FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

***For Additional Information, contact: Bart Freidenberg at [email protected]***

August 21, 2011

Ohio Tournament of Champions...Columbus, OH

OHIO TOFC OUT TO SET WORLD RECORD, WITH 4000 ENTRIES

NEW STATE COMPETITION TO BE HELD

APRIL 21, 2012 - COLUMBUS CONVENTION CENTER - COLUMBUS, OH

According to Event Chairman Bart Freidenberg, The Ohio Tournament of Champions is out to set a world record next April 21. “Our goal is to have 4000 entries” and make it the largest wrestling event ever held, “ said Freidenberg.

The current TofC record, set in 2005, had just over 3500 entries, but 2012 marks the event’s 20th Anniversary and was recently named the top youth wrestling tournament in the country, from 2000-2010.

Freidenberg added that a lot of new ideas are currently being tossed around for the tournament, with several already decided upon. “First, we are going back to just running an individual tournament,” he said. “We tried attaching a Dual Meet Event to the weekend, but it just seemed to create more problems that it was worth. When we asked past attendees what they would rather see (all individual or all duals), the result was overwhelmingly for us to go with the Individual Event, which is what we feel we do better than any other event out there. Still,” he added, we are making some improvements to the event as well.”

Among the ideas that have already been approved for next year are:

-Entry fee will remain at $60 for a first family entry and $40 for each additional entry from the same immediate family.

-NO Spectator Admission will be charged

-NO Coaches Cards will be necessary

-A new website, which will make it easier to register and follow the status of wrestlers

-Up to 40 full size mts will be utilized, with 4 of them being allocated for wrestlers that lose their first two matches.

-Bringing back the matside scoreboards (as opposed to the bout boards used this past year)

-Top 8 place finishers will receive awards (there will now be a 7th/8th place match)

-Club/Team Competition. This will be based on the place finish of the individual wrestlers. This competition will be divided into three categories, (All-Star Teams, Area Teams and Local Teams), and awards will be given in each age group, as well as overall.

But, perhaps the biggest new idea is that of State Competition. Certain states will be paired up against each other for bragging rights. States will earn points based upon each wrestler’s place finish. Competition will be both per age group and overall.

“We think this idea will really bring a lot of friendly competition to our event,” said Freidenberg. “We tried our best to pair states up of equal size and wrestling ability and I really think this is going to bring a lot of excitement to the TofC in the future, as kids try to help their state win.”

The pairings decided upon are as follows:

Ohio/Pennsylvania vs. USA

Ohio vs. Pennsylvania

Michigan vs. New York

Illinois vs. New Jersey

Maryland vs. Virginia

Indiana vs. West Virginia

North Carolina vs. South Carolina vs. Tennessee

Connecticut vs. Massachusetts vs. New Hampshire

Maine vs. Rhode Island vs. Vermont

Nebraska vs. North Dakota vs. South Dakota

Colorado vs. Georgia vs. Missouri

Iowa vs. Oklahoma vs. Texas

Idaho vs. Montana vs. Utah vs. Wyoming

Alabama vs. Delaware vs. Florida vs. Kentucky

California vs. Kansas vs. Minnesota vs. Wisconsin

Arizona vs. Nevada vs. New Mexico vs. Oregon vs. Washington

Alaska vs. Arkansas vs. Hawaii vs. Louisiana vs. Mississippi

Winning states will be recognized each year in the event program. Freidenberg said that his committee is also brainstorming about other ways to recognize the winning states and welcomes any ideas that folks may have.

“I know we have a few ideas that we are working on to reward the winning clubs, in their competition, but trying to find something for the various state winners has presented a bigger challenge.”

Among the ideas that are still being worked on, include:

-The addition of several new weight classes in each Age Group, other than the Open Division

-The ability for a Coach, or Team Administrator to enter his entire roster under one user name and to be able to follow each wrestler’s status, change their weight, print their weigh in cards, pay, etc... on one screen.

-Club/Team discounts, based on the number of individuals representing that group, provided they all register and pay as one.

Registration for this year’s Ohio TofC will open up on December 1 and Freidenberg said the newly designed website (and registration) should be ready by that time. “We told them we wanted the new design to be functional by November 1, so that we could have a few weeks of testing it out. Until then, the old site (www.ohiotofc.com) remains up.”