By Ian Crowley
The Ocean City Junior Wrestling Program hosted the “Last Call Wrestling Tournament” on Sunday. The event garnered over 2000 visitors to our town as well as over 400 wrestlers. “This is our tenth tournament,” said Carl Wanek, Vice President of the Junior Wrestling Program. “We started with under 200 wrestlers, and today we’re at over 440.”
This event brings the community together and has been organized over the years by Greg Young, Carl Wanek, Brenden Gheen, the Godfreys, as well as the late Tom Oves. This is the only Jr. Wrestling Tournament this weekend during the High School States and allows younger children to get some final practice in before the Junior States next weekend.
There are six different weight classes, and going from lightest to heaviest they are Tots, Novice Bantam, Bantam, Midget, Junior, and Intermediate. When asked if he was nervous, one kid said he felt like he was in the Super Bowl as he got ready to grapple in front of the huge, cheering crowd. The action on the mats was fast-paced and exciting, as each kid was matched up fairly. Win, lose or draw, a fun and memorable time was had by all the participants.
This event is a refreshing spike in business for the local store owners during the slower winter months, and signals that we’re close to the start of the next summer. The parking lot surrounding the High School was packed for most of the day, and there was a noticeable amount of traffic on the boardwalk as more and more stores begin to open up to serve the visitors.
Ocean City Boy Scout Troop 32, led by Scoutmaster Dean Mitzel, color guarded the event. The Ocean City Fire Department was also on hand to provide first aid and to show off some of their fire-fighting equipment to excited kids. Without the countless volunteers and participants, this event would not be possible, and it goes to show the rationale for Ocean City being called “America’s Greatest Family Resort.” We look forward to seeing you at next year’s tournament.
Editor’s Note: Ian Crowley is an Ocean City resident, a seventh-grade student at the Intermediate School, a Boy Scout and a valued regular contributor to OCNJDaily.com.
