Snow may be falling outside, but inside Hoover’s gym, the heat is on. The annual Holiday Wrestling Tournament is back, bringing together competitive athletes from all around, different counties, cities, and states for a day of pins, take-downs, and heated competition. This year marks the 65th annual tournament, a milestone that underscores just how deeply this event is woven into the community. For more than six decades, generations of wrestlers have stepped onto the same mats, carrying on a tradition that celebrates hard work, discipline, and sportsmanship.
The tournament is a large and tedious event where many challenges may arise. Hoover Athletic Director Larry Kinnard spoke about the amount of people involved and attending the tournament.
“The amount of teams that are coming always brings a level of challenges…and being able to staff an event that is this big, from security to ticket-takers to wrestling volunteers for concession stands….and you always have staffing turn over because as kids graduate their parents may fall out, so then finding new volunteers to help out [is necessary],” he said.
To execute such an event, the help from many is needed, from the coaches, to the athletes, to those who help run the tournament. One of those important people is a wrestler’s mother and wrestling Booster Club member, Mrs. Brittany Paxos. She, along with the other Booster Club members, take part in the set up of clothes and concessions.
“Preparation begins early in the year,” Mrs. Paxos said. “Around March, our volunteers work with Rudis to design the tournament T-shirt. We also plan and stock a two-day concession stand, making sure to offer healthy options. Wrestlers who advance to day two must weigh out on day one and stay within one pound of their weight class, so proper nutrition is especially important.”
Alongside the Booster Club members, the coaches play an important role in preparing and training the athletes who take part in the tournament. Hoover wrestling head coach Nick Gamble sees the tournament as a way to indicate what needs to be improved and how to move forward in a productive manner.
“[The tournament is] a nice gauge to see where we are at the beginning of the season,” he said. “It also teaches the athlete how to bounce back from adversity. Only one wrestler per weight class can be [the champion]. Most athletes will lose. How do you plan to react to that loss? What do you need to do to get your mindset back after the loss? It’s great preparation for a post-season performance come tournament time.”
The athletes use the tournament similarly, as they take the tournament as an opportunity to place higher ranking-wise. Senior student-athlete, Stamatios Paxos, set personal goals, as well as team goals leading up to the big match.
“I personally think I should be in [the] final match in the center mat proving what I can do to everyone watching,” Paxos said. “For the team, I believe we can take down Wadsworth this year and climb higher for placement. We have a very solid team…that can do it, but first we have to believe in ourselves and take one match at a time.”
While the home tournament is important for the current players, it’s also a historical, long-standing event that has affected generations of athletes. Coach Gamble wrestled in the match years ago, making the change in size of the tournament more noticeable to him.
“I wrestled in the tournament in the late 90’s,” he said. “The tournament ran in the gym of the middle school. It was run on 4 mats with 16 teams. Today it is on [eight] mats with 30 [to] 40 teams, depending on the year.”
Completely separate from the athletes and those directly involved with the event, the North Canton community feels a sense of pride and economic boost during the winter season. Kinnard sees the event as an important tradition for the community as a whole.
“It’s a very competitive tournament as well, which adds to the value and the importance of the tournament,” he said. “I can’t go without saying that it is important to our community as well, for all of the business it brings to the area, being hotels, restaurants, different stores, as people are coming to this area to enjoy this great city of North Canton.”
While the tournament is a wrestling match put on for athletes to compete, the camaraderie and community spirit that is developed is what carries on the tradition.
“Any event that lasts this long [is due to] the tradition and the competition, but [also] the people,” he said. “The people are what make any event of this size and magnitude a successful event, and the people make this event something that makes people want to continue to come to and also make it a successful and well-run event.”
Marking 65 years, the North Canton City Schools’ Holiday Tournament is more than just a competition, it’s a cherished tradition. Year after year, athletes and community members alike come together, blending the excitement of the sport with the heart of the season.
As the mats are rolled up and the cheers fade, the legacy of this tournament endures, proving that some traditions only grow stronger with time.