Bracketology, State Team Rankings, and Predictions

Below you will find updated State Dual Team Rankings, PIAA State Tournament Brackets, Predictions, and an overview.

PIAA Class AA Brackets

PIAA Class AAA Brackets

 

State Dual Team Rankings

 

Class AA Rankings
School 2014-15 2013 – – 2014 2012 – – 2013 2011 – – 2012 Head Coach District State Ranked Wrestlers
1 Brookville Area 17-1 D1 23-4 D2 21-5 S4 20-6 Dave Klepfer 9 106, 126, 132, 138, 160, 220
2 Reynolds 19-3 S2 24-3 S2 21-3 D2 19-3 Casey Taylor 10 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 160, 220, 285
3 Boiling Springs 14-3 S4 15-3 D1 19-3 S2 24-1 Rodney Wright 3 106, 126. 132. 138, 152, 160, 170, 195
4 Wyalusing Valley Area 24-0 D3 19-6 15-5 D1 23-3 Gary Haley 4 113, 120, 138, 145, 160, 220, 285
5 Chestnut Ridge 13-2 D1 20-5 S4 25-3 26-6 Greg Lazor 5 106, 120, 138, 152, 170, 195
6 Saegertown 14-3 11-7 D3 14-7 11-2 Jim Mulligan 10 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 195
7 West Branch 23-1 D2 22-2 D1 25-4 D2 26-6 Jason Bainey 6 113, 170, 220
8 Huntingdon Area 19-3 D1 21-3 14-4 15-5 Jon Mykut 6 126, 132, 145, 152, 170, 182, 195
9 Montoursville Area 21-2 D2 17-9 14-8 8-12 Jamie Yonkin 4 106, 138, 145, 170, 182, 220
10 Burrell 11-5 S3 16-4 D1 16-7 D1 16-10 Josh Shields 7 152, 160, 195, 285
11 Central 18-2 5-9 8-11 8-13 Dave Marko 6 126, 138, 160
12 Northern Lebanon 12-2 12-1 16-5 2-9 Rusty Wallace Jr. 3 120, 132, 138, 160, 170, 220
13 Bermudian Springs 21-2 20-6 D2 20-3 D2 28-4 David McCollum 3 106, 120, 170, 182, 220, 285
14 Benton Area 14-3 D2 Russ Hughes 4 106, 126, 132, 152, 195
15 Northern Lehigh 13-2 Steve Hluschak Jr. 11 132, 145, 160
16 Saucon Valley 20-2 D2 25-4 D2 18-4 19-3 Chad Shirk 11 113, 132, 145, 160, 170
17 Line Mountain 19-2 12-8 9-9 9-4 Mike Martz 4 113, 120, 126, 138, 182, 285
18 Mount Union Area 18-4 21-5 D2 22-5 D1 27-2 Corey Wertz 6 132
19 McGuffy 22-4 13-5 9-5 3-7 Mark Caffrey 7 113, 120, 132
20 South Fayette 20-2 D2 20-3 D2 9-3 13-8 Rick Chaussard 7 113, 132, 138, 160, 170
21 Fort LeBoeuf 9-6 D2 13-6 S3 17-5 S3 19-3 Tim Simon 10 106, 132, 182
22 Greenville 13-3 D3 21-5 19-6 21-3 John Reynolds 10 106, 120, 132, 152, 160, 182, 195
23 Tri-Valley 11-3 4-10 10-3 13-4 David Boltz 11 120, 132, 145, 152, 160, 220
24 North Schuylkill 15-2 21-3 12-5 4-10 Chris Edwards 11 120, 195, 285
23 Southern Columbia Area 11-2 14-4 16-13 7-17 Jerry Marks 4 106, 113, 145, 152
24 Harbor Creek 14-3 8-6 2-13 10-5 Derek Chew 10 106
25 Troy Area 10-3 Curtis Route 4 126, 170, 285
                     
