Schedule of National Wrestling Events • 2012-13
The following is a list of national wrestling events which will be held over the next 12 months. WIN will continue to update this list as more dates become public.
Oct. 20-21, 2012 • Super 32 Challenge • Greensboro, N.C. — Originally began at Morehead High School in Eden, N.C., in the mid-1990s for wrestlers primarily in North Carolina and Virginia, it has grown into perhaps the most notable “preseason” tournaments for high school wrestlers around the country with the chance to capture the notable “Super 32 Belt” in the Greensboro Coliseum. Among the 2011 Super 32 champions were Jared Brooks, Ben Whitford, Chance Marsteller, and Taylor Massa who all finished No. 1 in the country at their weight.
Nov. 3, 2012 • NWCA All-Star Classic • Washington, D.C. — American University will play host to this event which has been moved up three weeks earlier than in past All-Star Classics. Among the highlights in last year’s All-Star Classic, which was held the Monday before Thanksgiving, came at 133 pounds where Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State edged Illinois’ B.J. Futrell, 8-7. Both wrestlers, who earned All-American honors last March, are expected to move up to 141 pounds this winter.
Nov. 8, 2012 • NYAC Holiday International Open • New York City — This will be the first post-Olympics competition for Senior-level wrestlers in men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling and will be held at the New York Athletic Club.
Nov. 30, Dec. 1 • Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational • Las Vegas, Nev. — This will be the 31st straight year that Cliff Keen Athletic will play host to this college tournament, which once again will return to the Las Vegas Convention Center. In last year’s tournament, Ohio State — with seven freshmen in its line-up — held off Big Ten-rival Michigan, 129-116, in its team scoring. Among the most noticeable upsets came at 141 pounds when true freshman Hunter Stieber defeated NCAA champion Kellen Russell and joined his brother Logan Stieber, the 133-pound champ.
Dec. 7-8, 2012 • Walsh-Jesuit Ironman • Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio — This is considered by many the “true” national individual high school event, which drew 72 teams from around the nation to Walsh-Jesuit High School to this community just south of Cleveland. Last year’s Ironman saw Blair Academy (N.J.) edge St. Edward (Ohio), 252.5-240.5 in the team score.
Dec. 14-16, 2012 • Reno Tournament of Champions • Reno, Nev. — Dubbed as the “Toughest Tournament in the USA,” the RTOC will welcome some of the top high school teams to the 18th annual event for the two-day event, which will be followed by a one-day college tournament. In last year’s RTOC, Poway (Calif.) High School used 12 place-winners to out-distance second-place Tulsa (Okla.) Union High School by a 270.5-211.5 margin. Easton (Pa.) finished third. In the college tournament, Oklahoma State — led by O.W. Jordan Oliver (an Easton alum, who pinned all his foes at 133 pounds and later captured the Schalles Award for pinning at season’s end) — out-distanced second-place Wyoming by a 166-115.5 margin.
Dec. 16, 2012 • Grapple at the Garden • New York, N.Y. — Four the first time in the 133-year history of Madison Square Garden, college wrestling will take place in this inaugural event which will draw 14 schools from around the country: Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Chattanooga, Cornell, Drexel, George Mason, Hofstra, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Rutgers. Many of the teams will compete in two duals, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., that Sunday.
Dec, 22-23, 2012 • Beast of the East • Newark, Del. — This will be 20th straight year this high school tournament is held at the Bob Carpenter Center at the University of Delaware. Led by four-time Beast champion Mark Grey, one of five individual champions by Blair Academy, the top-ranked school from New Jersey scored 321.5 points to easily out-distance Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), which had 179 points.
Dec. 22-23, 2012 • Dvorak Invitational • Machesney Park, Ill. — This year’s tournament, held at Harlem High School in this community north of Rockford, will mark the 25th year this event will be held. In last year’s Dvorak, Montini Catholic won the team title with 205.5 points to defeat another Chicago-area school Marist (182.5). Finishing a close third was Iowa City West (178.5) which held off Barrington (171).
Dec. 28-29, 2012 • POWERade Tournament • Canonsburg, Pa. — At this point, 46 teams have entered this tournament, which be held at Canon McMillan High School in this community near Pittsburgh, Pa. Blair Academy solidified its No. 1 national ranking with a team championship while Jimmy Gulibon of Derry High School was named O.W. when he defeated Blair’s Max Hvolbek in the 126-pound final.
