Best youth, high school, college wrestlers of the Southeast to converge on Kissimmee
One of the nation’s premiere holiday wrestling tournaments returns to Silver Spurs Arena this weekend as Osceola High hosts the 12th edition of the Knockout Classic.
Action begins at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday and tickets are $20 per day.
The event includes divisions in youth, high school girls, and high school boys and – for the first time ever – will feature college teams competing in a round robin dual format. Those college teams include nationally ranked West Virginia (19th in latest NCAA poll), Big 10 power Wisconsin, North Dakota State and Campbell University.
In the high school boys’ division, more than 60 high school teams are slated to compete, including the three defending Florida state team champions South Dade (Class 3A), Jesuit (2A), and Somerset Academy (1A); as well as state runner-ups Osceola (3A), Lake Gibson (2A) and Mater Lakes (1A).
Five state team champions from Georgia, including 7A Camden County, 6A South Effingham, 5A Ola, 4A Central Carroll and 1A Social Circle are scheduled to participate; as will state team champions from Alabama (Mountain Brook-6A), North Carolina (Seaforth-2A), Virginia (Stanton River-3A), and Mississippi (Vancleave).
The Knockout’s 2024 field includes more than 50 defending state champions that have accounted for more than 80 total state championships, while hundreds of others have reached the podium at their state championship events.
Stanton River’s squad features two wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in the nation: Colin Martin (ninth at 12 pounds) and Noah Ninninger (fourth at 150). Both will be going for their fourth consecutive state championship this spring. Landon Jobber-Spence, also from Stanton River, is ranked 19th in the nation at 215.
Ariah Mills is an eighth grader from Athens Christian, Georgia who won U16 national championships in both freestyle and Greco Roman at Fargo, N.D. this summer. Mill Creek’s (Ga.) Dominick Bambinelli, a three-time state champion, enters the tournament ranked 3rd in the nation at 175 by Flowrestling.com. Jensen Beach’s Sebastian Degennaro will be going for his fourth state championship this year and has reached the podium in several national elite events including the Powerade, Ironman, Beast of the East and Super 32 events last year.
Top competitors from Osceola include defending state champion Isfandier Sharipov (132) and third place state finisher Elijah VanSickle (215).
“Always one of the top fields in southeast if not the nation, this will be the deepest and best field in the history of the Knockout,” Osceola coach Rick Tribit said. “For fans of high school wrestling, this is a tournament you will not want to miss. There will be numerous state champions in every bracket, as well as many nationally ranked wrestlers.”
The college aspect to the Knockout is new. At 1 p.m. Saturday, West Virginia will wrestle North Dakota State and Campbell will take on Wisconsin in dual meet action. At 3 p.m., it will be WVU vs. Wisconsin and NDSU against Campbell. The round-robin concludes at 5 p.m. with WVU against Campbell and NDSU taking on the Badgers.
The youth tournament begins on Friday at 8 a.m. Girls high school begins at 9 a.m. with the boys tournament beginning at 3:30 p.m. The rounds of 64, 32 and 16 will be contested on Friday.
Saturday’s schedule will have both the boys and girls tournament picking up at 8:30 a.m. with quarterfinals, semifinal and placement matches. The girls championship round is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday; with the boys championship Round at 3 p.m.