AAA preview and predictions

[brentsams]

Written before dropped participants.
I have not seen any Region 2 teams this year and cannot give them a fair assessment. I have only seen a handful of Region 1 and Region 3 teams so my picks will probably have a bias towards Region 4. It's hard to analyze those I haven't seen this year. But anyways, enjoy. - Brent

106
1st round feature matches include #7 Matson (Ripley) vs. #10 Padgett (Princeton) and fourth place regional finisher #8 Miller (South) vs. regional champion #9 Slack (Riverside). Winners of these matches will be knocking on the door in the blood round as all-state placers.
Barring upsets, quarter-finals features #3 Jordan (Midland) vs #5 Tachoir (Martinsburg) and #4 Lyles (Huntington) vs. #1 Dolan (Spring Mills). The Lyles-Dolan winner will most likely face #2 Cochran (John Marshall) in the Semis.
Brent’s Pick: #4 Lyles vs. #3 Jordan in the finals with Lyles avenging his regional loss.

113
1st round features #7 Carman (John Marshall) vs. #9 Haskins (Ripley) with the winner facing #4 Williams (Spring Mills) in a featured quarter-final matchup.
The other three quarter-finals should be cut and dry with the #1 Shelek (Park), #2 Bowan (Huntington), and #3 Easton (South) all advancing to Semis.
#1 Shelek vs. #2 Bowen will be the featured semi-final match and will figure in for team placement.
Brent’s Pick: This is a tough pick with any of the top three capable of winning it all. I am going with Bowen’s experience of being in last year’s state finals as giving him an edge.

120
1st round feature will be #8 Hartley (St. Albans) vs. #7 Gray (John Marshall) with the winner facing #9 Meisenzahl (Washington) in the quarters.
Quarter-finals features #4 Hobbs (Buckhannon) vs. #2 Doss (Huntington) and #1 Johnson (South) vs. #5 Richardson (Park) who finished 4-5 at OVACs without facing each other.
Semis will feature #3 Donahue (Parkersburg) looking for revenge from a regional semi-final rematch with #2 Doss.
Brent’s Pick: Another tough pick that can go to any of four wrestlers. I am going with Donahue and Johnson in the finals, whose only seasonal matchup went into overtime with Donahue winning in sudden victory. Donahue’s experience vs. Johnson’s heart and grit. Tossup.

126
1st round features #5 Hoover (Greenbrier East) vs. #8 Miller (Ripley) with the winner getting #3 Staub (University), and #7 Viars (Huntington) vs. #6 Isabell (George Washington) with the winner facing #4 Locke (Washington).
The semis should include Staub vs. Locke and feature #1 Holt (St. Albans) vs. #2 Windland (South).
Brent’s Pick: Holt should three-peat as State Champion.

132
1st round feature will be #8 Welker (Park) vs. #5 Harper (Spring Valley) with the winner facing #6 Mullins (Hampshire) in the quarters. The winner should face #1 Miller (Musselman) in the semis.
The other half bracket features #2 Simpson (University) vs. #3 Hardy (Washington) in the quarters with the winner facing Region 4 Champion #4 Ackerman (Parkersburg) in the semis.
Brent’s Pick: Miller over Simpson in the finals.

138
1st round feature will be fourth place regional finisher #6 Dempsey (Huntington) vs. Region 2 Champion #9 Dobson (Spring Mills). The winner should advance to the semis against #1 Quiocho (South).
Quarter-finals feature will be #3 Mitchell (Park) vs. #2 Moler (Parkersburg), another key match-up in the team race. The winner should advance to the finals.
Brent’s Pick: Moler will be looking to make the third time a charm against Quiocho this season but I am picking Quiocho to be a repeat state champion.

145
Two 1st round features with the first being #10 Edwards (Parkersburg) vs. #9 Atkins (St. Albans) where I like the upset minded Edwards to advance to the semis to face #2 Shelek (Park).
The other 1st round feature is #7 Resch (Martinsburg) vs. #5 Bennett (University) with the winner facing #1 Roberts (South) in the quarters.
A quarter final feature will be #3 Petry (Riverside) vs. #4 Pearson (Buckhannon) with the winner moving on against Roberts.
Brent’s Pick: I look for Roberts to repeat and improve upon his 3-0 OVAC semi-final win against Shelek.

152
1st round feature match will be #6 Koontz (Ripley) vs. #4 Gooch (Park). The winner should move on to face #1 Best (Parkersburg) in the semis.
The quarter-finals will feature #5 Bailey (St. Albans) vs. #2 Dempsey (Huntington) with the winner battling against #3 Shamblin (South) in the semis.
The semi-finals feature will be a Tortoise vs the Hare battle as Dempsey (The Tortoise) and Shamblin (The Hare) will matchup for the third time this year. Shamblin’s power and aggressiveness has allowed him to build first period leads in their matchups but Dempsey skills and conditioning has allowed him to battle back and win the third period and two decisions over Shamblin this year.
Brent’s Pick: Best should win his second state title over Shamblin, who is also seeking a second title.

