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Wrestling Clump - Definition: Group
of talented wrestlers bunched up together in one weight class.
Plural: Clumps: Many weight classes all clumped up.
De-Clumped - Definition: Synonymous
with: to undo, untangle, to spread apart.
Rule #1: Never worry about your
opponent.
Rule #2: Know thy enemy. Know his
tactics and you know how to defeat him (re: movie Samurai, Tom Cruise, we
can skip "this was a very good conversation" part.).
There is a good bet that the brutal NE
Class AAA Regional Championship tournament this year will look different as
compared to at least the last 6 years. Don't jump the gun and don't
expect the competition to wane, but a historical long log jam may have broke
free for a year.
In looking at our backyard first,
District 2 Class AAA, which forwards the top 4 district placers to the
regional tournament, sent a total of nine wrestlers to the 2005 PIAA state
championship tournament. Five of those nine wrestlers placed at
states. Place winners included Berwick's Anthony Bujno, Coughlin's
Justin Accordino, Delaware Valley's Dave Sullivan, Wyoming Valley West's
Trevin Cowman, and Honesdale's Josh Arnone honored us all with a great
performance that culminated with winning a state championship title.
State qualifiers included Berwick's Roland Singletary, Wyoming Valley West's
Pat Krasavage, Delaware Valley's Frankie Colletta, and Pittston's Dave
Woodall.
Four of the above nine wrestlers return
to action this year (Accordino, Colletta, Woodall, & Cowman). The
number may be three as Frankie Colletta sustained a fracture injury during
the football season that reportedly required surgery and may be questionable
this season. Wait and see.
District 4, which forwards the top 2
district placers to the regional tournament, had just two wrestlers
(Shikellamy's Marks at 103 and Jersey Shore's Eck at 160) move onto states
with Eck earning a state medal. Some big guns from Milton got
"clumped" and did not move on. On an interesting note, there
is a good chance that this year may be the final of two consecutive years of
Milton participating in Class AAA. At a minimum, I have received a
reliable but unsubstantiated report of Milton dropping back down to Class AA
for the 2006-2007 season. On another note, there is a chance that D2's
Dallas will rejoin the AAA fold for the 2006-2007 season.
Perennial powerhouse District 11, which
sends the top 6 district placers to the regional tournament, moved the
overwhelming number of 31 wrestlers onto the state championship tournament.
Will outcomes of the regional
championship tournament be any different this year? Early analysis
shows that numbers from contributing districts may be approximately the same
as last year. What is different, however, is noteworthy. There
is, at a minimum, the "potential" for both District 2 and District
4 to exceed the numbers of state-bound wrestlers this year.
Unlike any of the past six years, no
matter how you slice it and dice it, a good portion of the NE AAA regional
tournament is getting "de-clumped" this year. The graduation
classes of 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 all witnessed significant
numbers of very talented wrestlers who flooded a majority of the weight
classes. Each and every year, the same scenarios, top state ranked
kids not able to get out of the nationally acclaimed regional tournament.
Other kids placing at states only after winning regional consolation
quarter-finals or consolation semi-finals by one point. It is as tough
as it gets in the sport of wrestling when one competes at the NE AAA
regional tournament.
An early review of weight classes, using
the much misaligned one weight class up from last year rule, follows below.
While one can never give much credence to one weight class up rankings,
there is no attempt to rank anything here. The point remains, more
than the average number of weight classes appear to be getting
"de-clumped" this year. Even with known wrestlers
anticipated to move up in weight this season, the rough seas may just not be
that choppy this year.
WARNING:
The NE AAA Regional is much like my bathroom sink. Just when you
unclog the drain, shortly thereafter, it's all clumped up and clogged again.
So don't get overly excited. Also, don't jump the gun at early weights
wrestled in December & early January. The key week will be the
third week in January to see how all wrestlers fall into place with weights.
Note: Following focuses only
on "top 4 regional placers from last year."
103lbs: Always the biggest
guessing game weight due to number of underclassman, especially the
freshman. 103's benefit one more year from the 50% weight class rule,
adopted in the 2002-2003 season, without the worry of 112's dropping down
just for the postseason. It is currently unclear what effect the new
weight management program will have for its scheduled implementation for the
2006-2007 season. This scenario could change or stay relatively the
same. More on this next year.
112lbs: "Clumped"
and should be tough. Three of the four 103 placers (Oliver, Ward,
& Marks) return this year. The 4th placer Stanzione, while still
an underclassman, transferred to Blair Academy and is out of the picture.
This weight class could be nasty and more than one wrestler may be subject
to getting clumped.
119lbs: "Clumped"
and should be tough. All four 112 placers return to possibly mix it up
again. They include Stroudsburg's Ward, Parkland's Bogusz, Nazareth's
Flegler, and Shikellamy's Sellick. One can hope that puberty rocketed
some kids to higher weights. Potential is there for nail-biter
outcomes and for kids getting clumped.
125lbs: Partially
"De-Clumped." One thing is for sure, this weight class will
not be anywhere near the downright ugly 125 bracket last year where getting
clumped could have been the buzz word of the day. Gone from 119 last
year are Berwick's Singletary and Nazareth's Ritchie. Back is
Northampton's Weiller and Nazareth's Ritchie. A trip to Hershey from
D2 can certainly be for the taking here with the magic number being
"1."
130lbs:
"De-Clumped" from the red-line overload at 125 last year.
