Future wrestling stars to compete in Lions Junior Wrestling Tournament
In 2004, there were 10 pictures of the New Hampton Lions Junior Wrestling Tournament featured in the Tribune. Turkey Valley alum Mark Meirick got together with New Hampton wrestling coach Tom Fye last year and looked over the photos. “We determined that those pics represent over 1,000 high school varsity wins, multiple state appearances and placers and dozens of college wins,” said Meirick. While many of the small wrestlers do go on to achieve great things, they’re just downright cute to watch when they compete at the Tots and Midget divisions. By the time they hit the PeeWee and Junior divisions, things start to get a little more serious. For the second year, the annual Lions Club Tournament, which will be held on Saturday, Dec. 10 at the New Hampton High School gymnasium, will not have a senior division. The change was made last year, and it worked well. For the 39th year, the tournament will gather small wrestlers from sites across the state and beyond. Early entries must be postmarked by Tuesday, Dec. 6, and the registration fee for early entries is $13.00 per wrestler. Walk-in entries will be allowed up to a maximum of 350 wrestlers. The fee for walk-ins and late entries will be $17.00. Details on the tourney, along with an entry form, may be found in the Nov. 29 Tribune.
