2013 WIAA State Wrestling

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.