Tournament Brings Wrestlers From Six States

What started as a local wrestling tournament has evolved into an event with national implications.

The Philo Electric Invitational was held on Saturday at Tri-Valley High School.  It’s the largest in-season junior high wrestling tournament in the country.  Tournament Director Ric Roe said he’s excited to see more boys getting into the sport.

"Wrestling isn’t like any other sport," said Roe.  "It’s more like a lifestyle.  It takes a different type of kid to wrestle, because you can be on a 0-20 basketball team and still enjoy basketball, but if you are 0-20 in wrestling, you have nobody else to blame.  It’s not always really fun, so it takes a special mindset for that."

Roe said eight teams from Ohio competed in the first tournament eight years ago, but now 700 wrestlers on 60 teams traveled from six states to be a part of the Philo Electric Invitational.  Booster Club President Dave Peck said he brought five wrestlers from Chambersburg Area Middle School in Pennsylvania.

"For some of the parents, it’s their first experience with their kids going away like this," said Peck.  "The one thing we’re trying to change is the culture of our area.  We want them to understand that there’s a lot of things available to kids in wrestling."

This is the first time Chambersburg participated in the tournament.  The school joined 20 other teams also new for 2012.