Staff file photo / Preston Byers. South Range's Tyson Seesholtz competes at the 2024 Ohio High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament on March 8 in Columbus. Seesholtz is expected to be one of the Raiders' top wrestlers during their holiday tournaments.

For most, this time of the year brings gifts, sweet treats and family time. For many wrestlers around the Mahoning Valley, the holiday season also means something else: tournaments, and plenty of them.

Although not every program will take advantage of the break in the school calendar to attend out-of-town tournaments, many are. One to do so is South Range, which is set for the two-day Medina Invitational Tournament (MIT) next Friday and Saturday.

The MIT, Raiders head coach Frank Giordano says, is in some ways the best way to prepare for what the team’s state qualifiers will face in Columbus come March.

“It’s actually bigger than the state tournament just because of the amount of teams,” Giordano said of the MIT, which had about 50 teams participate last year. “And there’s no divisions, so you’re wrestling Division I, II and III opponents. It’s some of our best prep for the end of the year.”

Giordano knows many of his wrestlers will not escape Medina unscathed; he said it’s part of the plan.

“You have to put yourself in front of that kind of competition to get where you want to go at the end of the year,” Giordano said. “I try to make the schedule as hard as possible, so at the end of the year, we’re not overwhelmed.”

Garfield head coach Dan Andel subscribes to the same mentality.

“We don’t shy from competition at Garrettsville. … I think it’s important to wrestle in some really tough tournaments against state champs, state-place winners, just to give yourself a gauge and kind of jump back in the practice room, get on the drawing board and make some mid-season corrections to push into the postseason with,” Andel said. “If you go the whole season and you’ve only got a couple losses, in my opinion, your schedule is not appropriate. You’ve got to push yourself and get in those tough matches.”

That is why the G-Men will be attending the Waterloo D3 Classic, a pool tournament, today and tomorrow before heading to Broadview Heights for the Brecksville Holiday Tournament on the 28th and 29th.

Andel said it is considered to be one of the toughest tournaments in the state, second to possibly only the Ironman tournament at Walsh Jesuit.

“As far as in-season high school tournaments go, it’s brutal,” Andel said of the Brecksville invitational.

Other Mahoning Valley teams will similarly test themselves; Canfield will attend the competitive North Canton Hoover tournament this weekend, Boardman and Howland are heading to Hudson today and tomorrow, Pymatuning Valley and West Branch will compete in the Kenston Invitational in Chagrin Falls next weekend and Fitch will join South Range in Medina a week from now.

Although the official competition will remain tough, the wrestlers will be dealing with an annual change in their day-to-day routines with school out until 2025.

To help fill or change when the wrestlers will have downtime, coaches shift their practice schedules.

“It’s very difficult because when they sit around all day, it tends to affect them later in the day,” Giordano said. “So we try to have practice in the morning, so they get up and get moving and get their day started. [That way] they stay in more of a routine of getting out of bed early rather than sleeping all day.”

Next week, wrestlers all around the state will also receive a gift from the Ohio High School Athletic Association: everyone, regardless of weight class, will be afforded a two-pound growth allowance starting on Christmas Day.

While most would have little problem making weight otherwise, it will certainly prove extremely helpful for others.

“For two [of our] wrestlers, it’s really big. Luke Kaufman and Landon [Andel], they suck some weight down to make their weight class. So that two pounds, they’ll be very appreciative about that,” Andel said. “And we have a young team. So just in general, I think we’ve only got two or three seniors, so a lot of sophomores in that lineup, which means they’re still growing. So that helps.”

Some teams will not have to travel too far for their holiday competitions. Austintown Fitch faces several non-local teams in duals at home on Saturday, Pymatuning Valley hosts the Laker Shaker the same day, Hubbard is set to put on a girls-only tournament Sunday and East Liverpool’s Queen of the Hill is on Dec. 29.

After New Year’s, attention will turn to events such as the Jackson-Milton Invitational on Jan. 4 and the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League tournament on Jan. 10 and 11.