Erie to Host Premier Wrestling, Dodgeball Events this Weekend

Nearly 2,000 athletes will converge in Erie this weekend as 72point5 Wrestling hosts the 2022 Keystone State Wrestling Championships March 18-20 at Erie Insurance Arena and USA Dodgeball hosts a scouting event for Team USA at ERIEBANK Sports Park on Saturday, March 19.

“We are thrilled to bring the USA Dodgeball Premier Tour and Keystone State Wrestling Championships to Erie for the first time this weekend,” Erie Sports Commission Executive Director Mark Jeanneret said. “Both of these events will provide a great boost to our tourism economy just as we enter the spring months.”

The 2022 Keystone State Wrestling Championships are taking place at Erie Insurance Arena for the first time, running Friday, March 18 through Sunday, March 20. Participating wrestlers earned their place at the Keystone State Wrestling Championships by qualifying at five regional events previously hosted around the state. The northwest qualifier event was hosted in Erie on Feb. 26.

Competing athletes will range in age from an 8-and-under division to a junior high division for both boys and girls.

Wrestlers will begin to arrive in Erie for weigh-ins on Thursday, March 17 at The Avalon Hotel, and the double-elimination tournament will begin at 8 a.m. on Friday, March 18. With more than 1,700 wrestlers competing, the event is expected to have an estimated economic impact throughout Erie in excess of $750,000.

For more information, visit https://www.keystonestatechamp.com/.

Men’s and women’s dodgeball teams will travel from all over the northern and eastern U.S. to compete in the second foam and cloth ball event of the 2022 USA Dodgeball Premier Tour, being held at ERIEBANK Sports Park on Saturday, March 19.

Games will kick off at 8 a.m. and continue through 7 p.m. Saturday with participants playing in Men’s Foam, Women’s Foam, Men’s Cloth and Women’s Cloth divisions. The tournament is open to USA Dodgeball members. Spectators will be admitted free.

For more information, visit https://www.usadodgeball.com/.