Prep Wrestling Insider: County Clash comes to life Saturday

Kenton Ridge had prior commitment, but every other team will be there.

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By Kermit Rowe, Staff Writer 10:47 PM Wednesday, January 4, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — It’s been a long time coming, but it is finally here. It’s county wrestling meet time again. Thanks to the efforts of Shawnee head coach Rick Allen and the cooperation of the county’s wrestling coaches, the first Clark County Clash is set for 9 a.m. Saturday at Shawnee High School.

The meet will feature wrestlers from every Clark County school except Kenton Ridge.

“I really don’t remember just how this came about,” said Allen. “I’ve tried to host a tournament at Shawnee for seven years; then it just hit me one day: Why don’t we have a county meet.”

Allen then simply tapped into a strong hidden sentiment.

“It only took me two hours to get confirmation from literally every coach and AD in the county,” he said.

The meet starts at 9 a.m. with a pool meet format, and wrestling will continue nonstop throughout the day. There will be two five-man pools per weight class, with the winners of each pool meeting in the finals. Allen estimated the finals will start about 4 p.m.

“Apparently, 15-20 years ago, they did the same thing,” said Allen. “I don’t know why it stopped. It wasn’t around when I wrestled (mid-1990s).”

Allen is impressed with the excitement it has generated.

“Everybody is excited,” said Allen. “Everyone has helped out. I’ve been talking a lot with Scott (Herbert of Tecumseh), Ed Rhoades (of Northeastern) and Virgil (Goodwine at Springfield).”

Goodwine may be the head cheerleader for the meet.

“It’s like buying American,” he said. “It’s perfect. It’ll give our kids a chance to get noticed, maybe even by some colleges.”

The meet will be one school short of full county representation.

“We already had our schedule set up and couldn’t get out of it,” said Kenton Ridge coach Cameron Doggett. “We already had the contract signed, so we just decided to stay with it.”

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