Five things to know ahead of the District 10 wrestling individual postseason
MEADVILLE — If this is the part of the high school wrestling season you’ve been longing for, you’re not alone.
Wrestlers have looked forward to it, too.
District 10’s individual wrestling postseason opens this weekend with its Class 3A championships and a pair of Class 2A sectional tournaments. It’s the start of a four-week march toward Giant Center at Hershey, where the PIAA tournament awaits those fortunate enough to qualify.
Here are five things to know ahead of the 2024 boys wrestling individual postseason.
How the District 10 postseason works
D-10’s 32 wrestling teams will be split into three groups.
Five teams will make up the Class 3A championships at Meadville, including host Cathedral Prep, McDowell, Erie High and Hickory. The 27 teams in Class 2A are split into Section 1 and Section 2.
Teams from regions one and two will compete at the Section 2 tournament at Sharon. The field includes Slippery Rock, Grove City, Sharon, Mercer, Greenville, Sharpsville, Reynolds, Cochranton, Franklin, Conneaut, Commodore Perry, Maplewood, Cambridge Springs and Saegertown.
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Regions three and four will compete at the Section 1 tournament at Meadville. That includes General McLane, Fort LeBoeuf, Harbor Creek, Girard, Northwestern, North East, Corry, Titusville, Eisenhower, Union City, Warren, Youngsville and Seneca.
The top three wrestlers at each Class 3A weight will advance to the Northwest Regional, where they’ll join districts 4, 6, 8 and 9 on Feb. 23-24 at Altoona. A top-four finish there will punch a ticket to the PIAA tournament, scheduled for March 7-9.
In Class 2A, the top seven from each section will qualify for next weekend’s D-10 tournament at Sharon. There, the top eight will join District 9 at the Northwest Regional, where a top-four finish will be required to reach Hershey.
Three wrestlers strive for fourth section title
Three wrestlers will try to win their fourth section title, including Fort LeBoeuf seniors JoJo Przybycien (160 pounds) and Conner McChesney (189). Conneaut 133-pound senior Hunter Gould will strive for the same.
Four others will try to win their third section crown, including Girard senior Story Buchanan (152). Commodore Perry’s Wyatt Lazzar (145) and Grove City’s Hunter Hohman (172) will try to cap their careers with a third sectional title while Saegertown junior Carter Beck (121) looks to go 3 for 3.
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Prep seeks Class 3A title defense
Cathedral Prep will seek its ninth consecutive D-10 Class 3A title. None were won more narrowly than last season, when Prep’s 188 points edged McDowell’s 187.
The Ramblers will be heavy favorites to repeat after sweeping through team competitions with ease. Junior 127-pounder Keagan Oler seeks his third D-10 title.
Several could eclipse 100 career wins
Six D-10 wrestlers enter the individual postseason within six wins of 100 for their career, including General McLane senior 152-pounder Chance Kimmy, who has 99.
Beck and Maplewood’s Chase Blake each have 97 and Corry’s Mason Savitz has 95, while Corry’s Will Allen is tied with Northwestern’s Sierra Chiesa at 94. An additional six wrestlers have at least 85 wins, meaning a deep postseason run could get them near 100.
Daily schedule, ticket information
The Class 3A tournament will be wrestled in its entirety Saturday.
Preliminaries begin at 9 a.m. with semifinals and consolations to follow. Third-place matches begin at 3:30 p.m. and the finals will follow a parade of champions at 5:30.
Class 2A Section 1 will start with preliminaries at 3:45 p.m. Friday and quarterfinals will follow. Semifinals and consolations will begin Saturday after the completion of Class 3A preliminaries, whereas third-through-seventh-place matches will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the finals accompanying Class 3A at 5:30.
Section 2 begins at 5:15 p.m. Friday and will wrestle through the quarterfinals. Saturday opens with consolations at 9 a.m. and semifinals will follow. Third-through-seventh-place matches start at 3:30 p.m. and the finals, which will accompany the inaugural D-10 girls wrestling championships, will follow a parade of champions at 5:30.
Tickets can be purchased online at the District 10 website.
PIAA team wrestling: Reynolds returns to Class 2A podium with fourth-place finish
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: District 10 wrestling: What to watch for during individual postseason
