Pac Coast Wrestling Tournament returns to Clark County this week

Alex Ford of Prairie, who won a state championship last season, is expected to compete this week at the Pac Coast Wrestling Tournament at Hudson’s Bay High School. The event, presented by Evergreen High School, features 59 teams from Washington and Oregon. Photo courtesy Tyler Mode

More than 50 high school wrestling teams expected to compete at Hudson’s Bay High School in an event presented by Evergreen High School

One of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the Northwest — certainly one of the biggest that is held on a high school campus — will be returning to Clark County this week.

The Pac Coast Wrestling Tournament, with 59 teams, will be held at Hudson’s Bay High School on Thursday and Friday. The two-day extravaganza is presented by Evergreen High School.

Jake Wilcox, the new head coach at Evergreen, is running the event with Hudson’s Bay coach Gabe Nunez.

Wilcox remembered one of his first times at Pac Coast, when he was an assistant coach at Prairie. He was listening to the announcer introducing finalists, and describing all of the accomplishments from each wrestler.

“I’ve never seen that high caliber of wrestlers at one tournament,” Wilcox recalled thinking. “Wow. It’s better than state. We’ve had state champions vs. state champions.”

Yes, Pac Coast brings wrestlers from Washington and Oregon, from different classifications, too. This year, with 59 teams in the lineup, there are going to be great wrestlers facing each other in every bracket.

This is also a return for Pac Coast, the first since December 2019. In 2020, there was no wrestling season in the winter. Then last year, wrestling was shut down in December.

“It’s particularly exciting for me,” said Wilcox, who is helping to run the tournament for the first time.

He loved seeing the lights and smoke and the over-the-top introductions in the past.

“It was just a cool thing,” he said. “I want to make sure it’s just as awesome, if not more.”

Among the Clark County teams scheduled to compete are: Camas, Columbia River, Evergreen, Fort Vancouver, Heritage, Hockinson, Hudson’s Bay, King’s Way Christian, La Center, Mountain View, Prairie, Ridgefield, Skyview, Washougal, Woodland, and Union.

In all, 60 teams were on the list to attend, but one team had to cancel this week, Wilcox said.

“It’s exciting to see how it comes together, see how teams want to be part of it because of the reputation that the tournament has,” Wilcox said.

Wrestling starts at 11 a.m. Thursday and goes all day. The action begins at 10 a.m. Friday, with finals scheduled for 6 p.m.

Before the finals, the Clark County wrestling community will salute longtime coach Bob Glafka. He coached at Fort Vancouver and Hockinson for decades. The wrestling community is honoring Glafka with a lifetime achievement award.

More than 50 high school wrestling teams expected to compete at Hudson’s Bay High School in an event presented by Evergreen High School

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