The start of the state high school dual-team wrestling tournaments tonight will be old hat and new hat in Catawba County.
The mainstays of the 21-year format are back – St. Stephens (3A) makes its 21st appearance, Newton-Conover (2A) its 15th and Bandys (2A) its 10th – and there are some new kids on the block.
When the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) developed the brackets on Monday, Bunker Hill (2A) and Fred T. Foard (3A) grabbed wild card spots.
Alexander Central is in the 4A bracket as the top 4A seed from the Northwestern 3A-4A.
Bunker Hill, Newton-Conover and St. Stephens are among the host sites for tonight's opening round.
The first and second of five rounds are tonight throughout the state, with four teams grouped together at various sites to wrestle their way to the next two rounds (on Thursday) at sites to be determined.
The state championships are Saturday.
A look at the area schools:
BUNKER HILL: The Bears (21-7) are at home today at 5 p.m. to face Western Highland 2A champion Madison (25-3) in the first state dual-team match in Bears history.
The other teams tonight at Bunker Hill are East Rutherford and Berry Academy.
FRED T. FOARD: The Tigers (25-6) go to Appalachian Athletic 3A top seed West Henderson (17-3).
It's only the second time in the dual-teams for Foard.
Enka (23-1) faces Ashbrook (23-16) in the other first round match at West Henderson.
NEWTON-CONOVER: The Catawba Valley Athletic 2A champs (31-4) meet wild card Surry Central (21-3) tonight at 6 p.m. at Newton-Conover.
The Red Devils are also joined by West Lincoln (20-6) and Ashe County (15-10).
Newton-Conover has won three straight West 2A titles, then lost in the state title match.
BANDYS: CVAC 2A runner-up Bandys (18-7) travels to battle PAC-6 top seed Trinity (22-2) at Trinity, and North Surry (26-0) and Thomasville (22-10) are in the opposite bracket there.
Bandys won state dual-team titles in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006.
ST. STEPHENS: The Indians (25-5), the Northwestern 3A-4A's top 3A seed and a No. 1 conference seed for the 10th straight season, face Freedom at 5 p.m.
Crest (22-6) faces South Rowan (20-7) in the other first round match.
The Indians have lost in the state 3A semifinals each of the last two seasons (to Winston-Salem Parkland).
ALEXANDER CENTRAL: The Cougars' eighth trip to the dual-teams begins with a match against Southeast Guilford (17-6) in Mocksville.
Alexander Central (24-12) needs a win to match up against Davie County (33-1) or Northwest Guilford (19-7) in tonight's second match at Davie County.
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