Dec. 28-29, 2012 • The Clash XI • Rochester, Minn. — St. Edward (Ohio) defeated Apple Valley (Minn.), 32-22, in the championship bracket of last year’s tournament which was held in Rochester’s Field House. Apple Valley is expected to return but with a new coach as long-time coach Jim Jackson has retired after 32 years.
Dec. 29-30, 2012 • The Midlands • Evanston, Ill. — This marks the 50th year of this prestigious college event, which will once again be held at Northwestern University’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. Unfortunately, the University of Iowa, which has won 22 team titles, including four of the last five, will not be competing.
Jan. 1-2, 2013 • Southern Scuffle • Chattanooga, Tenn. — Now in its second year after moving from Greensboro, N.C. to the University of Chattanooga, three of the top college teams will once again be competing: Penn State, Minnesota, Cornell and Oklahoma State.
Jan. 4-5, 2013 • The Cheesehead • Kaukauna, Wisc. — This marks the 15th year of this event in this community 25 miles southwest of Green Bay. In last year’s tournament, Apple Valley won a third-straight team title and held off Bettendorf (Iowa) by five points, the closest margin of victory in the history of the tournament.
Jan. 4-5, 2013 • Doc Buchanan Invitational • Clovis, Calif. — Clovis High School won last year’s event and will once again play host to this event, which turns 36 years old and featured 12 eventual California state champions.
Jan. 12-13, 2013 • NWCA/Cliff Keen (Non-Division I) National Duals • Springfield, Ill. — For the second straight year, the Prairie Capital Convention Center will play host to this event, which will determine the best dual team in the NCAA’s Division II and III, NAIA, NJCAA and Women’s College Wrestling Association.
Jan. 11-12, 2013 • Virginia Duals • Hampton Roads, Va. — In an event which served as the precursor to the current NWCA National Duals, beginning in 1981, this year’s tournament will decide the best dual teams in large and small divisions in both college and high school wrestling. In last year’s college tournaments, Kent State defeated Missouri for the National College title while Brockport beat Nassau CC for the American College championship. In the high school tournaments, Canon-McMillan (Pa.) defeated Christiansburg (Va.) for the National High School Division, while Ocean Lakes (Va.) defeated Liberty (Pa.) in the American Division.
Jan. 12, 2013 • NHSCA Wrestling Festival • York, Pa. — The York Expo Center will play host to this event, which drew 19 teams around the country, including top-ranked Blair Academy, which defeated Easton (Pa.) High School in the championship dual match-up.
Jan. 30, 2012 • Dave Schultz Memorial Invitational • Colorado Springs, Colo. — The Olympic Training Center will once again bring many of the world’s best freestyle and Greco wrestlers on the Senior level in honor of the late World/Olympic champion Dave Schultz.
Feb. 17 & 24, 2013 — NWCA/Cliff Keen (Division I) National Duals — Four different sites — Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Kent State in Kent, Ohio, Oregon State in Corvalis, Ore., and the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. — will play host to four regional sites on this Sunday with the winners advancing to a yet-to-be determined national site on Feb. 24, and will be joined by last year’s Final Four participants: Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma State and Minnesota, which defeated OSU in last year’s championship dual.
March 21-23, 2013 — NCAA Division I National Championships • Des Moines, Iowa — With Iowa State University serving as tournament host, this year’s Nationals will be held at the Wells Fargo Arena. Penn State, led by coach Cael Sanderson — the former four-time NCAA champion from Iowa State, will be shooting for its third-straight team championship as 2012 Hodge Trophy winner David Taylor returns for another shot at NCAA gold at 165 pounds. Among the other notable individual story lines, Cornell’s Kyle Dake will be shooting for a fourth-straight title, most likely at 157 pounds, while Iowa’s Matt McDonough returns for his senior season with two national titles (2010 and ’12) and one runner-up (2011) finish on his collegiate resume.
April 3-7, 2013 • NHSCA National High Championships • Virginia Beach, Va. — This is the 24th anniversary of the National High School Coaches Association “prime-time” event, which again will be held at Virginia Beach Convention Center. Originally just a national championship for high school seniors, this event now holds separate national tournaments for juniors, sophomores and freshmen wrestlers as well as a tournament for middle school wrestlers.
• The official dates of USA Wrestling’s U.S. Open and World Team Trials are expected to be announced soon.
