The Jim Thorpe Christmas Tournament has come a long way since its inception in 1971. An event that started with just a few teams enjoyed a record turnout Thursday.

"We had 19 teams in the wrestling tournament, making it the largest hosted tournament in the 45 years of Jim Thorpe having a Christmas Tournament," Olympians' head coach Shawn Albert said of the event, which started at 9 a.m. and continued throughout the day. "A lot of coaches and parents helped out to make the event run smoothly even with the unfortunate weather early on."Despite having to deal with a snowstorm that moved through the area earlier in the day, the event went on as planned.Cameron Condly led the host Olympians with a second-place finish to Wilson's Noah Mauro at 160 pounds."Cameron Condly competed well today with a second-place finish," Albert said of the senior. "It was good to see him back on the mat after recovering from a bad ankle sprain."John Newhall (113), Ethan Mordaunt (195) and Ryan O'Rourke (285) placed fourth for Jim Thorpe, while Austin Williams (170) took seventh and Jason Walck (138) placed eighth.Wilson Area captured the team title with 243.5 points, with Berwick placing second and North Schuylkill taking third. The Olympians finished 11th with 86 points."Coach (Tom) Mertz has done a great job with his team," Albert said of the Warriors.As for his squad, Albert is hopeful competing with such a wide range of competition will pay dividends later in the season."Our performance today as a whole was up and down," he said. "I thought we had some really good bouts and then some that we would love to have back and perform a little better."Tournaments like today and others in the next weeks are what prepares wrestlers for the end of the season district tournament and so on."In addition to Jim Thorpe, Williams Valley, Southern Lehigh, Wilson, Berwick, Daniel Boone, Harriton, North Schuylkill, Phil-Mont Christian, Montgomery, Danville, Cedar Crest, Crestwood, William Allen, Wissahickon, Salisbury, South Williamsport, Bloomsburg and New Hope Solebury also took part in the tournament.Each weight class featured a 16-man bracket, with the top-seven wrestlers placing.