2012 Pirate Holiday Duals Press Release:
The ninth edition of the Pirate Holiday Duals invitational high school wrestling tournament will be contested at Cardington-Lincoln High School on Saturday, December 29, 2012, with wrestling beginning at 10 AM. The 12 teams in this year’s tournament represent the strongest field in the nine year history of the event. The Pirate Holiday Duals are fast becoming one of the premier small school tournaments in Ohio, with eleven teams from across Ohio and one from Michigan.
Included in this year’s Pirate Holiday Duals are the teams from Ayersville, Belpre, Caldwell, Cardington-Lincoln, Coshocton, Coventry, Garaway, Milan (Michigan), Newark Catholic, River Valley (Caledonia), Waterloo, and Waynedale. Belpre, Caldwell, and Coventry are new to the tournament. Waynedale, the defending OHSAA Division III state champions, are favored to win their third Pirate Holiday Duals championship in as many appearances. However, they will find the competition somewhat tougher than last year.
Teams in the tournament who have won it before are Coshocton (2006 and 2007), Milan (2008 and 2010), and Waynedale (2009 and 2011). There are seven returning wrestlers who were 5-0 in last year’s tournament: Crew Cochran (Cardington), Colton Jordan (Coshocton), Ben Crabtree (River Valley), Steven Workman (River Valley), Brandon Brenes (Waterloo), Bradley Wardell (Waynedale), and Brenden Stanley (Waynedale).
Fifteen wrestlers in this year’s tournament competed in last season’s OHSAA state tournament: Frankie Alvarado (Ayersville), Jared Leasure (Caldwell), Kale Rayner (Caldwell, 8th place), Adam Reed (Cardington), Caleb Ohl (Newark Catholic), Dominic DeVito (Newark Catholic), Evan Hansel (Newark Catholic), Ray Raimo (River Valley), J.J. Diven (Waterloo, 7th place), Brendon Brenes (Waterloo), Zack Nelson (Waynedale, 4th place), Zane Nelson (Waynedale, 2nd place), Dakota Stanley (Waynedale, 8th place), Brendan Stanley (Waynedale, 2nd place), and Bradley Wardell (Waynedale, 7th place).
Eight of the twelve teams in this year’s tournament were conference and/or sectional champions last season: Ayersville (Green Meadows Conference), Caldwell (Pioneer Valley Conference and Barnesville Sectional), Cardington (Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Blue Division), Coventry (North Canton Sectional), Garaway (Inter-Valley Conference), Newark Catholic (Cardington Sectional), River Valley (Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Red Division), and of course Waynedale (Wayne County Athletic League, Northwestern Sectional, Garfield Heights District, OHSAA Division III State tournament).
The tournament format consists of 5 rounds of team duals on 6 mats. The first 3 rounds are pool duals, with the results used to separate the 12 teams into three brackets of 4 teams for the semi-final and final rounds. All four teams in the top bracket win trophies. Individual awards are given to the All-Tournament Team, the Outstanding Wrestler, and the wrestler with the most pins in the least time.
The Cardington-Lincoln Athletic Boosters will be selling food, beverages, and snacks in the concession stand outside the gym all day, and Subway will be selling sandwiches in the school cafeteria. The Subway sandwich counter will be open to the public without charge; however, if you come in for a sandwich and then decide you want to see some of the wrestling action you may buy an admission ticket for $6 (adults) or $4 (students).
If you have questions or desire additional information, please contact tournament director Larry Smith,
[email protected] or 419-688-0268.