

119: In a matchup of wrestlers who each have 20-plus wins this year, the Black Knights have Dale Maynard (21-8), who could face Michael Rhone (21-3).

125: Towanda's Caleb Willey (27-2) could take on Coltin Fought (22-6) in another matchup of 20-plus win wrestlers.

130: The Black Knights' Jevin Vanderpool (20-10) could take on Brett Musselman (1-8).

135: Jimmy Sheets (18-12) likely takes the mat for Towanda and could face Derrian Metzinger (3-10) or Steven Rusell (0-5).

140: The Black Knights have Zach Ripic (24-5), while Albert Gensel (0-4) could take the mat for Benton.

145: Justin Hunsinger (9-14) could take the mat for Towanda against Jared Kline (3-11).

152: Mike Claupein (5-3) could see action against Devon McMahon (2-6) of Benton.

160: Benton has one of the state's best in Eric Hess (21-2) to send out, while the Black Knights will likely send Cody Curry (9-14) to face him.

171: In a matchup of two wrestlers with winning records, Benton's Jacob Mankey (18-7) could take the mat against Towanda's R.J. Forbes (20-10).

189: Towanda likely will send undefeated Travis Chesla (29-0) to the mat. Benton may forfeit the weight, or send out Patrick Spess (0-0).

215: Benton has Eric Bonk (0-3), while Towanda likely sends Aaron Lamphere (11-4) to match him.

285: Benton has one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the state in Tyler DeMott (20-1), while the Black Knights have Aaron Schultz (21-9), in a matchup of 20-plus win wrestlers.

MUNCY VS. ATHENS

103: Muncy has Mike Pega (18-8) at the weight, while the Wildcats will likely forfeit the weight.

112: Athens has the state's top-ranked wrestler at the weight in David White (29-2), while Muncy has no one listed at the weight and could forfeit.

119: Muncy likely sends Heath Strickland (22-2) to the mat, while the Wildcats could answer with Nicholas Bradley (2-2).

125: The Wildcats have state qualifier Ben Knecht (26-6) at the weight, while Muncy could answer with Skylar Ebner (21-5) or Wesley Gottschall (22-5).

130: Athens likely sends Marshal LeBlanc (10-18) to the mat, while Muncy could answer with either Ebner or Gottschall.

135: Andrew Gilchrist (16-7) or Troy Hembury (24-4) could take the mat for Muncy against Athens' Kyle Sunseri (11-15).

140: Matt Courtney (6-3) could take the mat for Athens against Gilchrist or Hembury.

145: Undefeated Aaron Fry (26-0) could take the mat for Muncy against Garrett Russell (27-3) of Athens in a matchup of state-ranked wrestlers.

152: Zack Strickland, who is unbeaten on the year for Muncy at 14-0, or Adam Gochnauer (7-1) could face Athens' Jory Reed (2-2), Trey Kreider (1-4), Patrick Donnelly (0-2) or Jesse VanDyke (0-3).

160: Matt Montrose (12-10) or Mike Testen (25-4) may see action for Athens against David Hawley (11-9), Strickland or Gochnauer.

171: Chris Secules (6-9) may take the mat for Muncy against Montrose, Testen or Aaron Padilla of Athens (1-7).

189: Ryan Hembury (25-1) could take the mat for Muncy and may square off with Justin Schlosser (5-5) of Athens.

215: Muncy could send Cody Shreck (20-7) to the mat against Athens' Todd Hall (26-6) in a matchup of 20-plus win wrestlers.

285: The Wildcats will likely send Nathan Tompson (21-10) to take on Erik Roberts (14-9) of Muncy.

WYALUSING

VS. DANVILLE

103: The Rams likely send Brandon Kelly (16-11) to the mat to take on Danville's Zach Ashton (8-13).

112: Wyalusing has Davey Brown (9-15), while Danville may answer with Zach Maustellar (9-7).

119: The Rams have Zach Dean (21-7) at the weight, while Danville may answer with Nick Perez (16-8) or Steve Rosini (17-7).

125: Bryan Brown (23-3) likely takes the mat for Wyalusing, while Danville may answer with Rosini or Perez.

130: The Rams have Ryan Hart (23-6) to send out, while Danville may counter with another 20-plus win wrestler in Kody Getkin (22-2).

135: While Joey Champluvier (24-4) or Tyler Thompson (14-11) may wrestle for the Rams, Travis Bordner (13-11) may answer for Danville.

140: Wyalusing has Champluvier or Thompson, while Danville may answer with Tommy Moyer (13-11).

