2021 Ohio Tournament of Champions - April 24

[OhioTofC]

2021 OHIO TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

The 29th Ohio Tournament of Champions is scheduled to be held on April 24, 2021, at the Ohio Expositions Center (Ohio State Fairgrounds), in Columbus, OH.

While you will be able to register for the Tournament starting on December 1, 2020, (www.ohiotofc.com), the payment option will not appear until we have been given approval, by the Expo Center, that the event can safely be held. Once we receive word that it can, we will notify all those that have registered and let them know that they can log back in to complete the payment process.

In an effort to comply with current guidelines, we do have three buildings, all on the North side of the Fairgrounds, (and within 100 yards of each other), that could be utilized, if necessary. Current plans would have us running all the 14 and under groups in Kasich Hall and only the older wrestlers in the Lausche Building, if necessary, with the third building being used only in case of emergency.

Below is additional information, as it pertains to the 2021 Ohio TofC:

QUALIFICATION PROCEDURES: ***Due to the current COVID situation, we are suspending all qualification standards for the 2021 Ohio Tournament of Champions. Thus, ALL wrestlers are eligible to compete in the event. However, please understand that this is a highly competitive event and not recommended for inexperienced wrestlers.***

CHANGES FOR 2021

EVENT SITE: As mentioned above, the event will return to the Ohio Expo Center in 2021, where it was also held in 2019. This is due to the fact that a larger event was given scheduling priority ahead of us at the Columbus Convention Center. Booking procedures there are based strictly on the amount of room nights an event can generate, as the city receives occupancy tax. This other event was allowed to book three years in advance, while our event is considered a smaller event and we can only book 12-18 months out. Even if we have a hold on dates, we can be bumped up until that time.

As was the case in 2019, we will be running the event in multiple sessions and clustering wrestlers on three, or four, adjacent mats.. This should allow most every weight class to be in and out in less than three hours and also help keep the overall crowd size, at any given time, to a minimum.

REGISTRATION & CHANGE OF WEIGHT DEADLINE: Initial registration will close on April 19 and extended registration, (subject to a late registration fee), will close on April 22. Free weight changes thru April 22. NO registrations will be taken after this date, or at the door.

Now that the event is completely computerized, we have voted to reduce the fee to change weight at the site during weigh ins to $50, with a $25 fee for the Girls and Open Divisions.

ENTRY FEE: The entry fee for the 2021 Ohio TofC will be $75 ($55 for Open and Girl’s Division), which is a $5 increase from the past. This increase is due to anticipated additional expenses to conform to proper social distancing, additional medical personnel and event insurance.

HOWEVER, additional family entries will remain at $50. This means that the additional expense for any one family would only be $5.

*** In addition, once we receive word that the event can be safely held, we will contact all those that have already registered, but not yet paid, and offer them a limited time to be able to pay at the $70 rate.

Additionally, the tournament will maintain a FREE ADMISSION policy, (though it may be limited this year with COVID restrictions), as well as no fee for Coaches Passes.

CLUB/TEAM COMPETITION & DISCOUNTS:

There is NO fee for Coaches to register their Club/Team for the Club/Team competition now. In fact, we encourage all coaches to sign up their club/team now. Just remember, in order for a wrestler to part of your group, they need to practice with your club/team on a regular basis.

Coaches: While the site still says there is a $5 fee to register your club/team, it should allow you to register and not charge you. Also, while the site should still give you a club code, as well as the ability to send out team invites, it is not necessary to do so, as all wrestlers must designate their affiliation, when they sign up. This is the information we will go by for figuring our team scores.

Clubs/Teams will again be able to compete for team awards. As always, you do not need to designate your point scorers. The top X number of place finishers, from your team, will score points. This year, girls will have their own competition and no Open Division wrestlers will score points

Division 1 is mainly for the larger Power Clubs - 16 point scorers
Division 2 is mainly for the larger school teams and the smaller power clubs - 12 point scorers
Division 3 is mainly for the smaller school team, or local club team - 8 point scorers
Division 4 is for the Girls competition

As stated above:
Coaches or Team Administrators that register as a Team or Club, (there is no fee for doing this), and have at least five participating wrestlers may receive a DISCOUNTED RATE as listed below:

5-14 wrestlers - $5 off per entry
15-24 wrestlers - $10 off per entry
25+ wrestlers - $15 off per entry

Note: Team/Club members MUST practice with your Team/Club on a regular basis. Wrestlers may register on their own, but need to indicate which Team/Club they are a part of, when they do so (they can only list one).

