This year’s event will be held at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University, April 21-25, 2010. The local host for the event is the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.
“Northeast Ohio has such a strong, vibrant wrestling community and we are thrilled to welcome the nation’s best to Cleveland this April and again in 2011,” stated David Gilbert, President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. “The U.S. Senior Nationals is one of the premier wrestling events in the nation. It will truly be an exciting weekend with great competition.”
The U.S. Senior National Wrestling Championships feature the nation’s top wrestlers in the three Olympic styles: men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.
The Men’s FILA Junior National Championships include the nation’s top athletes who are 17-20 years old, competing in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Up to 850 athletes are expected to participate in the two competitions that weekend, with more than $850,000 expected to be infused into the local economy.
“USA Wrestling is excited to partner with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission to bring our U.S. Senior National Championships to Cleveland,” said Pete Isais, USA Wrestling National Events Director. “Cleveland is a great wrestling community, and we have great working relationship with the Sports Commission there. We are looking forward to showcasing our most talented athletes for fans to enjoy. We fully expect the event to be a huge success.”
The U.S. Senior Nationals move to Cleveland from Las Vegas, Nev., where the event has been located for 20 of the last 22 years. The FILA Junior Nationals had been held in Las Vegas alongside the Senior Nationals for the last five years.
The Cleveland Local Organizing Committee will include the following organizations:
• USA Wrestling – Ohio
• Greater Cleveland Wrestling Coaches & Officials Association
• Cleveland State University
• Mid-American Conference
• City of Cleveland
• Greater Cleveland Sports Commission
• Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland
The competition schedule and ticket price structure has not been finalized. More information will be announced shortly.
The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission has rich history of hosting premier wrestling events, including the 1998 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Cleveland and the 2007-2009 USA Wrestling University and FILA Cadet Nationals in Akron.
Other Olympic sports events hosted by the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission included: 2000 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, 2002 USA Gymnastics National Championships, 2002 USA Judo Senior Nationals, 2004 U.S. Speedskating Short Track National Championships, 2004 USA Boxing Olympic Trials Box-Off and the 2005 USA Weightlifting National Championship.
Wrestling is a tremendously popular sport in Ohio and is considered one of the nation’s hotbeds. There are 618 high school wrestling teams in Ohio, with 13,804 high school wrestlers, and a tradition of competitive excellence. Ohio also has a rich tradition of college wrestling programs. With its central location, wrestling fans from across the nation will be able to easily travel to Cleveland to enjoy the action.
The top seven athletes in each weight class at the U.S. Senior National Championships qualify to compete at the 2010 U.S. Senior World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 10-12. The Men’s FILA Junior National Championships is a qualifying event for the FILA Junior World Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 21-22.
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