EASTON, Pa. “Having evolved into one of the most anticipated annual wrestling events at any level, the National High School Coaches Association’s High School Senior Nationals Wrestling Championships will return to Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, April 1-3, 2005. This marks the 16th year for the week-long NHSCA celebration, and organizers expect over 800 of the best high school wrestlers in America to compete.
“The growth of this tournament since its inaugural 1990 season with 262 wrestlers, to the 16th annual event with an expected 800 plus wrestlers demonstrates how much a tournament like this was needed,” said NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro. “Some wrestlers come here to culminate an outstanding high school career. Others come with the hope of establishing themselves as forces to deal with at the collegiate and international level. And for both, the NHSCA High School Senior Nationals Wrestling Championships has turned into the perfect stage.”
Now steeped in tradition, many former NHSCA Senior Nationals participants have gone on to greatness as collegiate All-Americans, National Champions, World and Olympic Medalists, and college coaches. This year’s anticipated entry list includes wrestlers from 48 states, and among them will be numerous four-time, three-time, two-time, and one-time state champions from across the nation. One of those three-time state champions is the youngest brother of a famous wrestling dynasty from Utah.
Cyler Sanderson (Wasatch HS, UT) will suit up to represent the Sanderson family that owns 14 state high school wrestling titles between brothers Cole, Cody, Cael and Cyler. Cael, of course, was a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist and the first (undefeated) 4x NCAA D I National Champion. He won the NHSCA Senior Nationals back in 1997 at 160 lbs, with a 7-3 decision over Ty Wilcox (CA) in the finals. Now brother Cyler will try to duplicate that feat eight years later. Among the many accomplished wrestlers determined to stand in his way is the highly regarded Mitch Smith (Ripley HS, WV) “also a three time state champion.
The Coaches Convention and Wrestling Clinics that are part of the championship week will begin on Wednesday and run through Thursday evening’s banquet at the Sheraton Hotel Grand Ballroom. This year’s special guest at the banquet is Fox’s Sports anchor Brian Kilmeade. He is widely known as an entertaining speaker and currently hosts cable television’s #1 rated morning show, Fox and Friends. Kilmeade recently wrote, The Games Do Count, which is #7 on the N.Y. Times Best Seller List. The book details the impact of sports in the lives of America’s best and brightest “including George W. Bush, John Kerry and Donald Trump. He will speak on the importance of sports in the lives of successful people and share personal accounts of famous wrestlers including actor Robin Williams, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Senator John McCain, writer John Irving, and CEO of Charles Schwab, Dennis Pottruck. You can learn more about Kilmeade at www.briankilmeade.com. The guest clinicians for the Coaches Clinic on March 31 include 2004-05 NHSCA Coach of the Year Roy Hall (Davison HS, MI) and Olympic Gold Medalist Kendall Cross.
The tournament will begin on Friday at 9 a.m. with wrestling in championship rounds only, all the way to the round of 16. At 9 a.m. on Saturday, the round of 16 will be followed by the quarterfinals, multiple rounds of consolation and the semifinals. Wrestling will again begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday with more consolations and placement matches. There will be a college recruiting fair on Sunday at 2PM that will include the top NCAA wrestling schools in the country. The championship finals for first place will follow a parade of All-Americans slated for 6 p.m. Sunday evening.
There will be a live broadcast of the finals matches on www.NHSCA.com at 6pm on Sunday, April 3. Each match will be covered with play by play and interviews done with key figures in the event. To follow the results of the NHSCA Senior Nationals, including current entries, go to www.NHSCA.com, click “wrestling” and then “Senior Nationals”.
The National High School Coaches Association is a not-for-profit 501c3 service organization founded in 1989 to provide support and leadership programs for the nation’s more than one million high school coaches and 10 million high school athletes. The NHSCA selects the National High School Coach and Senior Athlete of the Year in 20 boys’ and girls’ sports, and sponsors 18 national championship events in the sports of baseball, basketball, cross-country, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling.
The 15th annual National High School Seniors Wrestling Championships attracted 804 entries from 48 states to Cleveland, Ohio in April 2004. The NHSCA will conduct the National Sports Festival from June-August in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The festival will feature NHSCA National Open High School Championships in 11 different sports. For a complete list of this year’s events, visit the NHSCA’s web site at www.nhsca.com.
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