On January 5th and 6th, the Cheesehead Invitational will take place at Kaukauna High School. On Friday, January 5th, the Arrowhead boys wrestling team will start at 5:15 p.m and on Saturday, January 6th, they will start at 8:30 a.m.
The format of the invitational will be “hybrid” style which means that all wrestlers get multiple matches and are guaranteed to wrestle both days.
For spectators that want a ticket for both days, the event offers a discounted presale ticket price that can be purchased on Eventbrite. Adult tickets are $28, senior (60+) tickets are $23, and students aged 6-18 tickets are $18. The discounted tickets will be available until Friday, January 5th.
If spectators want to buy tickets at the door, tickets for both days will be $35 for adults, $30 for seniors (60+), and $25 for students. Another option is single day tickets for Friday and Saturday. Friday only tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors (60+), and $10 for students. Saturday only tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors (60+), and $5 for students.
The Cheesehead Invitational will offer a variety of concessions. Team coolers for participants will be allowed but coolers and food will not be permitted for spectators.
According to Cheesehead Wrestling, for the last three years, Simley High School in Minnesota has taken home the championship. Winners since the Cheesehead started in 1999 include teams from Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois, and Iowa.
Senior Wyatt DeChateau, who wrestles in the 150 weight class says, “I want to get more comfortable competing at these high level tournaments. At [University of Minnesota] this is what I’ll be doing my entire career there, and with my college goals in mind I’d like to get a nice head start on things.”
This year there were three Arrowhead senior wrestlers signing to continue their athletic and academic careers in college: Connor Crumer to Minnesota State University, Ray Gulmatico to United States Coast Guard Academy, and Wyatt DuChateau to University of Minnesota.
According to TrackWrestling, last year Arrowhead placed 7th with a combined team score of 343.5 with 165.5 points separating the Warhawks from the 1st place winners, Simley High School.
Gulmatico says, “Last year was very successful and will be hard to replicate but when our team is flowing it is hard to slow us down. Being able to keep everyone in the right mindset will help us improve from last year’s performance.”
According to FloWrestling, at the Cheesehead in 2022, out of 13 matches in the first round, the Warhawk wrestlers won nine matches.
DuChateau says, “Last year we had a great year with a bunch of college bound kids on our team, putting us up with those well known schools. This year I’d love to see a majority of our team on the podium.”