Gone from 125 last season are the top 2 placers in Northampton's Mytych and
Easton's Ciasulli. Returning is Coughlin's Accordino and Nazareth's
Greck. At this point, Accordino is doubtful to make the drop down to
125 as he looked good wrestling up in the off-season. If my crystal
ball isn't all fogged up now, it could be that what I'm seeing is the
potential for 130 to be as wide open as a 4-bay garage door. Time will
tell.
135lbs: Partially
"De-Clumped." Gone from 130 last year includes Easton's J.
Oliver and Parkland's Bloom. Returning is Nazareth's Darling and
Emmaus' Moyer. A trip to Hershey from D2 may be gained from 135 this
year. I believe it is more likely to happen than not to happen.
140lbs:
"De-Clumped." All top 4 placers from 135 last year are now
high school history and this weight class could be one of the most wide open
and up for grabs. Gone is Easton's Krom, Northampton's Gilio, WVW's
Krasavage, and Liberty's Heist. There is absolutely no need to even
look into my crystal ball here as my nose already has this really strong
aroma of chocolate in the air for D2. An early peek around the state
sees a state medal as a decent bet for D2 here.
145lbs: "De-Clumped But
Pay Attention To 145's That Got Clumped Last Year." All three top
placers from 140 have graduated. Gone from 140 last year is Berwick's
Bujno, Northampton's Paukovitz, and Easton's Goldstein. Back is 4th
placer Counterman from Nazareth. Even with some wrestlers that I know
and expect to see bumped up significantly in weight from last year, a trip
south on I-81 is from D2 is at least a fair bet this year. There is
one caveat to pay attention to. Several kids at 145 last year got
clumped and the ole crystal ball is fogging up with the very good
possibility that some of these clumped 145's from last year may "stay
put" this season. We'll see in mid-January.
152lbs: "De-Clumped."
Gone from last year at 145 is Nazareth's Caramanica (2x state champ) and
Whitehall's McGoldrick (state runner-up) who both have graduated. Two
stellar wrestlers that clumped up one too many weight classes over the
years, and on occasion in the past, even got clumped themselves. You
could get technical and say that Easton's Williams and Milton's Sandel are
back, but it would be a surprise to see them competing in the same weight
class this postseason. With Perrin gone, Sandel, who's only a junior
this season, can bulk up and wrestle strong. A D2 trip to
Chocalatetown can be had here.
160lbs: "Probably
Clumped - De-Clumped On Paper": I couldn't force myself to write
"De-Clumped" on this one even though last year's 152's in
Northampton's Ecklof (3x state champ), Parkland's Papa, and Pleasant
Valley's B Farley have graduated. Also gone is non-placer Perrin from
Milton who got "clumped" last year. On paper, Nazareth's
Frick is the only returnee from 152. I think it's more than a great
bet that this is one weight class where some wrestlers may stay down or move
up a weight based on early competition and we can expect to see somewhat of
a shuffle in mid-January. My crystal ball is picturing a chess match
with wrestlers jockeying between 160 and 171 weight classes.
171lbs: "Clumped."
Back from 160 last season is Delaware Valley's Colletta (remember, his
football injury may prevent his return this year - wait and see), Pittston's
Woodall (who may be this year's favorite at 160 or 171), and Jersey Shore's
Eck. Shikellamy's Blessing, a 4th placer at 160 last year, is the only
graduate. There is promise in that 5th placers Crivellaro from Easton
and Bauder from Emmaus have also graduated. But again, pay attention
to 160. I think you'll see wrestlers "finding their weight"
between 160 and 171. Count on some flip-flopping between these 2
weight classes.
189lbs:
"De-Clumped." Top three placers from 171 have graduated and
include Parkland's Guida, Emmaus' Hunter, and Delaware Valley's Sullivan.
Back is Pittston's J. Dunn who got clumped last year in the consolation
finals but finished with an excellent 4th place finish. My crystal
ball seems pretty clear that D2 should be in Hershey here with a podium
photo to follow showing a medal around one's neck nicely displayed in a
walnut frame.
215lbs: "Roll The
Dice." There usually is not a lot of bumping around here.
Looking back at 189 last year, gone are three of four including Honesdale's
state champ in Arnone, Easton's Pizarro, and 4th placer Lengel from
Selinsgrove. Back from 189 is Whitehall's DiStefano. At 215 last
season, Freedom's Lovett and Pleasant Valley's Swan are now high school
graduates. Back from 215 Northampton's Wieller and Wallenpaupak's Van
Ness. There is some discussion that Van Ness may be questionable to
wrestle this season due to an injury, and if so, that opens this weight up a
bit but that would be a letdown for D2. It's now definitely a
roll-the-dice bet that District 2 will wrestle 215 the week after the
regional tournament.
275bs: "De-Clumped But
Maybe Tougher Than First Glance." The big guys may have to look
back a bit father than the top four from last year because it could be
tougher than first glance. Considering two of top four from 215 are
gone, the same number ratio will likewise be absent from 275.
Graduated is Easton's top gun Reiss and Blue Mountain's Gaffney. Back
are WVW's runner-up Cowman and 4th placer Glass from Dieruff. A sneak
peak a bit farther back in the pack and there's Nazareth's Mutch, who
despite an unimpressive regular season record, had a fine tournament
dropping a 1-0 match versus graduate 3rd placer Gaffney. One bump-up
from 215 could make this a much more challenging weight. District 2
will advance with a solid shot at a repeat state medal.
Remember my bathroom sink. I just
can't keep it from getting clumped and clogged up!
Good luck to all!
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