FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
To Register: ohiotofc.com - initial deadline is Saturday, April 13 (registration done April 14-16 is subject to higher entry fee)
TEAM PA SET TO DOMINATE AT OHIO TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS - APRIL 20 - COLUMBUS CONVENTION CENTER
APRIL 9, 2013....Columbus, OH.... First the first time in about 10 years, Team Ohio was able to claim the mythical throne of overall State Champions, at last year's Ohio Tournament of Champions, but don't expect that trend to continue. According to Event Chairman Bart Freidenberg, Team PA has made it clear that they want the title back.
"I have heard from several PA Coaches and wrestling parents that say their goal this year is to win back the Team Title and not just beat Ohio, but beat them badly," Freidenberg said. "I'm not sure how sure successful they will be at that, but they did dominate Ohio for many years, prior to 2012."
Team points may be earned by any wrestler from that state and are done so on the basis of final place finish in their particular bracket (1st place=20 points; 2nd=16; 3rd=12; 4th=9; 5th=7; 6=5; 7=3 and 8th=1).
Last year, Ohio defeated Team PA 1904-1723, winning four of the six Age Divisions in the process. Team Ohio won the Midget, Junior, Cadet and Elite Divisions, while Team PA won in both the Bantam and Schoolboy Divisions. "All the races were really close, with the exception of the Cadet Division, where Ohio won fairly handily," Freidenberg said. "One or two more placers in a couple of the Divisions though could have swung things the other way."
According to Freidenberg, PA entries currently outnumber those from Ohio. "Ohio wrestlers always seem to wait til the last few days to register," he said. "So, I would expect that to occur again this year. He added that the last several years, more than half the total entries have come in he final 10 days of registration, so that the current estimation for this year's TofC is somewhere between 2500-2800.
Freidenberg also said that the initial registration is set to close this Saturday, April 13, but that they would most likely keep it open thru Sunday evening. After that, the entry fee will go up for the next two days and then the event will close. "We really can't take any more entries after Tuesday evening," Freidenberg said, "as there is still a lot of work we have to do to get ready for the event that folks don't realize." He added things like securing mats, officials, doing mat assignments, getting brackets printed, finalizing floor plans, housing and meal arrangements all still need to be finalized once the entries close.
He added that he also expects a close team competition between Michigan and New York and Indiana and West Virginia this year. "All four of those states seem to have good participation numbers this year. Last year, Michigan beat New York rather handily (867-437), but the New York numbers seem to be a lot stronger this year." Last year also saw Team West Virginia defeat Team Indiana 289-205, but Freidenberg said that Indiana numbers seem to be up this year and expects a closer race this year.
Here are the final team results from last year:
Team OH/PA 3627 Team USA 3368
Team OH 1904 Team PA 1723
Team MI 867 Team NY 427
Team NJ 165 Team IL 65
Team MD 210 Team VA 130
Team WV 289 Team IN 205
Team TN 65 Team SC 56 Team NC 33
Team MA 38 Team NH 12 Team CT 0
Team RI 36 Team ME 32 Team VT 0
Team ND 7 Team NE 0 Team SD 0
Team MO 203 Team GA 115 Team CO 39
Team OK 9 Team IA 3 Team TX 0
Team KY 153 Team FL 39 Team AL 5 Team DE 1
Team CA 52 Team MN 23 Team WI 1 Team KS 0