What to know, who to follow from Bucks County area at PIAA wrestling championships in Hershey

The PIAA wrestling tournament begins Thursday and runs through Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

And this year's event will have a new look as girls wrestling makes its first appearance on the state's biggest stage.

Here are some things to know:

Three returning Bucks County state champs

For the first time, our area sends three returning PIAA champs to Hershey (state titles are, for the most part, won by seniors) in juniors Collin Gaj (Quakertown), Gauge Botero (Faith Christian) and sophomore Adam Waters (Faith Christian).

Can those three do it again? And can a couple of other area standouts also bring home gold medals? We'll see.

The last area wrestler to win two PIAA titles was Council Rock South's Mike Rappo in 2005 and 2006.

Can Bucks County wrestlers take five (or more)?

PIAA District One as a whole, Class 2A and Class 3A, has never had more than five wrestlers win state titles in any one season. The last time came in 2006. Do we break that record this weekend?

Things will be different in Hershey

Saturday's finals will have a completely new look.

Instead of the Class 2A finals beginning at 2 p.m. and the Class 3A at 7 p.m., all finals are going to start at 4 p.m.

There will be three mats going at 4 p.m. with the Class 2A title matches on one of them, Class 3A on another and the girls on a third mat.

All matches for third, fifth and seventh will take place earlier in the day in all classifications.

Southeast Regional highlights: Big group of Bucks County wrestlers punch ticket to PIAA state tournament in Hershey

We'll see how this turns out but call me skeptical for now. I'd prefer Class 2A, Class 3A and the girls to all have their own separate times for their finals because it sounds like it could be distracting to do them all at once, but nobody asked me.

PA wrestler going for four PIAA titles

We could have another four-time PIAA champion in Rune Lawrence from Frazier (District Seven).

There have only been 13 "four timers" in PIAA wrestling history (which is close to 90 years), but the West Virginia commit, who wrestles at 215, is favored to make it 14. He brings a 29-1 season mark and a 141-8 career record to Hershey.

However, while he's favored to win it all, he'll likely have to top Muncy (District Four) junior Austin Johnson, the defending PIAA Class 2A champ and a two-time PIAA finalist, in the title match to accomplish the feat.

Gavin Teasdale, a 2018 Jefferson-Morgan (District Seven) graduate, is the last one to do it (no District One wrestler has ever done it). And, if that high school sounds familiar, it's also where the legend of Cary Kolat started.

Kolat, a 1992 Jefferson-Morgan alum, went 137-0 in high school, winning four PIAA titles and is considered by many (including me) to be the greatest high school wrestler ever.

Kolat, who would go on to win two national titles at Lock Haven, was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the PIAA championships four times.

North Penn's Kwortnik won three PIAA titles

The only three-time PIAA champion out of District One is 1989 North Penn graduate Chris Kwortnik.

All Kwortnik did was go 141-1 in three seasons with the Knights with his only loss coming in the first round of states his freshman season (back when the PIAA only held single-elimination tournaments).

After that loss, Kwortnik would win 109 straight matches and the three gold medals.

North Penn, Council Rock South lead the "golden" way

North Penn has produced the most area PIAA champions with nine followed by Council Rock South with eight.

The last Knights state champ was Zac Fryling in 2003 (he also won in 2002) while the last Golden Hawk to claim state gold was Zac Trampe in 2017.

Quakertown's Ziegler out for gold: Quakertown's Mason Ziegler seeking elusive PIAA wrestling title; check individual rankings

Bucks wrestlers looking to finish in top eight

The top eight finishers in each weight class in each classification — Class 2A, Class 3A and girls — earn PIAA medals.

Faith Christian's Bachmann lone undefeated male Bucks County wrestler

A total of 520 wrestlers in Class 2A and Class 3A will descend on Hershey this week, but only 13 of them are undefeated — eight in 2A and five in 3A.

The only wrestler from the area with an unblemished mark is Faith Christian (Class 2A) freshman Joey Bachmann (34-0) at 107, who also happens to be the top-ranked wrestler in the country at his weight.

If the seeds hold, he'll face undefeated Chestnut Ridge sophomore Dominic Deputy (46-0) for the gold medal. Deputy placed second in Hershey as a freshman.

Four Bucks County girls take perfect records to Hershey

While Bachmann is the only boy from the area with a perfect mark, an impressive four area girls head to Hershey with no losses.

They are:

Palisades junior Savannah Witt (27-0 at 118 pounds); Conwell-Egan sophomore Julia Horger (18-0 at 106; Quakertown sophomore Caroline Hattala (25-0 at 190); and Neshaminy freshman Grace Nesbitt (19-0 at 100).

Brothers a combined 101-0

One other interesting note concerning the undefeated wrestlers. The Harer brothers from Montgomery (District Four) are a combined 101-0 this season and 279-7 for their careers.

Senior Conner (51-0 at 160 pounds), who has committed to Rutgers, is a two-time PIAA Class 2A champ while sophomore Brandt (50-0 at 133) placed second in Hershey last season, losing to Faith Christian's Botero in the title match at 121 pounds.

Every Bucks County area state champ: Gold standard: Here are all of the Bucks County area PIAA wrestling champions

All Bucks County wrestlers looking for four straight wins

With 20 wrestlers in each weight class in both Class 2A and Class 3A, all an athlete has to do is go 4-0 to capture the gold medal.

Sounds almost simple, doesn't it? If only it were as easy at it sounds.

Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Here's watch to watch for at PIAA wrestling championships in Hershey