There are a few dates on the calendar that I memorize and look forward to every year. My anniversary (duh), the birthdays of my wife and kids, MY BIRTHDAY of course and state wrestling weekend in Wisconsin. Growing up a wrestler, trips to the Field House and then the Kohl Center were highlights of my year. Nothing has changed into my 30s.
This year was particularly special. I run a blog covering my hometown wrestling team. It’s at spartanwrestling.com. Been doing it since 1997 when the site had a Geocities address. Am I dating myself yet? Back to the point. My hometown qualified seven wrestlers to the state tournament. SEVEN!!! That’s a program record. Four guys placed, two made it to the finals and the team finished 10th overall out of 232 teams. I was working the tournament for the Eau Claire Leader Telegram and shooting the Sparta guys along the way. It was a fun weekend watching a sport that barely exists in northern Minnesota. This is hockey country after all.
I might be in hockey country and I might live in Duluth, Minn., but wrestling still runs in my veins and this is still one of my favorite weekends of the year. So here are a few images from the 2013 WIAA state wrestling tournament.