Photo by: WTKR

Medalists at the Super State tournament at Virginia Beach Field House pose with their awards.

By: Marc Davis

Posted at 12:33 AM, Mar 15, 2023

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- It throws classifications out the window and throws wrestlers into a bracket all together to decide superiority.

We're talking about Super States, a tournament put on by Virginia Challenge Wrestling. This allows wrestlers from all across the commonwealth to put their skills to the test against other top competitors in the state. While the VHSL state tournaments are broken down into six classifications, this event puts everybody in each weight class in the same bracket.

Up to 32 wrestlers could compete in each weight class with the top four receiving medals. A total of 744 participants took part in the event that took place on Saturday and Sunday at the Virginia Beach Field House.

Super States also partners with the US Marines , which has representatives on-hand to help present medals and assist.

2023 All Virginia High School and Grade Level States

Proclamation of the Virginia Challenge Day By the Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer

The Virginia Wrestling Community would like to congratulate Frank Lipoli (VACW Executive Director) for being Honored as an Inductee to the 2022 Hampton Roads Hall Of Fame. His years of selfless work and dedication to promoting wrestling events in southeastern Virginia has been honored as a new 2022 Hall of Fame Member. Frank is the Father of the VACW National Holiday Duals which is the Top National Dual Event for Middle School and Elementary School. Multiple participants in the Holiday Duals have gone on to become college All Americans , Olympic Team Members, Olympic and International Champions. Many of these outstanding wrestlers did not even go undefeated at this event. That is the type of competition that attends the Holiday Duals which Frank laid the foundation for.

NATIONAL HOLIDAY DUALS OFFICIAL SPONSOR

Social injustice is wrong and contrary to the inclusive nature of wrestling. USA Wrestling’s mission is to provide quality opportunities for its members to achieve their full athletic and human potential. Recent tragedies in our nation compel us to do more and do it better. We stand with our African American and black communities and all of the diverse people who are part of our sport. We will focus our actions on how we can drive change against unjust treatment, police brutality, and systematic racism that is plaguing our nation and world. We need to come together now and use our voice, platform, and actions to help create the kind of society that reflects our values. By its nature, wrestling can be the most inclusive sport on earth. Anyone can wrestle and everyone is welcome. When we hit the mat, we are all part of one wrestling family.