WILLIAMSPORT -- To the victors go the spoils, or, in this case, the top seeds and byes into the quarterfinals.
That is the reward for the four sectional champions as they move into this weekend's District 4 Class AA tournament at Williamsport High School.
Action begins at 5 p.m. Friday and continues through the finals at 6 p.m. Saturday. The top five place-winners in each weight class will advance to the Northeast Region tournament the following weekend, also in Williamsport.
Of the Valley teams competing this weekend, Mifflinburg, Line Mountain and Milton lead with way. The Wildcats have three No. 1 seeds: David Sheesley at 113 pounds, Ty Walter at 160 and Nazar Mironenko at 285. The Eagles and Black Panthers have two each. For the Black Panthers, they are Ryan Preisch at 152 and Ryan Solomon at 195. The Eagles No. 1s are Mason Zimmerman at 126 and Adam Kritzer at 145.
All of last weekend's sectional champs, seeded one through four, receive byes into the quarterfinals.
Sheesley, a senior, is 23-3, and is a two-time state qualifier and one-time medalist (seventh).
Zimmerman, a senior at 28-10, is seeking his first state tournament berth.
Kritzer, 32-5, and a senior, is a two-time state qualifier.
Preisch, a sophomore, is 28-1, finished fourth in last year's regional and is seeking his first PIAA berth.
Walter, a junior, at 18-1, placed sixth in the state tournament last year in his first trip to Hershey.
Solomon is 25-1 and the junior is already a two-time state medalist, placing sixth as a freshman and finishing as the runner-up a year ago.
Mironenko, a sophomore, is 33-2, and a fourth-place regional finisher last season.
In addition, the field includes Benton two-time state medalist Colt Cotten. The junior 132-pounder is 27-2. He has placed fifth and fourth, respectively, the past two seasons.
