Mead will overflow with wrestlers

Wrestling fans could get their fill at Mead alone this weekend when area high school athletes begin the two-week road to state.

Mead will be site of the 4A district and 3A subregional tournaments Friday and Saturday.

District has traditionally been at Mead, but with attendance down and fewer 4A schools this year, Mead athletic director Dick Cullen said it was decided to combine the events, a move that admittedly will make for cramped quarters and was not universally hailed by 3A schools.

There will be five mats in the main gym to accommodate the two events. The six-team 4A tournament has 12-wrestler brackets, the eight-team 3A – including Sunnyside, Hanford and West Valley (Yakima) – has 16 per bracket.

Wrestling begins at 3:30 p.m. Friday and will run until 9 or 9:30, Cullen said. It will resume at 9 a.m. (3A) and 10 (4A) Saturday and finals should begin after 4 p.m.

Three wrestlers per weight from 4A and four from 3A advance to their respective regional tournaments against schools from the Columbia Basin Big Nine and District 1.

“It will be a hootenanny,” Cullen said.

District 2A: West Valley will host the tournament, which moves wrestlers from the Great Northern League against those from the CWAC League. Competition begins at 5 p.m. Friday and resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday.

District 7 1A: The Northeast A League tournament is at Kettle Falls at 10 a.m. Saturday. It will advance wrestlers to regional the following week at Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), joined by the Caribou Trail League.

District B: Area teams are divided into two tournaments with Reardan, Davenport, Colfax, Lind-Ritzville, St. John-Endicott and Liberty headed to Pomeroy for the South tournament. Republic, Almira/Coulee-Hartline, Wilbur-Creston and Selkirk are in the 13-school North tournament at Springdale. Both are at 10 a.m. Saturday and advance six wrestlers per weight to regional, which will be in Reardan next weekend.

Mike Vlahovich