                     
Class AAA Rankings
School 2014-15 2013 – – 2014 2012 – – 2013 2011 – – 2012 Head Coach District State Ranked Wrestlers
1 Bethlehem Catholic 10-0 S1 18-0 S1 17-0 S1 15-0 Jeff Karam 11 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 220
2 Franklin Regional 18-1 S1 23-1 S3 23-4 14-4 Eric Mausser 7 113, 120, 126, 138, 145, 152, 160
3 Belle Vernon Area 20-1 17-3 16-4 12-8 Mike Doppelheuer 7 106, 120, 138, 145, 152, 170, 182
4 Boyertown Area 18-0 D1 25-2 D3 18-8 11-9 Pete Ventresca 1 106, 113, 120, 126, 182, 285
5 North Allegheny 14-3 D3 16-3 D3 18-5 20-6 Jamie Kyriazis 7 132, 138, 160, 182, 195, 220
6 Cumberland Valley 17-1 S4 20-3 10-5 10-6 Dave Heckard 3 106, 120, 138, 160, 170, 195, 285
7 Greater Latrobe 8-3 S2 16-3 11-6 9-9 Tad Harbert 7 126, 132, 145, 152, 170, 195, 285
8 Kiski Area 13-4 16-3 D4 16-3 20-1 Chuck Tursky 7 113, 126, 170, 195, 220, 285
9 Canon-McMillan 11-4 D4 16-2 S1 19-0 S1 26-0 Jason Cardillo 7 106, 132, 145, 182, 285
10 General McLane 13-1 D2 13-5 16-1 15-3 Ryan Cook 10 113, 120, 126, 138, 145, 152, 170, 220
11 Council Rock South 12-2 D3 15-2 12-4 8-8 Brad Silimperi 1 106, 126, 145, 152, 195
12 Spring-Ford 21-2 D2 25-4 20-4 D3 22-4 Tim Seislove 1 120, 138, 160, 170, 195, 285
13 Central Dauphin 19-2 D2 18-5 S2 24-1 S3 25-1 Jeff Sweigard 3 106, 113, 120, 138, 152, 182
14 Pennridge 11-3 14-6 20-7 5-14 R.P. Norley 1 106, 113, 170, 220, 285
15 Waynesburg Central 16-5 7-10 8-8 10-12 Ron Throckmorton 7 106, 132, 138, 152, 160, 182
16 Parkland 19-5 D2 21-4 D2 19-5 D2 20-5 Ryan Nunamaker 11 106, 126, 170, 220
17 Exeter Township 19-5 D4 22-7 13-10 16-8 Jonathan Rugg 3 113, 120, 152
18 Mifflin County 17-3 17-5 D1 16-7 18-5 Kirby Martin 6 138, 145, 152, 160, 195
19 Central Mountain 11-1 D1 15-3 14-2 D1 17-2 Doug Buckwalter 6 106, 120, 160, 285
20 Owen J. Roberts 9-5 9-7 D1 20-2 D1 20-2 Steve DeRafelo 1 113, 120, 138, 152, 195
21 Connellsville Area 17-8 7-2 19-3 D4 16-5 Tom Dolde Jr. 7 126, 152, 182
22 Governor Mifflin 21-4 18-6 16-5 17-7 Ralph Voit 3 138, 195, 285
23 South Western 17-6 14-8 10-3 12-5 Nate Murren 3 126, 132, 220
24 Easton Area 16-7 13-8 S4 18-3 D1 22-4 Steve Powell 11 106, 132, 138, 145
25 Nazareth Area 13-7 S3 18-4 13-7 6-7 Dave Crowell 11 106, 126, 132, 138, 145

 

Class AA Overview

By all accounts the the top half of the bracket is loaded in comparison with the bottom half. The top three ranked teams are all on the top half with a likely quarterfinal match between #1 Brookville Area and #3 Boiling Springs. I think the Bubblers and Raiders will be a tight match and the winner could win the State Championship. Boiling Springs has been knocking hard at the door the last four years and I think they will find a way to win the dual.