145: The Rams have Alan Blaisuer (23-6), while Matt Millar (5-11) may take the mat for Danville.

152: Zach Vanderslice (13-4) could be sent out for Danville, while Wyalusing may answer with Taylor Woznicki (15-4) or Chris Mcdonald (3-10).

160: The Rams have undefeated Mike Cobb (27-0) at the weight, while Garrett Llewellyn (22-2) may wrestle for Danville in a marque matchup.

171: Danville has Vlademir Hoeger (19-4) on the year and the Rams may answer with Mike Clark (20-7) or Keith Howard (6-7).

189: Either Clark or Howard may take the mat for Wyalusing against Dylan Dailey (22-2) for Danville.

215: Wyalusing has Clayton Force (17-10), while Danville may answer with Kenneth Oberdorf (2-5).

285: In a matchup featuring wrestlers with winning records, Pete Champluvier (23-3) of Wyalusing may take on Andrew Hunt (14-5) of Danville.

WARRIOR RUN VS.

MIFFLINBURG

103: David Sheesly (19-4) likely takes the mat for Mifflinburg against Warrior Run's Darrin Heddings (16-2) or Andrew Yetter (5-1).

112: While Mifflinburg likely sends Dakota Noll (11-9) to the mat, Warrior Run has Lake Randall (6-3), Heddings or Yetter.

119: Jared Watson (19-1) may take the mat for Warrior Run to meet Mifflinburg's Seth Hornberger (1-2).

125: Jeff Stroup (14-6) may wrestle for Warrior Run against Ethan Midkiff (18-1) of Mifflinburg.

130: Zane Rowe (13-11) may wrestle for Mifflinburg against Brad Hain (16-7) of Warrior Run.

135: Chris Pfirman (174) likely takes the mat for Warrior Run against Mifflinburg's Alan Miller (14-8).

140: Taylor Anspach (17-5) likely wrestles for Warrior Run against Tyler Smith (4-13).

145: Matt McAndrew (12-4) could wrestle for Warrior Run against Shaine Mattern (0-5).

152: Ty Walter (24-3) may wrestle for Mifflinburg against Nick Lose (11-9) of Warrior Run.

160: Mifflinburg has Andres Valencia (1-4), while Warrior Run may send Damon Yocum (5-2) or Jesse Braim (0-10).

171: Yocum or Braim may wrestle for Warrior Run against Jake Heeter (18-7) of Mifflinburg.

189: Trent Lyons (5-15) or Alan Hicks (9-7) could wrestle for Mifflinburg against Warrior Run's Brandon Michael (5-12).

215: Warrior Run's Merrill Fisher (13-7) could take the mat while Mifflinburg may send out Kyle Zimmerman (0-1), Lyons or Hicks.

285: Mifflinburg has Mark DeFord (6-12), while Warrior Run may send out Sean Troup (3-11).

GLANCING BACK

15 years ago

Warriors hold off Trojans

Starting from the opening match, the Canton Warriors took control and never trailed as they earned a 37-36 victory over the Troy Trojans.

Sayre 34, Waverly 15

Led by a pair of freshmen the Sayre Redskins scored a 34-15 victory over the Waverly Wolverines.

NORTH OF THE BORDER

The Waverly Wolverines and Tioga Tigers compete in the Section IV Class Sectionals this week.

Waverly heads to Oneonta for Class B, while Tioga goes to Walton for Class C.

The Tigers, ranked No. 6 in the state's small school rankings, have two first seeds.

At 96 pounds for Tioga, Dan Hosking is the fourth seed and at 103 Kaleb Stone is the fourth seed, while Cody Rice is seeded second at 112, Corey Spires is second at 119 and Ryan Spires is second at 125.

At 130 Kenny Manuel is the second seed, and Dylan Bird is the third seed at 135.

Derak Heyman is the top seed at 140, and Josh Manuel is the top seed at 145, while at 152 Tyler Spires is seeded second.

Nick Talcott is the fourth seed at 171, and at 189 Kodi Floyd is seeded fourth, while Chad Hulburt is the second seed at 215.

In Class B Waverly has one top seed, with Devin Soper being the top seed at 135.

At 96 Kacey Madigan is the third seed for Waverly and Curtis Grant is the third seed at 103, while Austyn Bostwick is seeded second at 112.

At 125 Trevor Nocchi is seeded third, and Mike Chandler is the third seed at 130.

Zach Cooney is seeded second at 140.

