Regional basketball, state track, state wrestling championships to stay in Greensboro through 2014

GREENSBORO --The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, the Greensboro Sports Commission, the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, and the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau have renewed their partnership agreement for another three years.

The Western Regional Basketball Championships, the NCHSAA Wrestling Championships, and the NCHSAA Track and Field Championships will continue to be held in Greensboro from the 2011-12 academic year through 2013-14.

"Greensboro has a great tradition of hosting major sporting events and we have had an excellent relationship with these fine partners for the past several years," said Davis Whitfield, commissioner of the NCHSAA. "We look forward to continuing the relationship and building upon the momentum that has been generated. We will continue to offer first-class events for our student-athletes and fans and we are proud to be a part of this partnership."

Other partners in this endeavor are the Greensboro Sports Council, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and North Carolina A&T State University.

“We are thrilled to renew our commitment to host these high school state and regional championship events in Greensboro,” said Greensboro Sports Commission president Kim Strable. “The NCHSAA has been a great partner and we appreciate the confidence the staff has placed in us to deliver a Tournament Town championship experience to the youth of North Carolina.”

For the last three years, the Western Regional Basketball Championships have been in the Special Events Center of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and at Fleming Gymnasium on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The State Individual Wrestling Championships have been contested in the Greensboro Coliseum for the last two years. The NCHSAA track and field championships have been held at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University since 2004.

“We are delighted to be part of the continuing tradition of outstanding track and field in North Carolina and pleased that North Carolina A&T State University and the Belk Track will again host the state championship meets,” said Earl Hilton, director of athletics at North Carolina A&T State University. The 3-A and 4-A championships for this season were held at North Carolina A&T last weekend and the 1-A and 2-A events are scheduled for this Friday and Saturday at the Belk Track.

Greensboro has a long history of hosting North Carolina High School Athletic Association state championship events. The Class A Basketball Championships were the first event in Greensboro in 1955 and started a series in which one of the basketball championships were held in Greensboro either at Grimsley High School, the Greensboro Coliseum, or at North Carolina A&T every year except 1967 until 1985.

From 1981 until 1985, all four classifications of the NCHSAA basketball championships were held at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Coliseum also became the site of the State Individual Wrestling Championships from 1991 until 1994. The first NCHSAA wrestling championship ever held in Greensboro was in 1956,with Greensboro (Grimsley) High School as the champion. Greensboro also hosted the open state individual wrestling in 1960 and Grimsley was the host location for the AAA Championship in 1989 and AAAA Championship in 1990.

“To secure the NCHSAA western regional basketball, state championship wrestling and state championship track and field for three more years reconfirms Greensboro’s moniker of ‘Tournament Town,’” said Henri Fourrier, President Greensboro CVB. “It makes sense for the NCHSAA to hold its championships in Greensboro because of our fine facilities as well as ease of access by all North Carolina athletes.”

-- NCHSAA media release