Marysville’s Jack Golla has control of his opponent during a 2020-21 match. The Monarchs will host the Bob Williams Classic on Saturday to open the 2021-22 regular season. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Marysville High School’s wrestling program will begin the regular season with an event that has a new name.
The Monarchs will pound the mat to start the 2021-22 campaign by hosting the Bob Williams Classic on Saturday.
The event, which has been known as the Marysville Duals Tournament for many years, was originally slated to honor Williams, who served as the Monarchs’ head coach from 1981-98, in 2016.
He posted a record of 113-57-5 for a winning percentage of .664.
The MHS Athletic Hall of Fame inductee led the Monarchs to one league title, three sectional championships and coached 10 athletes to places in the state tournament.
His state tournament champion was Luke Wimmers in 1992.
“We wanted to rename the tournament in Bob’s honor last year, but we were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said MHS head coach Shawn Andrews. “Bob had put in a lot of time for the program.”
Although the tournament has been named for Williams, there will be no formal ceremony, according to Andrews.
“Bob will be out of town on Saturday due to a family commitment,” he said.
The Monarchs will host teams from Ashland, Delaware Hayes, Delta, St. Paris Graham, Great Crossing (Kentucky), Grove City, Mechanicsburg, Parkersburg South from West Virginia, Springboro, Teays Valley and Watkins Memorial.
Some of the teams have competed in the past during MHS’ duals tournament and some teams are new.
The team from Great Crossing is coached by one of Andrews’ former mat teammates at Kent State University, Sam Murdock.
“Sam called and asked if they could come to the tournament,” said Andrews. “It’s always good to see different styles of wrestling.”
The day’s activities will begin with weigh-ins at 8 a.m.
Opening-round matches are slated to start at 10 a.m.
Rounds 1-3 will feature four pools of three teams, with each team having one bye.
All of those matches will be contested in the high school’s main gym.
Rounds 4-6 will have three pools of four teams (Gold, Silver, Bronze), assigned based on preliminary pools wrestled on six mats.
Gold matches will be contested on mats 1-2 in the main gym, while silver matches will be held on mats 3-4 in the main gym.
Bronze matches will be held in the field house on mats 5-6.
Teams had not been split into pools as of presstime today.
Junior varsity and girls competition will also be held throughout the day.
Andrews feels Parkersburg and Graham will be the top two teams in the field.
“Teays Valley had four or five good wrestlers and Springboro is always good …. they beat Graham here a couple of years ago,” he said.
“Mechanicsburg and Delta are among the top Division III teams in the state.”
The Monarchs will not have wrestlers competing in the 190, 215 and 285 weight classes.
“We don’t have any one ready yet in those weight classes,” said Andrews. “Our wrestlers who played on the football team have been given some time off and haven’t yet had a full day of practice.”
Andrews said possible starters for the MHS lineup will depend on each duals match.
Athletes will work toward starting positions this week in practice, he said.
“We’re excited to be competing against other teams and it’s a good way to begin the regular season, especially since we weren’t able to hold the tournament a year ago,” said the Monarch coach.
“I like dual matches to begin the season instead of other type of tournaments,” said Andrews. “With a dual format, I get to see each athlete compete in their matches.
“We’ll also use this weekend to set lineups for future events this season.”