Snow-delayed OSAA Wrestling Meet Schedule Set
The three-day event will now run on Friday, Saturday, Sunday at Memorial Coliseum
The large deposit of snow from Wednesday’s winter storm wreaked havoc with the Oregon School Activities Association’s State Wrestling tournament after the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum canceled use of its facility that day due to safety concerns.
The OSAA took the day to run different scenarios for completing the event—and officials announced today that they will reluctantly stretch the tourney into Sunday, compressing the event from four days to just three. The ambitious timetable runs until 10 pm on Sunday night.
Friday will be dedicated to the smaller schools from 1A to 4A. The boys will have individual classification brackets at each level, while the girls’ small school tournament combines all wrestlers together from the 4 classifications. Wrestling at the Coliseum on Friday starts at 9:00 am, and concludes with championship rounds in the evening, followed by awards ceremonies.
Saturday and Sunday will involve all 5A and 6A teams. Again, the boys tournament is broken down by each classification, and the girls large school tourney mixes the 5A and 6A qualifiers in a single bracket. Preliminary rounds of wrestling begin at 9:00 am Saturday. All large school championship matches will start at 9:00 am, with completion of the final rounds and awards ceremonies projected for no later than 1:00 pm Sunday.
Original previews of top seeded local wrestlers were shared earlier in the week.
The original plan for the tournament was to start with small schools on Thursday, and then blend in the large school opening rounds on Friday. Small schools were supposed to wrap up on Friday night, and the large schools Saturday evening.
But Portland’s worst snow storm in eighty years—with accumulations of a foot or more in most locations—quickly nixed the original plan.
Tournament organizers emphasize that the schedule could be revised again if weather conditions warrant, saying “Our goal remains to put on a quality state championship event while prioritizing the safety of participants, guests, and staff. “
Of note to ticket holders: original tickets purchased for the tournament will be honored under the revised dates.