The 2024 PIAA AAA Team Championships kick off on Thursday on flowrestling.org. Let’s preview the AA field.

Top Half of the Bracket

Ranked Teams

#1 Bethlehem Catholic

#4 Council Rock South

#6 Central Mountain

#10 Trinity

#11 Boiling Springs

#12 Selinsgrove

#13 Franklin Regional

#17 Central Dauphin

Preview

Bethlehem Catholic is the reigning state champion from last year and comes in after avenging a regular season loss to Easton in the District 11 finals 32-23. They come in as the clear favorites in the top half of this bracket and will get a first round matchup with last year’s third place finisher Central Dauphin. Central Dauphin has had a solid season with losses to two teams in this field in competitive matchups. Look for them to make a run on the back side of the bracket.

Council Rock South capped off another great year by winning a District 1 title over Pennridge. This roster is deep at almost every weight and has some of the talent to make a deep run into this tournament. They will face Franklin Regional which is coming off a win over District 8 champ Obama Academy in the preliminaries. A perennially great team, Franklin Regional is back in the team dual conversation after going 20-1 up to this point. 

Boiling Springs has made the adjustment to AAA after going up from AA last year and after struggling a bit last year, they make the trip back to Hershey. This team is full of great talent in almost every weight which helped them to a 17-3 record. They will take on District 6 power Central Mountain who is led by both veteran and young talented wrestlers. Near the top of the rankings all year, Central Mountain dominated their dual schedule going 9-0 and had great success at major individual tournaments throughout the year placing in the top 5 in most of them.

Selinsgrove comes in as a surprise team out of District 4 despite being consistently good over the years. Selinsgrove took home a District 4/9 title this season with a great crop of middle to heavy weights leading the team to victory. They will take on WPIAL runner-ups Trinity. Trinity had a great season and was the #1 seed headed into the WPIAL tournament before losing to Connellsville in the finals. This is a very good team that will look to make some noise in this bracket.

Best Potential Matchups

Quarterfinals – #4 Council Rock South vs #6 Central Mountain

Semi-Finals – #4 Council Rock South vs #1 Bethlehem Catholic

Best Potential Individual Matchups

Round of 16

121 LBS – Drew Scherer (Boiling Springs) vs Aiden Kunes (Central Mountain)

127 LBS – Pat Woloshyn (Council Rock South) vs Tyler Kapusta (Franklin Regional)

139 LBS – Ian Longenberger (Boiling Springs) vs Dalton Perry (Central Mountain)

139 LBS – CJ Ferree (Central Dauphin) vs Marco Frinzi (Bethlehem Catholic)

145 LBS – Ben Brillhart (Council Rock South) vs Luke Ankney (Franklin Regional)

145 LBS – Ean Wilson (Boiling Springs) vs Luke Simcox (Central Mountain)

145 LBS – Liam Flanagan (Central Dauphin) vs Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic)

189 LBS – Tucker Teats (Selinsgrove) vs Robert Allison (Trinity)

Quarterfinals

121 LBS – Dominick Canali (Trinity) vs Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic)

139 LBS – Blake Reihner (Trinity) vs Marco Frinzi (Bethlehem Catholic)

145 LBS – Ben Brillhart (Council Rock South) vs Luke Simcox (Central Mountain)

145 LBS – Thomas Allison (Trinity) vs Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic)

Semi-Finals

114 LBS – Connor Lenahan (Council Rock South) vs Reef Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic)

121 LBS – Luke Reitter (Council Rock South) vs Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic)

145 LBS – Ben Brillhart (Council Rock South) vs Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic)

160 LBS – Gavin Cole (Council Rock South) vs Charlie Scanlan (Bethlehem Catholic)

Bottom Half of the Bracket

Ranked Teams

#2 Easton

#3 Connellsville

#7 Gettysburg

#8 Erie Cathedral Prep

#9 LaSalle

#14 West Scranton

#15 Pennridge

#16 Wilson (West Lawn)

Preview

Easton had a historic year defeating both Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth and climbing all the way up to #1 in the rankings before falling to Bethlehem Catholic in the District 11 finals last weekend. This team is still very dangerous and will take on West Scranton. West Scranton has been emerging for years in District 2 but finally had the roster to put everything together to win a District title. West Scranton has a lot of talent in the lower to middle weights and can get out to a quick lead in a dual because of it.

Gettysburg is a lot like Boiling Springs that needed some time to build up their roster to be able to compete up to AAA after moving up last season and they climbed all the way to the top of a tough District 3 field. With relatively zero holes in this lineup, Gettysburg could be dangerous. They take on LaSalle in the first round who is getting better and better every year. LaSalle has a lot of great talent in their lineup and could be able to compete with teams in this field.

Erie Cathedral Prep is very familiar with the Team State Championships in Hershey as they had another great year winning a District 10 title. They got another perennial team in Hershey, Pennridge. Pennridge boasts a very competitive roster and can compete with the teams in this field. Pennridge finished as the runner-ups in a loaded District 1 field.

Connellsville has been near the top of the rankings all season and proved that they should be after taking home a WPIAL title as the 3 seed. This is a very talented roster that boasts some great individual talent but will take on a newcomer and difficult team Wilson (West Lawn). Wilson (West Lawn) burst onto the scene with a remarkable 20-2 year placing 3rd in the District 3 tournament. Led by McKaden Speece and James Garcia, this team will be a problem in Hershey.

Best Potential Matchups

Quarterfinals – #7 Gettysburg vs #2 Easton

Semi-Fnals – #2 Easton vs #3 Connellsville

Best Potential Individual Matchups

Round of 16

114 LBS – Blake Haines (Gettysburg) vs Jackson Hersh (LaSalle)

114 LBS – Nicholas Salamone (Easton) vs Connor Lagier (West Scranton)

133 LBS – James Garcia (Wilson (West Lawn)) vs Kai Vielma (Connellsville)

139 LBS – Benjamin Fanelli (Easton) vs Jason Williams (West Scranton)

160 LBS – Matteo Garcia (Wilson (West Lawn)) vs Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville)

172 LBS – Jaxon Townsend (Gettysburg) vs Cormac Morrissey (LaSalle)

Quarterfinals

107 LBS – William Yordy (Gettysburg) vs Noah Fenner (Easton

114 LBS – Blake Haines (Gettysburg) vs Nicholas Salamone (Easton)

133 LBS – Cole Coffin (Pennridge) vs Kai Vielma (Connellsville)

160 LBS – Ryan Gallagher (Pennridge) vs Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville)

Semi-Finals

107 LBS – Noah Fenner (Easton) vs Nolan Rice (Connellsville)

133 LBS – Christopher Kelly (Easton) vs Kai Vielma (Connellsville)

139 LBS – Benjamin Fanelli (Easton) vs Julian Ruggieri (Connellsville)

160 LBS – James Geiger (Easton) vs Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville)