12/03/2019
I know many young wrestlers, coaches, parents and fans are disappointed that the 2019 Mountain Man has been canceled and for that I am truly sorry. I can assure you that nobody is more disappointed than I am. There were several factors that played a role in the decision of canceling the tournament. Obviously, there is another huge national tournament (VAC’s) this weekend in Virginia. We were aware of the challenges that the 2019 December calendar presented us very early in this process. We discussed our options of possible dates that we could move the Mountain Man to that would not compete with VAC’s, however we could not come up with a date where we could make the logistics work.
The Mountain Man has never been a huge tournament as far as number of entries go. However we have grown quite the reputation for being a super tough tournament that brings kids from all over the country. Our record is 23 states represented in the tournament all the way from Oklahoma, Conneticut, Michigan, Florida and everywhere in between. In the past we have had multiple kids in the same year not win the Mountain Man that went on to win Tulsa Nationals later that same season. I’m totally fine with us being a smaller, super tough tournament, however I felt that this year the tournament was in danger of being too small. I’m sure numbers would have picked up some, but nobody can guess how much. The last thing I want to do is have someone travel 10 hours, spend a bunch of money on hotels and not get a good bang for their buck.
I’m proud of how far the Mountain Man Classic has come and I’m more proud of all the people that have worked their butts off to build the Mountain Man into what it is today. I feel like if we had followed through with the tournament that it would have been “watered down” at best. I feel this would be a disservice to the wrestler’s that would have competed this weekend as well as to all the wrestlers who have hauled a Mountain Man Belt home from Abingdon in the past!
This is a obviously a set back for our program, as well as the reputation of the Mountain Man. With that said, the Mountain Man WILL make a comeback! We have 68 Belts that are ready for a new home. If we can find a date late winter/early spring that we can make work, we will roll with it. If not we will see you December 5th & 6th 2020. (Next year VAC’s are the next weekend)
Lastly, I would like to thank all the people that have reached out to me today with kind words about their past Mountain Man experiences and encouraging us to reschedule.
Mountain Man/Coach Scott
