We now have Powerade pre-seeds and with that comes the speculation of who will meet and when. 

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After taking a look at this year’s field, I’ve picked out some of the most compelling storylines to watch out for at this year’s tournament. We’ve got potential matchups that could serve as previews for state tournaments as well as some revenge seekers. 

So let’s dig in.

113: #2 Kurt McHenry vs #4 Alejandro Herrera 

We recently saw Alejandro Herrera battle it out with #1 Richie Figueroa at Ironman. And despite taking the loss it really showed us that he has what it takes to go with the top tier of talent in the weight class. Since taking a loss himself at Who’s #1 at 120, McHenry has come back down to his more natural weight of 113 and is currently ranked second behind Richie Figs, something he’d like to prove wrong. This bout could look similar to Herrera’s match in the Ironman finals because of the similarities coming from across the mat. The one thing I am looking forward to seeing is how McHenry handles the length of Herrera. We saw in last year’s National Prep finals as well as WNO that the size difference can cause some problems for him. 

182: PA State Rematch 

#4 Carter Starocci vs #5 Gerrit Nijenhuis: This match came down to the wire at last year’s PA state championships. The “was it a takedown” debate is still going on. Well, hopefully we get to see this one happen this weekend. It will probably serve as a state championship preview. 

120: Phipps, #10 Sullivan, Bayless, Guida

So let’s lay it out like this. The top four seeds all have some pretty serious motivation this year. Fourth seeded Wil Guida lost to top-seeded Phipps in last year’s finals in ultimate tiebreaker. Phipps defeated Sullivan, the #2 seed, for a WPIAL title two seasons ago. Sullivan went on to place second in the state that year, but didn’t have to go through Phipps to do it. Last year, Sullivan won the state title at 113 last year while Phipps was second at 106. 

Now they are back in the same weight class and if seedings hold true then this could give us a glimpse of a potential state championships matchup later on in the season. Lastly is the #3 seed Beau Bayless who was the runner-up at last year’s tournament to Nic Bouakis, who didn’t return this year. And while he won’t be seeking any revenge, he does have the sour taste of coming up short here a year ago behind him.

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145 Is Loaded

Here is where there’s an interesting dynamic for three different states. Let’s start with New Jersey. Ricky Cabanillas is the top seed and returning state champ at 145. Lucas Revano is the #2 seed and is also a returning New Jersey state champion (at 132). If seedings hold up then these two could meet in the finals and give us a possible preview of what the state final could be.

Then there’s Ohio where the story is slightly different. Bryce Andonian is the returning state champ and Chris Donathan is the return runner-up. Andonian got the three-seed and Donathan is the #6. Another potential state final is in the works if these two were to meet. 

Last is West Virginia where John Martin Best of Parkersburg, the four seed, is the returning state runner-up at 138 and Parkersburg South’s Brayden Roberts, who is the #5 seed, is the returning 126-pound state champ. Now with them in the same class these two state finalists are bound to meet at some point. And if that's not compelling enough, let's go back to their freshman year when they met three times and Best won two of those three matches, including in the state finals. Needless to say, this one has a little something extra.

While all of these intra-state matchups are incredible intriguing, the fact that any of these guys could make the final in this loaded bracket adds another interesting wrinkle.