Powerade tournament loaded with national wrestling powers
The Observer-Reporter
The 58th annual Powerade Wrestling Tournament begins this morning at Canon-McMillan High School’s gymnasium with its largest field of teams ever and possibly the most talented group of competitors.
Wrestling begins at 8 a.m. and competition through the quarterfinals will be held today. Wrestling will resume at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with the sixth round of consolations. The semifinals are scheduled for 11 a.m. with the parade of champions at 3 p.m. and the finals beginning at 3:30.
It’s a lot of wrestling packed into less than 36 hours.
There are nine returning champions from last year in the field and eight runners-up. The field also includes 58 state champions and 76 PIAA tournament qualifiers.
There are 74 teams participating, which is the most in the tournament’s history. Among them are six of the top-nine ranked teams in the country, according to Flowrestling.com.
Wyoming Seminary is the No. 1-ranked team in the nation and has won the Powerade team title each of the last three years. The Blue Knights return three individual champions.
Among the teams that could challenge Wyoming Seminary for the team championship is Bishop McCort from Johnstown. The Crimson Crushers are ranked No. 3 in the nation and return two Powerade winners.
Teams from 11 states will be represented. Virginia will be represented by 10 teams with West Virginia sending six and Florida five.
There are 36 teams from the WPIAL but only three from the Observer-Reporter’s coverage area. Those three are host Canon-McMillan, Waynesburg and West Greene.
The tournament expanded to include a girls competition three years ago. This year’s girls tournament will be held Monday, beginning at 10 a.m., and will include its biggest field ever at 54 teams. Twenty-three of the teams are from the WPIAL, including Canon-McMillan, Avella, Burgettstown, Peters Township, Ringgold and Trinity.