Dec 27, 2017 4 min read

When the seeds for the Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament were released Tuesday, one thing became obvious.

An undefeated state champion will be leaving the 126-pound weight class with a loss.

The question is: Will it be Gavin Teasdale or Sam Hillegas?

Teasdale, a three-time undefeated PIAA Class AA champion from Jefferson-Morgan High School, is the top seed. Hillegas completed a perfect 113-pound sophomore season for North Hills last year, going 43-0 in Class AAA and winning the weight class by defeating Louis Newell of Seneca Valley for the second straight time in the postseason.

“We’ve seen Hillegas at Hershey and he’s not bad at all,” said Jefferson-Morgan head coach Mike Lesko. “I think Gavin is the favorite but there are a lot of good wrestlers who want to put that first loss on him. Gavin likes it when the lights are on. Most of the time, he brings his best. He’s ready, so we’ll see what happens.”

First-round action at Canon-McMillan High School begins at 8:15 a.m., Friday followed by quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Semifinals are at 11 a.m., Saturday and finals at 7 p.m.

There is another scenario for the 126-pound weight: Teasdale and Hillegas could each sustain their first loss in this event. That’s how good this weight class is. The third seed is Beau Bartlett of Wyoming Seminary, who is coming off a win in the MyHouse X-Caliber Tournament in Wilkes-Barre and who took fourth in the prestigious Walsh Ironman tournament Dec. 8-9. Bartlett is ranked No. 6 at 126 pounds by InterMat.

Cole Rhone is the fourth seed in Powerade’s 126-pound vice grip.

Rhone was a PIAA Class AA runner-up to Brookville’s Gavin Park at 120 pounds last season.

“There are four state champions at 126,” said Powerade tournament director Frank Vulcano. “There are also at least 15 state qualifiers in that weight class. That’s one of the best weight classes. At 120, there are four state champions and 17 state qualifiers. It’s pretty close to being the best (lineup) we’ve had here. We have weights where its stacked with state champions and state qualifiers.”

Interestingly, the matchup many wrestling fans thought might happen didn’t materialize: Teasdale vs. Joey Silva of Lake Highland Prep in Florida. Silva was ranked No. 1 and Teasdale No. 2 at 132 pounds. Teasdale has been wrestling up for team purposes and is certified at 126 and will eventually be ranked at the lower weight. Silva is certified at 132. Silva is coming off a second-place finish in the Beast of the East event. Silva sustained a broken nose in the final seconds of the semifinals and forfeited in the finals.

A Dec. 11 post on Twitter by FloWrestling suggested the two should be in the same weight class for Powerade. But when the seeds were released, Silva was No. 1 in a weak 132-pound weight class and Teasdale was at 126.

Teasdale will be trying to become the seventh four-time champion in Powerade history. The other six are North Allegheny’s Ty Moore (1986-89), Central Dauphin’s Marshall Peppelman (2006-09), Franklin Regional’s Nico Megaludis (2007-10), Derry’s Jimmy Gulibon (2008-11), Kennard Dale’s Chance Marsteller (2010-13) and Latrobe’s Luke Pletcher (2012-15).

Teasdale defeated Logan Macri of Canon-McMillan, 10-4, in the 120-pound finals last year in the featured bout of the finals. Macri is again at 120 and got the second seed. Newell is the top seed, defending PIAA Class AAA champion Doug Zapf of Downingtown West is third seed and Darren Miller of Kiski, a Class AAA bronze medalist at 106 in Hershey last season, is fourth seed.

Ryan Chauvin, a state champion from Lake Highland Prep, and Brandon Wittenberg, a state champion from Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Va., were seeded fifth and sixth, respectively. Chase Shields, a state runner-up from Bishop McDevitt in Class AA, is seventh.

“It’s one of the top tournaments in the country, so all our guys are going to get really good looks,” said C-M head coach Jeff Havelka.

“We’ll evaluate it and go from there.”

Besides Teasdale and Hillegas, other returning champions are Kurt McHenry of St. Paul’s, Md., who won at 106; Cole Matthews of Reynolds at 138; and Trent Hidlay of Mifflin County at 170.