Marion is hosting an early season wrestling tournament.

Marion and Hillsboro have partnered to welcome 10 schools — Leon-Bluestem, Chaparral, Chanute, Rock Creek, Minneapolis, Fredonia, Republic County, Douglass, Bennington, and Wabaunsee — to wrestle in the Marion County Winter Duals Dec. 17 in Marion and Hillsboro.

The championship matches will take place in Marion after pool play. The contest is a dual tournament, where teams face off and a team wins the championship. The usual wrestling tournament pits individual wrestlers against each other in weight classes with team points calculated at the end.

“You might have somebody that won’t win a match who might be a champion,” Gordon said.

Unlike basketball, Gordon was able to pull schools from all over the state to compete against Marion’s four wrestlers returning with state experience— Randy Regnier, Brody Carroll, Andy Shipman, and Colten Johnson.

“We’re going to bring people to town who have never been here before,” Gordon said.