Things to know for this weekend's Sheetz Holiday Classic

The Sheetz Holiday Classic is the first big tournament in the area, and it's getting bigger. The field has been expanded from 23 to a whopping 29 teams. It will be held Friday and Saturday at Penn Cambria High School in Cresson. Here's a look what you need to know for the tournament:


Familiar faces: Altoona, Berlin Brothersvalley, Cambria Heights, Central Cambria, Colonial Forge (Va.), Conemaugh Township, Forest Hills, Hazleton Area, Hollidaysburg, Ligonier Valley, Mercer, Mount Pleasant, Penn Cambria, Portage, Richland, St. Joseph's Academy, St. Marys, South Park, Tyrone, Williamsport.


Who's in: Bellwood-Antis, Chartiers Valley, HOPE for Hyndman, James Wood (Va.), Kempsville (Va.), Mifflinburg, Redbank Valley, Riverbend (Va.), Williams Valley.


Who's out: Canandaigua (N.Y.) Academy, Huntingdon, Northern Cambria,


Returning champions: Max Murin, Central Cambria (106), Jimmy Hoffman, Hazleton Area (120), Adam George, Richland (126), Tommy Opdenhoff, Central Cambria (132), Jake Wentzel, South Park (138), D.J. Hollingshead, Altoona (152), Patrick Grayson, Colonial Forge (220). Click here to see last year's results.
2012 champs Triston Law, Forest Hills (113), D.J. Hollingshead, Altoona (132), Mike Eckenrode, Penn Cambria (138) and Taylor Cahill, Berlin Brothersvalley (152) also return. Click here to see 2012 results.


Returning Pa. state placewinners:
Altoona – D.J. Hollingshead (4^th at 152 AAA)
Cambria Heights – Levi Niebauer (6^th at 160)
Central Cambria – Max Murin (5^th at 106)
Forest Hills – Triston Law (5^th at 120; 6^th at 106 in 2013)
South Park – Jake Wentzel (3^rd at 138; 8^th at 132 in 2013)
Mifflinburg – Cole Walter (3^rd at 152; 7^th at 132 in 2013)

Returning Pa. regional placewinners (not listed above)
Altoona – Cole Manley (NW-3 106)
Berlin Brothersvalley – Joe Swank (SW-5 120), Taylor Cahill (SW-4 152) Bryce Fochtman (SW-4 160)
Central Cambria – Tommy Opdnhoff (SW-3 126)
Hazleton Area – Jimmy Hoffman (NE-3 AAA 120)
Hollidaysburg – Dalton Long (NW-4 132)
Penn Cambria – Nolan Link (SW-2 106)
Redbank Valley – Tanner Altobelli (NW-3 126)
Richland – Adam George (SW-6 126)
St. Marys – Derek Taylor (NW-4 182)
South Park – Dallas Bulsak (SW-3 106)
Williams Valley – William Girard (SE-4 106)
Williamsport – Roshaun Cooley (NW-2 AAA 120)

Returning Va. state placewinners
Kempsville –Shimels Stone (4th 220)
James Wood –Aaron Black (1st 113)
Colonial Forge –Marc Garofalo (3rd 120), Josh Nail (1st 126), Clay Smith (5th 132), Jeff Stone (2nd 138), Anthony Carter (5th 170), Robert Winters (5th 182), Cameron Houston (8th 195), Patrick Grayson (1st 220).

Name to know: Jared Lough, Colonial Forge (145). He might only be a freshman, but the Virginia wrestler has already experienced success in our area, as he won a 135-pound FloNationals Middle School title at the Kovalchick Center in Indiana in April. He also captured a NHSCA national title. I'll be interested to see how he fares against some of the more experienced wrestlers in Cressson this weekend.


Weight to watch: 126 – There should be plenty of depth here. Hazelton's Jimmy Hoffman is here after capturing the 120-pound Sheetz title last year, as is Colonial Forge's Josh Nail, who he beat in the finals last year. Roshaun Cooley of Williamsport was a AAA state qualifier last year while Redbank Valley's Tanner Altobelli and South Park's Dallas Bulsak each went to Hershey in Class AA. That should make for some interesting quarterfinals, to say nothing of the semifinals and championship.


Tentative schedule – The schedule is a bit different this year, as the quarterfinals have moved from Friday night to Saturday morning. Also, all four mats (the fourth is in the wrestling room upstairs) will be used up to the placement round, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Friday, Dec. 12
4:45 p.m. Pigtails
5:45 p.m. Preliminaries/1st round consolations
8:30 p.m. Second-round consolations
10 p.m. Expected finish
Saturday, Dec. 13
8:30 a.m. Quarterfinals/Third-round consolations
10:45 a.m. Fourth-round consolations
12:15 p.m. Semifinals/Fifth-round consolations
2:15 p.m. Consolation semifinals
5:30 p.m. 3rd-, 5th- and 7th-place matches
6:45 p.m. Parade of champions
7 p.m. Finals

Seating – I know many have questioned how 29 teams and their fans will fit in Penn Cambria's gymnasium. I discussed this with Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer and address that in The Tribune-Democrat preview, which I'll post online shortly. He did say that there will be a live feed of the bout board in the cafeteria, so that wrestlers and/or fans can be there and still know when a match is on deck