High school wrestlers from across Pennsylvania will converge on Panther Valley this weekend for the Coal Cracker Tournament.

Now in its eighth year, the event will be the biggest yet, with a record 27 teams scheduled to attend."We kind of want to show off a little bit. We want to run a good tournament," said Panther Valley head coach Tim Robb. "There's 27 teams coming in with some really, really talented kids. The finals are going to be awesome."You're going to have state medalists wrestling each other. At Panther Valley. It's crazy."While the varsity tournament might be the main attraction, that's not necessarily what has helped the event get so much attention."To be honest with you, the JV tournament," said Robb of what created the influx of teams. "We run a JV tournament the second day, and teams really liked that. They were calling me asking to get kids in the JV tournament, and I said yeah, if you also put them in the varsity tournament."Last year, it ran really smooth with 17 teams. And a couple of teams said that they were going to tell a couple people about it because it ran so smooth, and they were out of there so quick. With 27 teams, we're obviously going to be a little bit longer. But everybody knows that coming in, so as long as everybody does their job, it will keep it running smooth."The tournament will be run as a double-elimination format with a 32-man bracket, with awards given to the top eight wrestlers in each weight class. Trophies will be awarded to the first and second place teams, as well as the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.The JV tournament will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, with every wrestler guaranteed at least two matches. Wrestlers eliminated from the varsity tournament Friday night can be added to the JV tournament, though it must be cut off at 200 wrestlers.Medals will be awarded to the top three place winners in each bracket in the JV tournament.Several Times News area schools will be participating, such as Jim Thorpe, Northwestern, Tamaqua, and host Panther Valley.Other District 11 teams scheduled to compete are Catasauqua, Mahanoy Area, Notre Dame, Palisades and Salisbury.The wide range of competition is something Robb hopes will generate even more interest in the tournament."The local schools are coming," he said, "and I'm looking forward to it. We want people to be able to come and see some really good wrestling without going far."We want people to be able to come watch the local kids not just wrestle each other, but wrestle somebody from out of the area."With wrestlers eager to prep for the postseason, the timing of the event couldn't have been much better."I know there are other teams that want to come in next year," said Robb. "Three weeks from districts, and if you can get a tournament like this in January, it's great. Double and Triple A teams coming in, it's a week before district duals, you couldn't ask for a better situation."There are some other real big tournaments out west, but nothing really this way. So a lot of teams showed interest in coming. We're going to have to put a limit on it somewhere. But we're not sure where yet. We'll see how this year goes."It already looks like Panther Valley has the hottest ticket in town, something that's not likely to change anytime soon."Obviously, I want our kids to wrestle well. But I want us to look good," said Robb. "I want to make our program look good. I want to make our school district look good. That's my biggest thing. I want people to come in, say that they had a good time, that we took care of them, and that they'll be back next year. That's all I want."Below is the schedule of events for the varsity tournament:FRIDAY JAN. 275:30-10 p.m.Weigh-in (High School Gym): 3-4 p.m.Pigtails (8 mats): 4:30-5:15 p.m.First Round (8 mats): 5:15-7:30 p.m.First Round Consolations: 7:30-8 p.m.Quarterfinals (8 mats): 8-9 p.m.Second Round Consolations: 9-10 p.m.SATURDAY JAN. 2811:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Weigh-in (Middle School Lockers): 9-10 a.m.Third Round Consolations (4 mats): 10:30 a.m.-NoonSemifinals (2 mats) Noon-1:30 p.m.Consolation Quarterfinals (2 mats): Noon-1:30 p.m.Consolation Semifinals (4 mats): 1:30-3 p.m.Consolation Finals, 5th & 7th (4 mats): 3-4 p.m.Finals, 1st & 3rd (2 mats): 5-6:30 p.m.NOTE: All times are tentative. Wrestlers must be prepared to wrestle each round as it comes up in succession.Awards ceremonies for all weights will follow the 285-pound bout.*****OFF THE MAT ... In Off The Mat's third issue of Class 2A state rankings this week, Northern Lehigh's Ryan Farber led the way, landing at the No. 1 spot at 160 pounds, while Northwestern's Caleb Clymer came in at No. 7, up one spot. Palmerton's Jared Mooney (195) was ranked fourth and Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh (138) sixth in their respective weight classes. Northwestern's Bailey Wehr was seventh at 120 pounds.*****TOURNEY TIME ... The schedule for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference's "Championship Day" has been released. The event will be held this Saturday at Easton Area Middle School. The main draw is a showdown between the conference's top two teams, Nazareth and Bethelhem Catholic, in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle. The Blue Eagles and Golden Hawks will take off at 7 p.m. Bethlehem Catholic topped Nazareth for last year's crown, 40-9. Rounds 1 and 2 will consist of three matches apiece and begin at 1:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Pleasant Valley is set to take on Whitehall in Round 2, in what will be the 11th place match. There will be two matches in Round 3, which will start at 5 p.m. and be followed by the championship match between Nazareth and Bethlehem Catholic at 7 p.m. Admission will be $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.*****TOURNEY TIME (PART II) ... The schedule for the Colonial League team tournament has also been finalized. The four-team event will take place Monday, Jan. 30, at Catasauqua High School. Top-seed Saucon Valley will take on No. 4 Northwestern at 5:30 p.m. in one semifinal. Second seed Bangor will go against third seed Wilson in the other semi at the same time. The winners will meet in the championship match at 7:30 p.m. Saucon Valley beat Northwestern for last year's title, 40-24.*****WHERE THEY STAND ... Through Wednesday's matches, Northwestern (9-4) and Lehighton (10-7) were fifth and seventh, respectively, in the District 11 Class 2A team power rankings. Panther Valley (7-8) was 10th. Palmerton (10-13) slotted into the 12th spot. Northern Lehigh (6-12) was 14th, Tamaqua (1-10) 17th and Jim Thorpe (1-7) 19th. In the Class 3A power rankings, Pleasant Valley (3-12) was 18th. Saucon Valley (18-0) and Nazareth (13-0) were the top 2A and 3A teams, respectively.*****MILESTONES ... Palmerton's Jared Mooney secured his 100th career win with a fall on Tuesday against Northern Lehigh. The Bulldogs' Ezra Neff was honored before the match for having recently surpassed the 150-point mark. Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh is also closing in on the school's all-time wins mark. The senior stands a good chance to get even closer this weekend at the Coal Cracker Tournament at Panther Valley.