Cathedral Prep’s Nick Milano was considered a contender to win the PIAA wrestling tournament’s Class AAA 171-pound title even before he even arrived at Hershey on Thursday.

Now, with the absence of Cumberland Valley star Mike Evans, Milano could be the division's front-runner.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported Monday that Evans, a three-time District 3 champion and last weekend’s Southcentral Region winner, withdrew from the state meet for an undisclosed reason. Evans (41-1) and Milano (36-3) were projected to face in Saturday morning’s 171 semifinals, with the winner thought to be a prohibitive favorite going into the championship match later that day at the Giant Center.

Evans wasn’t listed in the AAA 171 bracket of PIAA programs handed out to the media Thursday. Taking his place as the Southcentral Region’s new top seed is Dallastown senior Clay Gable (35-4).

The shuffled bracket means that Milano’s new preliminary opponent today will be Neal Sweigart (25-8), a senior from Donegal. Sweigart is listed as the Southcentral Region's third seed.

That region’s new second seed is Clint Morrison (34-7), a junior from Cedar Cliff. Morrison was supposed to open against Milano, but now draws Council Rock South junior Bobby Lavelle (33-11) in the bottom half of the bracket.

The tournament's AAA portion starts today at 4 p.m. The three-day event opens with the Class AA first round at 9 a.m.

-- Mike Copper