IN COLLEGE

Wyalusing graduate Matt Fisk and No. 7 Lehigh returns to the mats for the first time in two weeks as the Mountain Hawks will wrap-up their home dual schedule with matches against Virginia Tech Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall and Rutgers Saturday at Stabler Arena.

The Mountain Hawks were off last weekend after rallying from a 15-6 deficit with three bouts remaining to tie Cornell 15-15 in Ithaca, N.Y. back on Jan. 22. Lehigh will have to contend with two more ranked foes this weekend. Virginia Tech has risen to 19th in the latest polls, with wins in four of its last five duals, while Rutgers entered the rankings at No. 23 this week, and is in the midst of a school-record 12-dual unbeaten streak.

Fisk is 13-5 on the season, including 8-3 in duals, and he has three falls on the year.

After starting the season 2-6, sophomore Joe Kennedy has bounced back, winning nine of his last 13 bouts. More than half of Kennedy's bouts have come against wrestlers currently ranked in the InterMat Top 20, including nine matches with men ranked in the top 10. Kennedy already owned wins over sixth-ranked Eric Lapotsky of Oklahoma and eighth-ranked Trevor Brandvold of Wisconsin. The Milford, Pa. native then added a 5-4, two-tiebreaker win over No. 5 Cam Simaz of Cornell in Lehigh's 15-15 tie with the Big Red on Jan. 22. The win vaulted Kennedy into the national rankings at No. 19.

Freshman Joey Napoli is the latest in a recent string of true freshmen who have earned starting spots in the Lehigh lineup. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, eight true freshmen have started duals for the Brown and White, including Kennedy last season. Napoli made his dual debut at the Northeast Duals in November. He owns a 17-9 overall record and enters this weekend's action having won his last four dual matches.

Virginia Tech brings a 14-4 dual record into Bethlehem on Friday night. Since the New Year, the Hokies have posted an 8-3 record and have soared into the top 25 in the NWCA Coaches Poll. Virginia Tech had won four straight duals, including its second win this season over rival Virginia, before dropping a 21-17 decision to Central Michigan in Blacksburg, Va. last weekend.

The Hokies boast five ranked wrestlers, led by Jesse Dong, who was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the Virginia Duals and is ranked fifth at 157. Other ranked Hokies include Jarrod Garnett (No. 14 at 125), Chris Diaz (No. 10 at 141), Matt Epperly (No. 20 at 165) and Tommy Spellman (No. 19 at 184). Kevin Dresser is in his fourth season as head coach at Virginia Tech and led the Hokies to a record 20 dual wins and eight NCAA Qualifiers last season.

Rutgers brings one of its strongest teams in recent memory into Stabler Arena. The Scarlet Knights are 16-4-1 in duals and are currently riding a school-record 12-dual unbeaten streak. Last weekend Rutgers picked up impressive wins over Virginia and Navy, which vaulted the Scarlet Knights into the national rankings at No. 23.

The Scarlet Knights have three wrestlers currently ranked by InterMat, led by heavyweight Dominick Russo, the reigning EIWA Wrestler of the Week, who comes in at No. 8. Also ranked for the Scarlet Knights are senior Lamar Brown (No. 17 at 197) and junior Daryl Cocozzo (No. 20 at 157). Lehigh and Rutgers wrestlers crossed paths at the Midlands with Zach Rey defeating Russo 7-2 in the quarterfinals, and Rutgers' Trevor Melde upsetting Seth Ciasulli in the Round of 16. The Scarlet Knights will have several familiar faces on their bench as John Leonardis (Lehigh '97) and Cory Cooperman (Lehigh '06) serve on the staff of third-year head coach Scott Goodale.

The Mountain Hawks have dominated the all-time series versus Rutgers winning 38 of 39 meetings, including 35 in a row against the Scarlet Knights. Lehigh has a much smaller history with Virginia Tech, as the schools have only met once in wrestling: a 27-6 Mountain Hawks win in the quarterfinals of the 2000 Virginia Duals.

Other locals in college are Colin McDonald of Waverly at Cornell and Brian Swealt of Waverly at the University of Buffalo, while Tioga graduate Corey Waite is at Binghamton.

Waverly graduates wrestling are Chris Nocchi and Logan Walker (Mercyhurst); A.J. Aronstam (Lakeland College) and Henry Petry and Zach McCutcheon (Morrisville).

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If you have anything you would like to see in Wrestler's Corner, contact us at (570) 265-1631 or by e-mail at reviewsports@thedailyreview.com.

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