Powerade moves to Monroeville Convention Center
The Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament is on the move.
One of the top amateur wrestling events in the nation, Powerade will take place Dec. 28 and Dec. 29 at the larger facility.
“To help comply with the health and safety guidelines set by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and to assist in social distancing we are happy to announce a change in venues for the 2020 Powerade Wrestling Tournament,” said tournament director Frank Vulcano, athletic director at Canon-McMillan High School.
“The Governor’s new gathering limits issued on Oct. 6 has presented us with no choice but to move the 2020 Powerade Wrestling Tournament from Canon-McMillan High School, the longtime home of the tournament.”
The junior varsity tournament will be held Dec. 27.
Powerade has had other venues before. The event began as Frank Vulcano, Sr’s., brain child at California University. It spent some time at Trinity High School before heading to Canon-McMillan.
“We’re doing it because it’s 400 (spectators) at Canon-McMillan and 1,100 over there,” said Vulcano. “It’s hard to say what we get for the finals. If you count the kids who are paying, we’re nowhere near that. If we count everyone, we’re around 2,000.”
Vulcano will welcome 57 teams with the top five being Wyoming Semimary, Malvern Prep. Waymesburg, Canon-McMillan and Parkersburg (W.Va.) South.
Four defending Powerade champions, nine silver medalists and 60 placewinners return. Also back are 21 state champions, eight who qualified for the state tournament in New Jersey, 21 from Ohio, 19 from West Virginia and three from Virginia.
“It’s a one-year deal because of COVID,” said Vulcano. “We’ve been working on it for over a month and we’re just finalizing all the deals. And we’re waiting for the PIAA to come out with their guidelines.”
Vulcano said the downside is that there are no locker rooms but the hotel that could handle all the contestants is just across the parking lot from the convention center.
“That’s 190 rooms so it should be enough,” said Vulcano. “We usually have 5 or 6 hotels we promote when it’s at Canon-McMillan.”