The Predictor ranks:

The Toughest High School Wrestling Tourneys

(Regular Season)

 

Every weekend of the season has a dozen or so tournaments somewhere, and Saturday wrestling isn’t the exception it was thirty years ago.  Typically, more than half of a wrestler’s regular-season experience will come from these sometimes-grueling competitions, readying them for their post-season run to Tacoma.

 

The Predictor’s tournament rankings are based upon a combination of the following criteria:

 

*   Number of high-quality competitors

*   Number of teams competing

*   Overall Quality of teams competing

*   Tradition

 

I rank the tournaments that included Washington teams last season—and will likely include Evergreen state grapplers this year.  Here we go…

 

1.                Reno Tournament of Champions, Reno, Nevada.
Defending Champs--Calvary Chapel—Bakersfield, CA

Ranked as one of the toughest tournaments in the nation by every wrestling publication out there, this 84-team beast draws teams from far and wide—Calvary Chapel and Bakersfield from California, Wasatch from Utah, Easton and State College of Pennsylvania, Broken Arrow from Oklahoma, Crater from Oregon, Green River of Wyoming.  To attest to its strength, the RTOC turned Sandpoint of Idaho, the Tri-State champs walking away, into an also-ran sixteenth place last year.  The highest placing Washington State team was Elma, which finished fifty-first.

 

2.                Tri-State Tournament, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Defending Champs—Sandpoint—Sandpoint, ID

This is a 46-team northwest classic.  The best wrestlers from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho rumbling for a title that’s probably bigger than a state championship.  It’s not unusual to see three or four returning state champs in a single weight class at this meat grinder, and many wrestlers often go away beaten-up by someone who, before the trip to Idaho, they’d never even heard of.  Eleven of the placers for this one went on to win at Mat Classic, and thirty-six got medals.  That’s just for Washington—I don’t have stats for the other states, but you get the picture.  The best finish by a Washington team in 2000 was Lake Stevens in second (they’d won the previous two…)

 

3.                Asics Sierra-Nevada Classic, Reno, Nevada
Defending Champs—Virgin Valley—Mesquite, NV

Yet another Reno Tournament getting nationwide attention, the Sierra-Nevada Classic doesn’t draw quite the level of competition of its bigger brother, but it is a bumpy ride, nonetheless.  I mean, think about it, eighty-eight teams from across the nation battling for the crown.  Last year Sumner High School made this state’s best showing, placing twenty-ninth.

 

4.                Pacific Coast Championships, Vancouver, Washington
Defending Champs—Skyview—Missoula, MT

This is a relatively new tournament—it has only been around for a couple of years—but it is already becoming one of the premier events in the western half of the United States.  In it’s debut seasons, it had good draws of 32 teams from Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, and of course, Washington.  This year, Wasatch of Utah is expected to make the trip, bringing the brackets, and the tournament, lots of national respect.  Last year, 39 of the tournament’s 50 Washington-state placers got medals at Mat Classic, and six of them took gold in Tacoma.

 

5.                Rocky Mountain Classic, Missoula, Montana
Defending Champs—Great Falls—Great Falls, MT

A team from our home state has never won this wintry 19-team competition.  In the heart of western Montana’s Rocky Mountains, they know how to wrestle hard, and Evergreen State teams have learned the tough way.  In 1999, Gonzaga Prep won the first-ever 4A state championship, but they couldn’t win the RMC.  Last year, Clarkston’s tough team made the run at a championship, but Great Falls caught them in the consolations, leaving the Bantams in a respectable second-place.

 

6.                Sundome Classic, Yakima, Washington
Defending Champs—Othello—Othello, WA

The sheer size of this tourney dictates a mention on this list.  But the competition ain’t bad either.  Twenty-two teams slugged it out in Yakima for two days, and 29 of the top-four placers in the Sundome got medals at state, including four champs.

 

7.                Battle of the Border, Blaine, Washington
Defending Champs—Heritage—Vancouver, WA

Another tournament coming into its own, this is a strictly homegrown affair, attracting schools from all classifications in Washington.  Sixteen schools compete for the title, and virtually every bracket has multiple man-beasts in the mix.  Last season, eight of the Battle’s placers went on to win state titles, and 23 got medals in the Dome.  Plus, they last year they had Ed Aliverti doing the announcing—could it get any better?

 

8.                River Ridge Invitational, Lacey, Washington
Defending Champs—White River---Buckley, WA

A twelve-team battle that included piles and piles of talent, from the top-four placers in this tourney we saw eight finalists and twenty-five medallists in Tacoma.  For the participants, this is a pretty awesome tune-up just before the post-season.

 

9.                Clark County Championships, Vancouver, Washington
Defending Champs—Heritage—Vancouver, WA

This is one of those localized tournaments that just seem to concentrate a lot of talent across the classifications.  In 2001, the CCC finals featured eighteen eventual state medallists, and seven of them would get into the state finals.

 

10.           Vashon Island Tournament, Vashon, Washington
Defending Champs—Lakeside—Nine Mile Falls, WA

Pretty much a 2A-only affair, this prelude to the Mat Classic is one of the few venues where you can compare apples to apples as far as in-class rankings are concerned.  But this contest doesn’t slouch—it brings in the best from across the state.  Last year, twenty of the twenty-eight finalists at this tourney got medals at state, three becoming champs.

 

11.           Grandview Winter Classic, Grandview, Washington
Defending Champs—Sedro-Woolley—Sedro-Woolley, WA

This is the smallest tournament on my list.  Even though only eight teams got invited to this get-together, it still produced seventeen state medallists, and seven finalists.  And that’s just from the crew that made the Winter Classic’s finals.  We’ll see if the competition is as tough this season.

 

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