PHOTO BY DAVE WILSON

Medina senior Rutger Luebke is considered one of the top catchers in the state. He returns to lead a Bees team that advanced to regionals last season.

Could Rutger Luebke be the next David Wright of the New York Mets, Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals or BJ Upton of the Tampa Bay Rays?

While that remains to be seen, some big-time organizations see a bright future for the Medina senior catcher.

Luebke was selected by the Baseball Factory and Team One to join the elite from around the nation at the sixth annual Under Armour Pre-Season All-America Tournament in Tucson, Ariz., this weekend.

Pro scouts representing 23 of the 30 Major League Baseball teams attended the event the past two years and are expected to be there this time as 120 Under Armour Pre-Season All-Americans have been selected in the Amateur Draft since the tournament’s inception, including Wright, Hosmer and Upton.

And before you think it’s just another run-of-the-mill baseball showcase, Luebke is the only Ohio invitee listed on the tournament’s site.

It’s quite an honor for the catcher who threw out more than 50 percent of would-be base stealers last year, while hitting .365 with 15 runs on Medina’s regional baseball team.

“It’s huge,” Bees coach Nick Kaplack said. “You have to be one of the top players in the country to go to that. I know in my heart, Rutger is by far the best catcher in the state this year. To be selected for that, he might be one of the top 10 catchers in the nation.

“He is one of the top guys in Ohio,” Kaplack said. “Any team we’ve played against – I don’t care if you have Willie Mays Hayes or Ricky Henderson on first base – you’re not running on him.”

The event takes place Friday through Sunday at the Kino Sports Complex – the former spring training home of the Arizona Diamondbacks

“It’s a pretty big honor,” said Luebke, who will play for Lake Erie College next year. “I think I’ll be one of the only Division II players there. It’ll be nice to represent a smaller school and prove some of the bigger schools wrong, I guess.”

A complete list of players can be found here.

Brush and the Bulldogs

And you thought Friday’s Division I Regional final rematch between Mentor and Garfield Heights was the only big game in the Northeast Ohio Conference.

Think again, as Stow (7-1, 3-0) entertains Brush (8-0, 3-0) Friday in a donnybrook of a River Division contest.

The Arcs are an inside-out team with two immovable forces in the blocks in 6-foot-4 junior forward Curtis Oakley (18.1 points per game) and 6-foot-7 senior forward Pharaoh Brown (17.2 ppg).

Stow has two great guards in reigning NOC MVP senior David Walker (23.4 ppg) and first-team all-league Kyle Scelza (22.0 ppg).

It should be noted, however, that Walker has missed the last four games with a wrist injury.

A year ago, the Bulldogs beat Brush 43-39 and 53-44 en route to their regional final appearance.

Brush reached the Euclid District Final before losing to Mentor.

Classic Cage

Twinsburg returns this weekend to the Classic in the Country Challenge at Berlin Hiland High School.

The Tigers (9-2) will put a 30-game winning streak against Ohio teams on the line when they take on Kettering Fairmont on Saturday and Mason on Monday.

Saturday’s game against the Firebirds (10-2) is a rematch of last year’s Division I state final won by Twinsburg, 55-42.

Mason (8-2) reached the regional level last season before losing 48-35 to Fairmont in the round of 16.

Suburban League representative Wadsworth will also be at the Classic in the Country, playing Toledo Notre Dame on Monday.

Wrestling with success

Two you-won’t-believe-it-until-you-read it duals happened in the River Division last week as Medina beat Brunswick 38-36, while Stow pinned a 43-31 loss on previously unbeaten North Royalton.

The Bees came back from a 36-12 deficit, picking up the win when two-time state placer Matt Hammer pinned Joe Schmidt in the final match at 138 pounds.

The Bulldogs spotted the Bears a 31-6 advantage, but came back to win thanks to pins at the end by Jeremy Light (220) and Dan Garner (285).

That created a logjam at the top of the River Division as Medina, North Royalton, Stow and Cuyahoga Falls all entered Thursday’s action at 2-1 in the league.

The Black Tigers travel to North Royalton on Thursday, while the Bees entertain Hudson. Stow travels to Brunswick.