There will

be 37 wrestling teams at McIntosh High School next

Tuesday and Wednesday for the annual McIntosh Christmas

Classic. The teams are of top caliber, featuring the

highest ranked teams and wrestlers in the state and

region.

There will

be five mats with continuous action on Tuesday, mirroring

the experience of the state meet. "It will be a

great experience for our wrestlers," said Sandy

Creek wrestling coach Damian Belvedere. "It is

important to let the kids see what the state meet would

be like. They'll see all the big names and really feel

the excitement and pressure."

Most of the

teams will be from Georgia, but some teams will be coming

from as far away as South Carolina. Many of the

interesting matchups will be between those teams that

meet several times a year, pitting the same wrestlers

against each other again and again. This is especially

true for the teams in the county. Fayette County and

Sandy Creek will both be participating in the tournament

next week and many of the matchups will be key by the end

of the season.

One example

of this is the 140 weight class where Fayette County's

Brad West will most likely see action against Sandy

Creek's Larry Wright. The same goes for the 160 weight

class where McIntosh's Michael Lee and Fayette County's

Nick Salters will square off. These wrestlers do see each

other several times during a season and the competition

between them heats up as the season wears on.

Most teams

aren't too concerned with the final results just yet.

They are still trying to get some wrestlers down to a

certain weight and several teams have only recently got

their team back from the football field. They will all do

their best to try to win, but the experience is the most

important thing for their teams to gain.

The

tournament will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 21

and 22 at McIntosh High School. The action will begin at

9 a.m.