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Organizer brings the competition home
Wrestling event unites high school, college competition

01/04/2002

By RANDY JENNINGS / The Dallas Morning News

There is not another wrestling tournament like it in the state.

The way Barry Boustead looks at it, if Texas colleges and universities won't bring college wrestling to the state, then his tournament will.

That's the hook that separates The Hilton Arlington Lone Star Duals from any other wrestling tournament in Texas. The two-day event is a marriage of high school and college wrestling. The annual tournament is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at South Grand Prairie.

This year, the tournament will have its largest field – 24 high school boys teams, 18 college teams and 16 girls teams.

"We don't have the room to make it any larger," Boustead, the tournament director, said. "Warrior Coliseum is a great facility for college wrestling. But if we have 24 high school teams, then 18 is about our limit for colleges."

Boustead would love to see Texas colleges adopt wrestling. In the meantime, his tournament will do its best to include college teams with Texans on their rosters so they can return home to wrestle on at least one weekend. Unlike the high school boys format, which decides an overall champion after as many as nine dual matches in two days, the college teams wrestle three pre-determined matches so an overall champion is unlikely. Instead, the tournament organizers recognize outstanding wrestlers in each weight class.

"The colleges don't want to wrestle somebody in their same conference," Boustead said. "For them, the idea is to wrestle teams they might not see otherwise."

Boustead asks the coach of each team to submit a list of three desired schools to compete against. From those lists, Boustead determines the matchups.

From a humble beginning of four college teams in 1997, the Lone Star Duals has had some big moments. Two years ago, national powerhouse Iowa wrestled in the tournament. Last year, Cael Sanderson of Iowa State set an NCAA record by winning his 99th consecutive match during the Lone Star Duals. Boustead called it the biggest moment in the history of the tournament.

There is unmistakable quality this year. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are ranked in the top 5 in the nation. Oklahoma State has won 30 national titles, far and away the most of any school.

The college field again this year consists of schools from both coasts.

"There isn't a great deal of travel money in most wrestling programs, but this tournament allows schools on the West Coast to go against East Coast schools by meeting them halfway," Boustead said.

The college competition starts at 8 a.m. Saturday.

By that time, the high school boys field will have been cut to eight. The top two finishers in each six-team pool advance to Saturday's competition.

South Grand Prairie wrestling coach Mike Eaton said 11 mats in three school gymnasiums will be used Friday. The Texas high school state tournament employs only six mats.

In addition to drawing teams from all over Texas, this year's Lone Star Duals has attracted four out-of-state teams. Brother Martin from New Orleans, La., champion the last two years, returns.

Both Grand Prairie schools and all five Arlington schools are in the field.

"The caliber of the high school teams has not been watered down by us going from 20 to 24 teams," Eaton said.

Eaton said his team rarely has the opportunity to wrestle as many dual matches in a short period of time.

"As far as high school guys competing at the same time with college wrestlers, that is pretty rare," the coach said.

The high school girls will compete individually in a bracket format.

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Williams Cup hosts female wrestlers

By staff reports 1/4/2002

The third annual Williams Cup, the largest all-female wrestling tournament in Southern California, will be held from 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday at Thousand Oaks High School.
All high school females are invited to participate in one of the 12 different weight classes for an entry fee of $20. World silver medalist Toccara Montgomery will host a clinic proceeding the event at 9.

Information: Shannon Yancey at 577-7925.