The New York State Public High School Athletic Association has announced tickets are now on sale for both the 2022 High School Wrestling Individual and Dual Meet State Championships this February. Neither events were conducted in 2021 due to COVID.
DUAL MEET STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS – January 29 at SRC Arena (Onondaga Community College):
The SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College will host the 4th annual Wrestling Dual Meet State Championships on January 29th where 24 teams will compete in two divisions for a team state championship. Each team will compete in three pool play matches with the top four teams in each division advancing to the semifinals. Each of the 11 sections in the state will send a representative to the state meet in each division (except Section VII in Division 1). There will also be two at-large entries for Division 1 and one at-large entry for Division 2 with various criteria as part of a formula to determine the berths.
Tickets are $10 each (plus fees) and available only online by visiting www.gofan.co/NYSPHSAA. The association has released its full schedule for this event, which is a one-session, one-day tournament.
8:45 am, Opening Ceremonies
9 am – 2:15 pm, Three rounds of pool play
3 pm – 4:30 pm, Semifinals
5:45 pm, Finals Ceremonies
6 pm, Finals
INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS – February 25-26 at MVP Arena:
MVP Arena (previously known as the Times Union Center prior to January 1, 2022) will host the 57th annual Individual State Tournament on Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26. Tickets can be purchased for one or multiple sessions starting today at www.ticketmaster.com. Three ticket packages are being offered for the tournament including a “Premium Package” for $40 (plus fees) in which an attendee would receive a ticket for each of the first two sessions and a third ticket for the last session in a premium seating area within 15 rows of the floor (for finals only). Also available will be a one-session ticket for $10 (plus fees) as well as a three-session package without premium seating for $30 (plus fees). All seating is general admission except for premium seating for the finals. Premium seating will not be sold separately.
The Association has released its official competition schedule for the individual tournament and is as follows (more tournament information can be found at www.nysphsaa.org):
SESSION #1
Friday, February 25
9:30 am Parade of Champions/National Anthem
10:00 am – 3 pm Preliminaries: Division 1 and 2
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm Quarterfinals: Division 1 and 2
4:30 pm – 8:00 pm Wrestlebacks: Division 1 and 2
SESSION #2
Saturday, February 26
9:30 am National Anthem/Special Awards
9:30 am – 12:00 pm Semifinals: Division 1 and 2
Wrestlebacks: Division 1 and 2
12:30 – 2:00 pm Wrestlebacks/Consolation Semifinals: Division 1 & 2
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Consolation Finals: Division 1 and 2
SESSION #3
Saturday, February 26
6:05pm Finals: Division 1 and 2 (2 mats only)
The 2022 Individual Championships are now in their 17th year of a two-division format and will follow a similar schedule to last year’s event held at MVP Arena. Prior to this year, NYSPHSAA allowed an additional 120 wrestlers to fill the byes in the brackets using a formula based on a wrestler’s current season and previous season’s performances. This method was utilized the last 12 state tournaments, however, in 2022 NYSPHSAA will allow automatic berths for the at-large slots bringing the total number of participants to nearly 500 despite the elimination of two weight classes this year. Furthermore, similar to 2020, NYSPHSAA will recognize the 7th and 8th place wrestlers on the awards podium for each weight class, which will result in additional consolation matches on Saturday afternoon of the event. Qualifiers will hail from the 11 NYSPHSAA sections, as well as from the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) of New York City and the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA). The MVP Arena has hosted this event 15 of the last 18 years. All matches will be streamed on the NFHS Network for $10.99 per month.