The 50th Annual Beloit Wrestling Invite will be held at Beloit Junior-Senior High School this weekend. 21 teams will come to Beloit to compete in the event. Of those 21 teams, eight are ranked in this week’s KWCA state wrestling rankings.
Teams competing are: Abilene, Beloit (#2-3-2-1A), Blue Valley Southwest (#2-5A), Chanute (#1-4A), Clay Center (#10-4A), Colby, Concordia, Hill City (#8-3-2-1A), Holcomb, Hoxie (#1-3-2-1A), Lincoln, Marysville (#3-4A), Minneapolis, Oberlin-Decatur Community, Plainville, Republic County (#5-3-2-1A), Riley County, Salina South, Silver Lake, Smith Center & Stockton.
In addition, 58 wrestlers are ranked in either 5A, 4A or 3-2-1A that are on rosters of teams competing at the Beloit Invitational.
During the tournament on Saturday, Beloit will be honoring past champions of the invite. Competition begins with 1st round matches on 4 mats at 2:00 on Friday afternoon. Quarterfinals are at approximately 4:00 with 1st round consolation at 6:00. They pick back up on Saturday with Wrestlebacks 2nd round at 10:30 a.m., semifinals and consolation quarters are at noon, consolation semis at 2:00 p.m. and championships and consolation finals at approximately 4:00 on Saturday afternoon. The meet will run ahead of schedule if possible.
The Beloit Trojans have 11 wrestlers competing this weekend, headlined by two top-ranked wrestlers in 3-2-1A. Creighton Johnson is #1 at 285# and comes into the tournament at 16-0. Also, Brennan Walker is 15-1 at 182# and ranked #1 in the state. Other ranked wrestlers for the Trojans include Hunter Prochaska (152#, #3, 13-2), Braden Burks (195#, #3, 13-2) and Tate Kadel (145#, #4, 12-3). Beloit head coach Andy Niemczyk discussed the tough competition this weekend.
Smith Center has a couple ranked wrestlers competing as well. Colton Shoemaker is ranked #3 in the state at 120# and enters the tournament at 18-8. Also, Brell Spiees is 20-5 and #5 at 182#. The Redmen have a total of 12 wrestlers competing. Their head coach Brock Hutchinson always enjoys coming to the Beloit Invite.
Also from the area, Lincoln has two wrestlers on the docket. Tra Barrientes is ranked #3 in the state at 285# in 3-2-1A. He enters the tournament at 20-1. Kenton Myers will also compete in the 220# class for the Leopards.
KD Country 94 & Z 96.3 “The Lake” Area Lineups & Notes
Again, competition begins at 2:00 this afternoon with the first round. Tune in to KD Country 94 throughout both days for reports from the 50th Annual Beloit Wrestling Invite. More info and other results can also be found at this link: 50th Annual Beloit Invite
