Top wrestlers headed to KC
National tournament will feature some of the best high-school grapplers the country has to offer.
By COLE YOUNG
The Kansas City Star
If there were ever a high school wrestling event in Kansas City that ranked at the same level or above a state wrestling tournament, this weekend may be it.
Teams from 10 states will compete in the Cliff Keen KC National Wrestling Classic, which starts tonight at the KCI Expo Center.
The 24-team event features 13 teams that finished third or better in their respective state tournaments last winter. In all, five defending state championship squads will compete.
“There are some teams coming into this event that have some long-standing traditions in their state,” tournament director Tom Taulbee said. “There are teams like Oak Grove and Platte County in Missouri who are always good, but teams like Ponca City, Oklahoma, and Perry, Oklahoma, are the exact same way.”
Local teams competing in the event are Platte County, Park Hill South, Raymore-Peculiar, Liberty, Blue Springs, Park Hill and Oak Grove.
“We are going to have a chance to compete in a tournament this early in the year that will have just as good of competition as the state tournament, minus Oak Park,” Park Hill coach Bill Erneste said.
Oak Park, the three-time defending Missouri Class 4 state champion, is competing in the Elite 8 Tournament this weekend in Lakewood, Ohio.
Participants will wrestle five pool matches and then move on to different brackets based on their pool record.
Some of the toughest wrestling is expected to come in the 119-pound and 160-pound divisions. Four state champions will wrestle at 119, while nine state medalists will face off at 160.
Wrestling begins at 6 tonight with a dual between Park Hill South and Winnetonka, followed by a collegiate club dual between Kansas State and Northwest Missouri State.
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CLIFF KEEN KC NATIONAL WRESTLING CLASSIC
•WHEN: Today through Saturday at the KCI Expo Center. High school tournament begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday; Saturday wrestling starts at 9 a.m., with the gold-medal bouts starting at 7.
•TICKETS: A two-day pass for the event is $20, or $10 for Friday only and $15 for Saturday only. Tickets on sale at the KCI Expo Center.
