Outdoor high school wrestling tournament set for Barker Saturday

Several decades ago professional wrestling contests at outdoor venues, including Medina’s Vets Park, were a popular part of the area’s summertime sports scene.

That idea of an outdoor wrestling competition will be renewed this coming Saturday with a tournament for high school age grapplers on the Barker High football field called the “Barker/Roy-Hart Battle for the Belt Summer Duals.”

Six teams representing leagues or schools around Western New York (Section VI) will be entered in the competition which begins at 9 a.m.Those teams will the Niagara-Orleans League, Niagara Frontier League, Clarence, two from Williamsville/Tonawanda/Amherst and a team from the Falconer area near Jamestown.

All six teams will be in acton during each of the tournament’s five rounds as three mats will be used across the football field.

“We want to give our Section VI kids some more competition,” said Barker/Roy-Hart wrestling Coach Keith Jones who is organizing the event. “It’s something I’ve aways wanted to do. There are a couple of other places around the state that hold outdoor tournaments like this. There will be many wrestlers who are state tournament representative and possible state champs who will be representing their teams.”