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More than three dozen wrestlers from Luzerne County schools have taken the more than seven-hour trip to Virginia Beach this weekend.

While it would be a nice weekend vacation for most, they’re not there for recreational purposes. They’re bound for one of the biggest high school tournaments in the country, the 26th annual NHSCA High School National Wrestling Championships at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

“It’s a very special thing. It’s top notch competition,” said Wyoming Valley West coach Drew Feldman, who will take three of his wrestlers — Jon Lagoski, Jimmy Wright and Cody Cordes — and oversaw a practice of more than half the group earlier this week.

“You get the best wrestlers from the area, work together, all go down there together. It’s a fun thing, but it’s competitive. We’re going down there to win, but on the other hand we’re going to have some fun. It’s a nice culmination to end the year. It’s a fun thing for all the district.”

The weekend will feature a lot of wrestling with dozens of mats set up in the center, some weight classes having more than 100 participants, and long 12-hour days for some participants. Cordes, who was PIAA Class 3A runner-up earlier this month, says it’s more than wrestling though.

“There’s a lot of college coaches there, you get your name out more and just wrestle those tougher kids that are coming from all different states,” said Cordes, who will attend and wrestle for Division I Lock Haven in the fall.

Cordes and Wright were state qualifiers from the Wyoming Valley Conference and will be joined by fellow state qualifiers from this season in Hazleton Area’s Chris Lasecki, Jimmy Hoffman and Derek Spachman. Wyoming Area’s Charlie Johnson and Crestwood’s Dan Ritz earned state medals finishing fifth and eighth.

It’s not just wrestlers from the PIAA who are headed down Interstate-95 as Wyoming Seminary will have eight participants consisting of freshmen Jack Davis, David Diaz and Jake Hendricks; sophomores Tristan Hanshaw and Zane Black; juniors Andrew Munn and Patrick Munn; and senior Aaron Kliamovich.

Defending WVC Division I champions Tunkhannock and Hazleton Area lead WVC teams with each taking seven grapplers to Virginia, while fellow DI champ Coughlin has five participants. Wyoming Area and Crestwood have two participants apiece, while Meyers has one wrestler entered.