The Washington wrestling team is heading to Manchester tonight, taking on West Delaware in the regional duals tournament.

The Demons qualified based on their team score throughout Saturday’s sectional round, easily taking first overall with 230.5 team points.  They come into tonight’s regionals sitting at 17-6 in dual action and ranked 30th by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA).  Four Demon wrestlers have been ranked by the Predicament throughout the year, with two of them, Tristin Westphal and Logan Escher, being ranked right now.  West Delaware, meanwhile, sits atop the IWCOA rankings with a 15-2 dual record and has a ranked wrestler in nine of the 14 weight classes.

The dual with West Delaware is the semifinal round of the regional duals.  West Liberty and Camanche will also be at the West Delaware site, and whoever wins between Washington and West Delaware will face off against whichever wins between West Liberty and Camanche for a spot at the state dual team tournament next Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The Demons will perhaps have the toughest road of anyone in the state to go to the state duals tournament, potentially having to beat two top-15 teams to get there.  Head coach Brent Van Weelden says going to regionals makes for a good opportunity, he and the rest of his coaching staff will put his wrestlers’ individual health over success in the dual.

“Regional duals is a good opportunity for our kids to try and get to state.  We’ve made it a couple times.  But we’re really going to look at what’s going to happen as far as who will wrestle,” Van Weelden said.  “We’ve got some kids who are still banged up that we really need to get through next week, so we’re going to look at each match individually and see who all goes.”

All of tonight’s Demon wrestling action will be live on KCII with coverage starting at 5:30 and a 6:00 dual start time.