160
1st rounds feature will be #9 Stone (George Washington) vs. #6 Nixon (Park). The winner will go against #8 Neale (Midland), and the winner of that will go against #2 Smithson (Buckhannon) in the semis. #7 Mathess (Parkersburg) will be a sleeper in the upper bracket and could battle through the blood round for all-state placement.
The other half bracket will feature quarter-finals of #5 Pauley (University) vs. #3 Handy (Martinsburg) and #4 Camiletti (Brooke) vs. #1 Hinzman (South). Camiletti lost a 6-3 battle to Hinzman at the OVAC quarter-finals.
Brent’s Pick: Hinzman should repeat as state champion against a good battle from Smithson.

170
A 1st round feature includes #7 Linder (South) vs. #4 Elswick (George Washington) with the winner facing #5 Berisford (John Marshall) in a quarter-finals feature. The winner of that quarter-bracket should face #3 King (Parkersbug) in the semis.
The other 1st round feature has #10 Tost (Hedgesville) vs. #6 Timberlake (Park) with the winner facing #2 Casto (St. Albans) in the quarters. The semi-finals will pit #2 Casto against #1 Stewart (Huntington). Casto won the WSAZ where Stewart wrestled down and finished second at 160. Stewart won the MSAC Championship which Casto did not participate in. I cannot find if they have matched up this season.
Brent’s Pick: This weight class is up for grabs and I can see up to five competitors winning it. I am going with Berisford over Stewart in the finals based on experience of finishing as state runner-up from last year.

182
A 1st round feature has #7 Thomas (Greenbrier East) vs #5 Forrester (Martinsburg). Another 1st round feature match is #9 Dillon (Midland) vs. #10 Tamburin (Park). These winners should make it to the blood rounds where they will look to place.
Quarter-finals features has #8 Fullerton (South) vs. #6 Burnett (Woodrow) and #4 Abrecht (Hedgesville) vs #2 Carmen (John Marshall) with the winner facing #1 Lanham (Huntington) as a feature semi-final. I have #6 Burnett upsetting #3 Wogan (Washington) in the other semi-final.
Brent’s Pick: No upset in the finals as I look for Lanham to three-peat after finishing as state-runner-up his freshman year.

195
A 1st round feature has #8 Vaughn (Midland) going up against #4 Bradbury (Washington). I have been a Bradbury fan since seeing his intensity in middle school and expect him to advance out to the finals against #5 Wright (Woodrow) in the quarters and #3 Wade (Parkersburg) in the semis. Bradbury vs. Wade will be a can’t miss semi-final match that I expect to be a dandy. Like a back and forth basketball game, whoever scores last will win.
The other half-bracket will feature #2 Stevens (Spring Valley) vs. undefeated #1 Swisher (Hampshire).
Brent’s Pick: Swisher successfully defends his 195 pound title.

220
1st round feature match-ups are #8 Yost (Morgantown) vs. #6 Milburn (Musselman) and #7 Jenkins (Hedgesville) vs. #4 Clark (John Marshall) with the winner facing #3 Williams (Woodrow) in a feature quarter-finals match-up.
#1 Amos (South) and #2 Wood (Park) will be favorites in their semi-finals match-ups and should meet in the championship final.
Brent’s Pick: Unless Thanos shows up to disrupt the universe, Ironman Amos will keep his undefeated record in tack. Even then, I would pick Amos over Thanos, marvel not.

285
1st round feature match-ups are #7 Turner (University) vs. #6 Saunders (Hurricane) and #8 McGaha (Park) vs. #4 Hunt (Midland). Keep an eye on #9 Lambert (Hampshire) who enters the tournament with a 39-1 record and has only lost to AA’s Frazier (Fairmont Sr.) this season. At ninth rank, he could be a ringer in the heavyweight division with a feature match-up verses #2 Chapman (Riverside) in the semis.
#1 Haga (South) should match-up with #3 Williams (John Marshall) in the other semi-final which Haga has defeated twice with an early season major and a pin in the OVAC quarter-finals.
Brent’s Pick: Haga takes nothing for granted and wins his first state title lifting a three-year jinx as state runner-up.

Summary
106 – Lyles (Huntington)
113 – Bowan (Huntington)
120 – tossup, Donahue (Parkersburg)/Johnson (South)
126 – Holt (St. Albans)
132 – Miller (Musselman)
138 – Quiocho (South)
145 – Roberts (South)
152 – Best (Parkersburg)
160 – Hinzman (South)
170 – Berisford (John Marshall)
182 – Lanham (Huntington)
195 – Swisher (Hampshire)
220 – Amos (South)
285 – Haga (South)

[iLiketoWrastle]

The Donahue and Doss semifinals match shoukd be another good one. Last time they faced in regionals, Doss won in SV 0-2.