Will draw 2,000 'little guy' wrestlers
This is the crowd of wrestlers, over 2,100 who gathered at the Spokane Convention Center, that put the Jason Crawford Memorial Wrestling Tournament into the Guinness Book of Records in 2012. The 27th annual event, presented by the Medical Lake Mat Maulers, takes place in Spokane this Saturday.
The Medical Lake Mat Maulers will take momentum earned with their 39-medal performance at Spangle, Wash. last Saturday onto the big stage for this Saturday's 27th Annual Jason Crawford Memorial Tournament.
The Crawford will be center stage for the third year in a row at The Spokane Convention Center where two years ago it established a Guinness world record for, the "largest single day youth wrestling tournament in the world."
Opening ceremonies begin at 8 a.m. with matches taking place from 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Spectator admission is $3 (12 years and older).
The tournament was named to honor the memory of Jason Crawford, a 12-year old Mat Mauler who was killed in 1988 when he was hit by a car while his family was vacationing in Kelowna, British Columbia. Dennis Crawford, Jason's dad, still travels from Georgia each year to attend the tournament and speak to the wrestlers and spectators.
"Each year the number of wrestlers that register can vary, but has been steady around 1,300-1,400," Mat Maulers spokesperson, Nicole Aguilera wrote in an email.
Wrestlers ranging in age from 5 to 14 come from all over Washington, Idaho, and Montana to wrestle at this tournament.
That's approximately 2,100 wrestling matches in one day with over half of those matches resulting in a pin, Aguilera said. Wrestlers are expected to take home approximately 600-700 medals.
The Medical Lake Mat Maulers Wrestling Club host the Crawford Tournament each year. They have significant volunteer help, including parent and family volunteers, as well as support from military volunteers from Fairchild Air Force Base.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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