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Saturday is shaping up to be one of the busiest days in recent memory as far as local sports are concerned.
Five Washington County high school basketball teams will be looking to cut down nets, both Marietta College hoops squads are hoping to pull off upsets while area wrestlers are set to begin sectional tournament competition.
Starting with girls basketball, Fort Frye and Waterford both are one win away from reaching the Sweet 16 in their respective divisions.
The Cadets will take on Union Local at 1 p.m. at Zanesville High School in a Division III East District championship, while the Wildcats square off against South Gallia at 3 p.m. at Piketon High School in a D-IV Southeast District final.
Each matchup will be a round three, as Fort Frye lost twice to the Jets -- once in the regular season and once in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference 3A championship -- while Waterford split with the Rebels during Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division league play.
In boys basketball action, Marietta and Warren will be looking to knock off the top two seeds in the Division II Southeast District in sectional final games. The Warriors visit Washington Court House at 7 p.m. while at the same time the Tigers will take on Fairfield Union in Lancaster. In D-III, Belpre will travel to North Adams at 7 p.m. with hopes off knocking off the fourth-seeded Green Devils for a sectional crown.
The Marietta College basketball teams will be on the road Saturday afternoon looking to clinch automatic bids into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The women's team visits Ohio Northern in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship game for a 2 p.m. tip-off. An hour later, the the Pioneers will take on Mount Union in Alliance in the men's OAC Tournament final.
The Marietta women are the No. 2 seed in this year's conference tournament. The Pioneers split with the top-seeded Polar Bears in the regular season.
On the men's side, the Pios got the fourth seed and stunned No. 1-seeded John Carroll Thursday to get a shot at the Purple Raiders, who bested Marietta twice during conference play.
Before any of the basketball action gets going, local wrestlers will be up early looking to punch their tickets to districts. Waterford and Fort Frye will compete starting at 9 a.m. in a Division III sectional at Barnesville High School, while at the same time Belpre will be at Sandy Valley High School in the other D-III sectional.
At 10 a.m., the Warren and Marietta grapplers will be at Gallia Academy High School for the Division II sectional.
Should be an exciting all-around day for local athletes!
Jordan Holland is the sports editor for The Marietta Times. He can be reached at jholland@mariettatimes.com.