The final amount, for all Team/Club members must then be paid in one transaction by the Coach, or Team Administrator, via Paypal or check and submitted with a list of wrestlers. Clubs/Teams will be able to substitute for injured wrestlers thru the entry deadline, at no additional charge. However, the change of weight fee, if done at weigh-ins, would still apply.

AND that pay for their participants with one payment will continue to receive the $70 rate, as well as one free entry with each paid 10 entries. They will also be able to substitute wrestlers, with no fee, should one of their wrestlers not be able to attend (up until the time entries are shut down). There is also NO fee for individuals to register their Team or Club.

Coaches, or Team Administrators will need to contact us directly for the payment procedure.

Awards will be presented to the top 3 finishing Club/Teams in each Division.

VIDEO CHALLENGES: We do plan to offer Video Challenges for 2021 and are still developing the exact rules for how those might be implemented and what fees there might be to issue a challenge.

HONOREES: Our Honorees for 2021 will be:

DAVE SCHULTZ: 1984 Olympic Champions, 1982 NCAA Champion, 7X World & Olympic Medalist

STANLEY HENSON: 3X NCAA Champion (1937-1939), 1937 NCAA Most Valuable Wrestler, Surgeon and Sports Medicine Pioneer

HOTELS: We currently have set up room blocks and a number of hotels. That list can be found here: https://ohiotofc.com/hotels


PAST OHIO TOFC PARTICIPANTS HAVE INCLUDED:

2019 NCAA DIVISION I ALL-AMERICANS: 125 Pounds: Spencer Lee-Iowa (Champion), Jack Mueller- Virginia (2nd Place); 133 Pounds: Luke Pletcher-Ohio State (4th Place); 141 Pounds: Yianni Diakomihalis-Cornell (Champion), Joey McKenna-Ohio State (2nd Place), Dom Demas-Oklahoma (4th Place), Nick Lee-Penn State (5th Place); 149 Pounds: Anthony Ashnault-Rutgers (Champion), Austin O'Connor-North Carolina (3rd Place), Matthew Kolodzik-Princeton (5th Place); 157 Pounds: Jason Nolf-Penn State (Champion), Alec Pantaleo-Michigan (3rd Place), Hayden Hidlay-North Carolina State (4th Place); 165 Pounds: Vincenzo Joseph-Penn State (2nd Place), Chance Marsteller-Lock Haven (3rd Place), Alex Marinelli-Iowa (7th Place); 174 Pounds: Zahid Valencia-Arizona State (Champion), Mark Hall II-Penn State (2nd Place), Myles Amine-Michigan (3rd Place); 184 Pounds: Myles Martin-Ohio State (3rd Place), Chip Ness-North Carolina (6th Place); HWT: Gable Steveson-Minnesota (3rd Place)

Others have included: 4X NCAA Champion Logan Stieber (Ohio State), 2X NCAA Champion David Taylor (Penn State), 4X NCAA Champion Kyle Dake (Cornell), 3X NCAA Champion Kyle Snyder (Ohio State), NCAA Runner Up Lance Palmer (Ohio State), NCAA Champion Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota), 2X NCAA Champion Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), NCAA Runner Up Zeke Moisey (West Virginia), 2X NCAA Champion J. Jaggers (Ohio State), NCAA All American Joey Ward (North Carolina), NCAA All American Hunter Stieber (Ohio State), NCAA Champion Troy Nickerson (Cornell), NCAA Runner Up Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State), NCAA Champion Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State), NCAA Champion Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State), NCAA Runner Up Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan), NCAA Runner Up Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State) and NCAA Champion Jon Reader (Iowa State), who holds the TofC record with 10 titles.

The Ohio Tournament of Champions is also the event where David Taylor and Kyle Dake first met.

A complete list of Multiple Ohio Tournament of Champions Champions can be found here: https://ohiotofc.com/page/29-multiple-champions


On behalf of everyone associated with the Ohio Tournament of Champions, we wish all wrestlers a safe 2020-2021 season and hope that wrestling returns to some sort of normalcy in the very near future.

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