Burke, VA - The Northern Region Tournament began yesterday at Robinson and features the top four finishers in each weight class from last weekend's four district tournaments.

The respective winners won't be crowned until Saturday evening and the team title will likely come down to the last match. Hayfield coach Roy Hill, whose team is the two-time defending champ, says Concorde District champion Centreville should be the favorite. Wildcats coach John Sloan says Patriot District champion Hayfield should be the favorite.

According to coaches in the region, one of them is right.

``Centreville and Hayfield are in a class by themselves," Marshall coach Phil Cronin said. ``But this will probably be one of the tightest region races in a long time."

Hayfield has four wrestlers - junior Gabe Resto (112 pounds) and seniors Jason Howard (145), Tomas Ovale (189) and Floyd Wright (Heavyweight) - expected to shine and all are coming off Patriot District titles. Neither Howard, Ovale or Wright has lost to a Group AAA wrestler this season and each is currently ranked No. 1 in the state by Mat Talk On-Line, a web site dedicated to coverage of Virginia high school wrestling.

``The favorite should probably be Centreville," Hill said. ``But I feel good about our chances. We're going to need some of our younger guys to step up. It would be great to win the region title but our main goal is get our guys in position to win a state championship."

If Hayfield wins the title this weekend, it will be the first school to ever win three consecutive Northern Region titles.

Centreville has 11 wrestlers that were regional qualifiers a season ago and boasts a lineup that features seven district champions: Nick Paradise (112), Mark Moore (130), Scott Dolny (135), Jon Koch (140), Matt Wood (160) and Jason Myers (215).

``We're looking for a lot of points from those guys," said Sloan, who commented on his team's chances to win it all. ``If we wrestle well, we have a great shot at it. But Hayfield has to be the favorite because they've won the last two years. They're going to have at least three champions [Howard, Ovalle and Wright]. Those three guys have pretty much been dominant all season long."

The Wildcats are in search of their first region title since 1993.

Other teams that can be considered sleepers and have title aspirations are Herndon, West Potomac, National District champion Yorktown and Robinson, despite the recent loss of Larry Oufiero (112) to injury.

``Robinson has five guys that have a chance to get to the finals," Hill said. ``I expect them to be right up there challenging for the lead."

Marshall senior David Friedman (125) will set the school record for tournament victories with a title this weekend. He is currently 33-0 (126-27 career) and is seven wins away from breaking Neal Blanford's school record for victories set in 1980. Friedman has drawn a lot of interest from college programs and has narrowed his decision to Virginia Tech, Ithaca and Hofstra, according to Cronin.

``David has definitely established himself as one of the most dominant wrestlers in the region," Cronin said.