NIC cancels Tri-State wrestling tourney in 2020

From news services

COEUR d’ALENE — The 50th annual Tri-State Invitational, the most prestigious high school wrestling tournament in the Northwest, and hosted each December by North Idaho College, has postponed until December 2021.

Citing COVID-19 concerns, NIC decided to forgo the event in 2020. The tournament was slated to take place this year on Dec. 18 and 19. It is being rescheduled for Dec. 17 and 18, 2021.

“While this decision is being made for the health and safety of all involved, it is still devastating to the wrestling community,” NIC wrestling coach Mike Sebaaly said in a news release.

Each year, the tournament attracts hundreds of high school teams and individual wrestlers from Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washington.

Washington and Oregon teams wouldn’t have been able to come because their seasons wouldn’t have started by mid-December, as their seasons were pushed back because of COVID.

“The history and tradition of Tri-State calls for any celebration to be done right, and we just can’t do that right now,” NIC athletic director Bobby Lee said. “We cannot in good faith hold a tournament of this capacity safely in the middle of this pandemic. The safety of all participants is our number one priority.”

Sebaaly said moving the tournament to the spring was not an option due to competing regular season obligations and other, large regional tournaments.

Wrestling season customarily begins in early November for NIC wrestlers. But this year, due to COVID-19, the NJCAA pushed the season out to begin in January, with competitions scheduled into the spring.