Seth Duckworth
From the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame will host 16 of the top high school wrestling teams in the country in the Second-Annual National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dual Classic presented by Cliff Keen Athletic and Territory Resources on December 21 and 22 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
All-session tickets are $15 for youth (18 and under) and $25 for adults. Groups of 12 or more are able to purchase all-session tickets for $10 each. Individual session tickets will be available on the day of the event. Tickets can be purchased at bit.ly/2023NWHOFDualClassicTickets.
Fourteen of the 16 teams competing in the Dual Classic are ranked in the Top 40 in MatScouts first national high school rankings. Wyoming Seminary College Prep (Kingston, Pennsylvania) is ranked first while third-ranked Edmond North High School (Edmond, Oklahoma), fifth-ranked Poway High School (Poway, California), and ninth-ranked Delbarton School (Morristown, New Jersey) are in the Top 10. Rounding out the Top 20 are 11th-ranked Buchanan High School (Clovis, California), 12th-ranked Lake Highland Preparatory School (Orlando, Florida), 16th-ranked Bixby High School (Bixby, Oklahoma), and 20th-ranked St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, New Jersey). The remaining teams and their rankings are Stillwater High School (Stillwater, Oklahoma) (22nd), Pomona High School (Arvada, Colorado) (24th), Massillon Perry High School (Massillon, Ohio) (28th), Clovis High School (Clovis, California) (31st), Joliet Catholic High School (Joliet, Illinois) (38th), and Tuttle High School (Tuttle, Oklahoma) (39th).
In addition to Cliff Keen Athletic and Territory Resources, sponsors for the event include the United States Army and Visit Stillwater.
Companies and individuals interested in a sponsorship can email [email protected] for more information.
“The Dual Classic allows us to share the history and mission of the Hall of Fame with some of the elite teams and wrestlers in the country,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “We are also providing wrestling fans with an opportunity to watch some of our nation’s best high school wrestlers, either in person or on Rokfin.”
Nine of the Top 11 teams from last year’s event return, led by defending champion Edmond North High School (Edmond, Oklahoma) and runner-up Stillwater High School (Stillwater, Oklahoma). Five of the teams are from Oklahoma. The remaining returning teams in order of finish are Delbarton School (Morristown, New Jersey), Poway High School (Poway, California), Lake Highland Preparatory School (Orlando, Florida), Bixby High School (Bixby, Oklahoma), Pomona High School (Arvada, Colorado), Tuttle High School (Tuttle, Oklahoma), Blackwell High School (Blackwell, Oklahoma), and James Martin High School (Arlington, Texas).
New teams for 2023 are Buchanan High School (Clovis, California), Clovis High School (Clovis, California), Joliet Catholic High School (Joliet, Illinois), Massillon Perry High School (Massillon, Ohio), St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, New Jersey) and Wyoming Seminary College Prep (Kingston, Pennsylvania).
Rokfin will broadcast all 40 dual matches on the MatScouts channel at Rokfin.com/MatScouts.
Rokfin is a subscription service and it is recommended that accounts be created in advance at rokfin.com.
The Hall of Fame will host a clinic, talk and Q&A with Olympic Gold Medalist, two-time World Champion and National Wrestling Hall of Fame Distinguished Member Kevin Jackson on December 21 at 7 p.m. at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Purchase tickets for the clinic at bit.ly/KevinJacksonNWHOFClinic.
Each of the competing teams will receive a private tour of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.
The 16 teams will be seeded and divided into four pools. Pools 1 and 2 will compete in the first session from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Pools 3 and 4 will compete in the second session from 2:30 to 7 p.m. on December 21.
Each team will wrestle three duals on December 21. The top four finishers in each pool will be placed into the gold pool, the four runners-up will be placed into the silver pool, the four third-place finishers will be placed into the bronze pool, and the four fourth-place finishers will be placed into the copper pool.
The first session on December 22 at 9 a.m. will be the bronze and copper pool semifinals. The second session at 10:45 a.m. will be the ninth-place through 16th-place matches. The third session at 1 p.m. will be the gold and silver pool semifinals. The fourth session at 2:45 p.m. will be the first-place through eighth-place matches.
