Eight states to participate in first Women’s Junior National Duals in Fargo, N.D., July 28
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
07/17/2005
For the first time in USA Wrestling history, a Women's National Dual Meet Championship will be hosted, pitting state-level teams of high school women wrestlers in competition against each other. The first USA Wrestling Women's Junior National Duals will be hosted at the Bison Sports Arena on the campus of North Dakota State Univ. in Fargo, N.D, on Thursday, July 28. The competition will begin at 9:00 a.m., and will continue straight through until completion, which is estimated at 3:30 p.m. These teams of female high school wrestlers are organized by the state associations that are participating in the ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals, which are being held in the FargoDome during the week. The women athletes will also be competing in the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals for women, the individual tournament which is scheduled for July 29-30 in the FargoDome. It is the fourth year that there has been a women's division at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals. The states that have entered teams in the Women's Junior National Duals are: California, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Ohio, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin. A seeding criteria has been established, and the teams will be seeded prior to the competition. Each team will get five matches during the competition. Teams will be broken into two pools, with four teams in each pool. After each pool is completed, there will be a Gold pool and a Bronze pool round to set the medal pairings. The fifth round will feature the 1st place match, 3rd place match, 5th place match and 7th place match. Many of the nation's most successful Junior women wrestlers come from these states, which have chosen to enter teams in the first Women's Junior National Duals event. Last year, there were 39 athletes who came from these eight states that were All-Americans at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals. National Dual Meet Championships have become among the most popular and successful of USA Wrestling events on the age-group levels. This is the first National Duals for age-group women in the nation. However, there are National Dual Meet Championships for boys on the Junior, Cadet and Schoolboy levels, events that have shown great growth and participation. These events allow USA Wrestling's state associations to test themselves as teams, and allow for state pride in achievement.