Unfortunately #2 ranked Reynolds also occupies the top half of the bracket with Brookville Area and Boiling Springs. I think Reynolds and #7 West Branch meet in the quarterfinals with Reynolds coming out on top. Reynolds, like most years, is full of talent and very few holes. They don’t give up a ton of bonus points and they have plenty of experience in the GIANT Center. I think Reynolds matches up better against Boiling Springs than they do Brookville Area and I predict Reynolds to advance into their third PIAA State Dual Team Finals in three years.

The bottom half is much more open but nonetheless exciting. Anticipating a Saegertown victory in the preliminary round, fans will be in for a treat with a first round match between #6 Saegertown and #4 Wyalusing Valley Area. Saegertown lost a close match to Reynolds in the District 10 Finals but could prove troublesome to the undefeated Rams of Wyalusing Valley. The District 4 Champions are (24-0) this season claiming their second District 4 Championship in four years.

I think #5 Chestnut Ridge is sitting pretty on the bottom half of the bracket and would not be surprised to see the District 5 Champions advance into the State Finals. They will face the winner of a curious preliminary round dual between #8 Huntingndon Area and #12 Northern Lebanon in the quarterfinals.

Anything is possible in Hershey and fans should be reminded of last season when Hamburg Area stormed into the State Semifinals after many thought they should not have qualified over Bermudian Springs in District 3.

PIAA Class AA Predictions

 

Class AAA Overview

The big story in Class AAA is the first time in likely meeting between a pair of 2014 PIAA State Champions in the semifinals. But there is much more to talk about.

The best match of the first round will be a rematch from a season ago between Cumberland Valley and North Allegheny. Both teams are in the exact same positions as they were in 2014 and last season North Allegheny won (29-28) in the Championship round. Then Cumberland Valley won three straight in the consolation round avenging the loss by defeating North Allegheny (31-28) in the consolation semifinals. I expect a similar match in 2015 and again fans could see these two teams meet twice. #5 North Allegheny showed a ton of guts in the WPIAL Semifinals against Franklin Regional  but #6 Cumberland Valley has been firing on all cylinders since the first of the year.

Another first round match-up I am excited for is #18 Mifflin County vs. #16 Parkland. These two teams match up well and should come down to the wire. In the bottom half of the bracket I think #10 General McLane and #11 Council Rock South will be a fun match between two very talented teams. General McLane has dominated opponents this season and both competed in the King of the Mountain in December. Council Rock South finished in 8th while the Lancers placed #12 in the Team Standings.

While I don’t see an upset taking place I am excited to see #2 Franklin Regional take on #17 Exeter Township. I am hoping fans get to see a match-up at 113 lbs. between 2x PIAA State Champion Devin Brown (Franklin Regional) and Exeter Township sophomore Austin DeSanto. Brown is ranked #1 in the State but is coming off a tough defeat to freshman Mitch Hartman (Belle Vernon Area) when he bumped up to 120 lbs. DeSanto has been incredible this season racking up bonus points on some tough opponents and sits at #3 in the State Rankings. DeSanto won the Escape the Rock last month in arguably his best Tournament of his career. Expect fireworks in this match at 113 lbs.

It gets even better in the second round. Fans will likely see #3 Belle Vernon Area vs. #4 Boyertown Area on Friday and I predict the winner of this match advances into the State Finals. Boyertown Area is a solid team who now has 2x PIAA State Runner-up Jordan Wood back in the line-up. On paper these two teams match-up very well and it may come down to the coin flip.

On the bottom half #1 Bethlehem Catholic will likely take on #13 Central Dauphin in a pair of 4x State Champions. For Bethlehem Catholic however they will be in search of their fifth straight title looking to break the record held by both Central Dauphin and Easton Area. CD will first have to get through a scrappy Pennridge team with some serious studs

I predict both WPIAL teams #3 Belle Vernon Area and #2 Franklin Regional to make it into the semifinals. All eyes will be on the clash of the State Champions. I have done the match-ups about a half dozen times with various line-ups and it is going to be close. In short I think Bethlehem Catholic is to much for the Panthers but I will be providing an in-depth preview of the match later this week.

PIAA Class AAA Predictions

 

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