High school wrestling will bring lots of visitors to Chadron this weekend.
The Chadron High Wrestling Tournament that dates back to 1985, will take place again in the Nelson Physical Activity Center at Chadron State College on Saturday, Jan. 22. The tourney was not held last year, but was replaced by a dual tournament. This year both are on tap, with the duals taking over the mats on Friday and the tournament going full force on Saturday.
Eight teams from the larger schools will be involved in the duals. They are Alliance, Campbell County High at Gillette, Chadron, Mead County from Longmont, Colo., Mitchell, Ogallala, Scottsbluff and Valentine. They will begin tangling at 10 a.m. Friday and are expected to continue through the late afternoon.
All of these teams except Scottsbluff also have entered the tournament. More than a dozen other schools also will be in the tourney. Those from Nebraska are Bayard, Bridgeport, Chase County, Crawford, Garden County, Gordon-Rushville, Hay Springs, Hemingford, Kimball, Morrill and Perkins County at Grant.
Three South Dakota schools—Hill City, Newell and Pine Ridge—also will be in the tourney.
In addition, the tourney also will include girls from eight Nebraska high schools that have added wrestling this year. They are Bayard, Bridgeport, Chadron, Garden County, Hemingford, Mitchell, Ogallala and Valentine.
And, a boys’ junior varsity division is also on the agenda.
Chadron High Athletic Director Andy Pope said five mats will be utilized Saturday. Seven referees have been signed up to make the calls.