Now in its third year, the Lady Wolfpack Invitational is bigger and better than ever.
The annual girls wrestling tournament hosted by Jackson High School in Mill Creek begins at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Jackson gym. Admission is $5.
According to tournament director Ryan Simmons, 195 girls from 35 high schools were signed up to compete in the Lady Wolfpack Invite, as of Thursday afternoon. Participation is way up from last year, when around 100 girls competed.
One of the state’s largest female wrestling showcases, the Lady Wolfpack Invite gives girls a chance to face top-notch competition in preparation for their postseason tournaments, which begin next week.
“We’ve pretty much doubled our expectations this year,” Simmons said of the spike in interest. “It kind of blew up on us in a really good way.”
Last season’s tournament was rescheduled due to snow and, as a result, some teams who originally planned to attend were not able to because of scheduling conflicts.
On Saturday wrestlers will compete on four mats in a double-elimination format in 12 divisions, most featuring 16-girl brackets. Championship matches will be on one mat; a suspended spotlight will be the only illumination in the gym.
Fans will see many of the state’s elite female wrestlers, including some who are ranked nationally. About 40 of the wrestlers competed at the 2009 all-classification state girls wrestling championships, headlined by individual state champs Alysia Pohren (Sedro-Woolley) and Chantelle Bailey (Enumclaw). Pohren helped Sedro-Woolley win the state girls team title last season.
Local standouts include JoMae Alewine of Lake Stevens (seeded No. 1 in the 103-pound bracket and a 2009 state runnerup), Stanwood’s Casey Mather (No. 2 seed at 112 pounds), Everett’s Justine Palabrica (No. 5 seed at 103 pounds) and Lakewood’s Keely Caldwell (No. 4 seed at 130 pounds).
The 130-pound bracket is the invite’s premier division, Simmons said. It features four of the state’s top six 130-pounders, according to WashingtonWrestlingReport.com’s Jan. 19 rankings. Also in the 130 bracket is Federal Way’s Jocie Weinberger, ranked first in Washington at 125.
To see Lady Wolfpack Invitational brackets go to http://tinyurl.com/yb28qju. Check The Herald on Sunday for tournaments results.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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