HERMITAGE, Tenn. -- Both the 2010 State Dual Meet Wrestling Tournament and the Individual State Wrestling Championships will be held at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin.

The Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park is located on 110 acres in Franklin and is located on I-65 and Peytonsville Road at Exit 61. It provides more than 230,000 square feet under roof, and 15-plus acres of parking. The arena has permanent seating for 4,180, with optional temporary seating for an additional 3,500.

The Ag Expo Park hosts a variety of activities throughout the year including trade shows, agricultural events, and everything between. With over 45 major events per year, it has become a popular destination for local, regional and national events.

“We began looking for a new site to hold the State Dual Meet Tournament after Clarksville High School indicated they no longer wanted to host that event, and Joe Blair, wrestling coach at Brentwood High School, approached us with the possibility of moving the State Dual Meet Tournament to the Ag/Expo Center,” said Mark Reeves, TSSAA Assistant Executive Director. “Conversations with the Ag/Expo officials led to discussions about the possibility of moving the individual tournament.

“Both Clarksville and Chattanooga have been outstanding hosts for these events, and we’ll certainly miss being in these cities, but we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity before us at the facility in Franklin,” added Reeves. “We feel like the layout of the Ag/Expo Arena will be very conducive to creating a tremendous championship atmosphere.''

The State Dual Meet Tournament has been held at Clarksville High School since 2000. The Individual State Wrestling Championships have been held at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga since 2002, when both Division I and Division II championships were first held on the same weekend. Prior to that, the Division I championships were held at McClellan Gymnasium on the campus of UTC.

“The cities of Clarksville and Chattanooga have been excellent hosts of the State Wrestling Championships throughout the years,” stated Ronnie Carter, Executive Director of TSSAA. “We have had excellent tournaments at these sites and are very appreciative to all the people who have helped make that happen. They have set a tremendous standard for the state wrestling championships.”

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)