North Idaho to host 2011 NJCAA Wrestling Championships
North Idaho College, in conjunction with the Spokane Regional Sports Commission, has been awarded the rights to host the NJCAA Wrestling National Championships in 2011. The bid was awarded and announced at the NJCAA annual meetings on April 5, 2008 in Colorado Springs, CO, the home of the NJCAA national office. "This is a tremendous honor to host any national championship event, but especially because of the success of our wrestling program, we are grateful for this opportunity" said NIC Athletics Director Al Williams. Three regions submitted bids to the NJCAA championship committee to host the tournament, Rochester (MN), Des Moines (IA) and Spokane. The event has been held at Rochester for the past ten years, and they will also host the event in 2009 under the prior bid awarded three years ago. The NJCAA decided to award each submitter the opportunity to host for one year since the bids were comparable in presentation and each region displayed excellent qualities in their ability to host. Des Moines will host in 2010, Spokane in 2011, and Rochester in 2012. The tournament will be up for bid again at the completion of this rotation. "NIC has never hosted this event before so this bid gives us a chance to showcase our region and put on a quality event. That will strongly influence our chances of receiving future bids if we desire. Partnering with the Spokane Regional Sports Commission gives us tremendous experience in hosting a national athletic event. Combine that with our internal experience in hosting the annual Tri-State Wrestling tournament at NIC and we expect to put on a first class event." said Williams. The event will be held at THE HUB in Liberty Lake, the former Sports USA complex. It has existing seating for 3,500, with the ability to increase to 5,000 with temporary seats. The facility holds five regulation full court basketball floors, and includes VIP upper deck seating, concessions, office space and athletic training and lockers facilities. The event is scheduled for February 2011. The tournament will bring approximately 50 NJCAA wrestling programs to the region. NIC has earned 13 national championships and 30 finishes in the top three nationally. In 2007, the western region accounted for five teams in the top seven at the NJCAA national tournament, NIC (3rd), Northwest Wyoming (4th), Clackamas (OR) (5th), Southwest Oregon (6th), and Western Wyoming (7th). NIC finished 13th this past season.
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