Top-notch competition: Here are four wrestling tournaments to mark on your calendar
With the high school wrestling season already off to a start, here is a look at four upcoming tournaments to keep an eye on this season, plus a look at one already in the books:
Tom Best Memorial Top Hat Tournament
This tournament went down on Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3 at Williamsport High School and featured some of the best teams in the state. Central York and South Western attended the two-day tournament with the Panthers finishing eighth in the 24-team field.
This is one of the most prestigious regular season tournaments in the state and first happened in 1971 when Williamsport hosted 16-teams in the inaugural tournament. Over the years, many different teams have taken home the team title, but Red Lion’s crown in 2004 was the only one taken by area teams.
The tournament used to be referred to as the Millionaire Top Hat tournament but was renamed starting in 2015.
This year, Central York’s Macon Myers won the championship at 172 pounds with an 8-2 decision over Titusville’s Brock Covell. Teammate Carter Davis reached the final at 152 pounds but dropped a 5-0 decision to District 7’s Hempfield Area senior Lucas Kapusta. South Western’s Ayden Wysocki finished second to Mifflinburg’s two-time state medalist Emmanuel Ulrich, losing by fall in 1:56.
On the team side of things, Saucon Valley (174 points) took home the championship despite not winning a single individual title. Montoursville was second with 171 points, and District 7’s Hempfield Area was third with 163 points.
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King of the Mountain
The prestigious King of the Mountain tournament will take place on Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17 at Central Mountain High School and will feature a 29-team field. Central York and Northern Lebanon will make the trip. The event first happened in the late 1990’s and has been a highlight in the December tournament schedule since its first tournament.
This year's tournament features 29 returning state place-winners with six of those being returning PIAA champions. Northern Lebanon’s Aaron Seidel (AA, 106 champion), Greater Latrobe’s Vincent Kilkeary (AAA, 120 champion), Central Mountain’s Dalton Perry (AAA, 126 champion), Muncy’s Scott Johnson, (AA, 126 champion), State College’s Pierson Manville (AAA, 138 champion) and Chartiers Valley’s Dylan Evans (AAA, 152 champion) are those returning PIAA champions.
Ten returning team championship qualifiers are also in the field: Brookville, Burrell, Canon-McMillan, Chestnut Ridge, Cumberland Valley, General McLane, Greater Latrobe, Hickory, Mifflin County and Williamsport.
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MyHouse Trojan Wars
The MyHouse Trojan Wars tournament is one of the newer regular-season individual tournaments in the state. It hasn’t taken long for it to quickly become a staple. The thing that makes this tournament intriguing to the average person is that each winner receives a silver trojan helmet for winning.
Held at Chambersburg High School on Thursday, Dec. 29 and Friday, Dec. 30, this tournament will feature 50 teams including Biglerville, Gettysburg, Greencastle-Antrim, Northeastern, Red Lion, Shippensburg and of course host Chambersburg. Teams from Florida, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia take up a total of 14 of the 50 slots with the other 36 entries from the Keystone state.
To get an idea of the caliber of wrestler at this tournament, 22 wrestlers from last year’s field would go on to earn medals at the PIAA championships. Not to mention the hardware potential from the schools in neighboring states.
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Hamburg Hawk Duals
The first, and only duals tournament on this list, will happen on Saturday, Jan. 7 at Hamburg High School. Locally, this tournament will feature Dallastown and Littlestown. Other squads competing are Bensalem, Conestoga Valley, Faith Christian Academy, Lampeter-Strasburg, Southern Columbia, Tamaqua and host Hamburg.
Faith Christian Academy has been a fast-rising team in the AA ranks and is one of the best teams in the state this year. Southern Columbia has plenty of history and tradition in its program as well. In last year's edition, Faith Christian won the championship with a 37-22 win over Dallastown in the final. On top of the great team action, ten returning PIAA qualifiers dot the rosters.
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Escape the Rock
The Escape the Rock tournament is another newer tournament. The event started in 2005 as a dual tournament then moved to an individual tournament in 2007. As of the 2018-2019 season, the event has hosted seven future NCAA Division I champions, 45 All-Americans and 134 qualifiers.
The two-day tournament will happen on Saturday, Jan. 14 and Sunday, Jan. 15 at Council Rock South High School and will feature Chambersburg and Lebanon in the field of 60 teams.
Teams from New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, Tennessee, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Ohio and Rhode Island also travel to compete in this tournament. In fact, only 22 of the teams in the field are from the Keystone State.
Notably in the field are national prep school powers Blair Academy from New Jersey, Malvern Prep in Pennsylvania. Don’t look past PIAA powers Bethlehem Catholic or Notre Dame Green Pond among others.
Expect some fantastic individual action as well with several wrestlers in the Flowrestling pound-for-pound top 30 in the field. Notables from that list are St. Joe’s Regional (NJ) 285 pounder Jim Mullen, 127 pounder Marc-Anthony McGowan from Blair Academy (NJ), Bethlehem Catholic’s Tyler Kasak at 145 pounds, and St. John Vianney (NJ) 114 pounder Anthony Knox. Another 42 are ranked in the top 20 by Flowrestling at their respective weights with five each at 133 and 145 pounds.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: PA wrestling: Top caliber competition at these wrestling tournaments
