When it comes to wrestling in the Metro East, there are tournaments and then there is the William "Red" Schmitt Tournament.
This year's event is slated for Dec. 29-30 at Granite City's Memorial Gym and Annex, and the tournament's long tradition isn't only reason why opposing coaches speak of it in reverential terms. The 24-team event remains one of the best wrestling showcases in the Midwest, with a who's who of perennial powers and defending state champions.
This year's field includes three new teams: Christian Brothers (CBC) from Memphis, Villa Park Willowbrook from the Chicago area and Staley from Kansas City. On Dec, 3, Staley edged Edwardsville for the title in the Ron Sauer Tournament at Fox in Arnold.
"Oak Park, Mo., is down this year, so Staley is taking their place, and they're obviously a very solid team," Granite City coach Allen Kirgan said. "CBC is a defending state champion, and they're ranked nationally."
Two-time defending champion Neosho is among the teams from Missouri. That list includes Francis Howell Central, Francis Howell North, Fort Zumwalt West, McCluer North, McCluer South-Berkeley, Northwest, Timberland and Whitfield.
In addition to Granite City, the other Illinois schools are: Alton, Aurora West, Carbondale, Civic Memorial, Lincoln-Way West, Minooka, Mount Zion, Oak Park-River Forest, O'Fallon, Triad and Washington.
The host Warriors are coming off a busy week. After a 30-27 loss to Southwestern Conference rival Edwardsville on Thursday, Granite City placed ninth among 38 teams in the Kansas City Classic at KCI Expo Center.
"In addition to Missouri, they've got teams from Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee and Georgia," Kirgan said. "That includes nine teams that won state tournaments last year. We had nine kids in the top 16 of their weight class and six in the top nine, so overall we wrestled very well."
Top finishers for Granite City were Justin Valencia (fourth at 170), Chad Whitford (fourth at 152), Josh Masters (fifth at 220), Sam Tamayo (sixth at 195), Josh Dowdy (sixth at 160) and Alex Brooks (ninth at 182).
"It was hard coming off the (Edwardsville) loss, but we looked decent against very good competition," said Kirgan, whose squad will play host to Carbondale in a dual match on Dec. 28. "We still have work to do, but we're heading in the right direction.
"Neosho has won our tournament two years in a row, but they're also a little down this year, and they were close to us at Kansas City. Oak Park-River Forest is another team with a chance to win. They're ranked third in Illinois."
For Granite City, a top-five finish would be nice, but Kirgan is more concerned about preparing the Warriors for the Class 3A state tournament.
"We're working on trying to get kids to the (medal) stand at Champaign," Kirgan said. "Our lineup is coming around to where it needs to be. Hopefully we'll get better every week."
Wrestling on Dec. 29 will start at 9:30 a.m. with teams competing in pool competition on five mats in the main gym and four mats in the annex.
On Dec. 30, wrestling will start at 9 a.m. The championship and third-place matches will begin at 4 p.m. in the main gym.
