With 80 high school teams from around Oregon expected at Redmonds Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center on Friday and Saturday, the stage is set for the 33rd Oregon Wrestling Classic.

Culver trailed 30-6 heading into the 195-pound match, and it seemed the Bulldogs’ seven-year reign as the Class 2A/1A Oregon Wrestling Classic champions was nearing its end.

But in stepped Mitch Adams, who pinned Lowell’s Noah Casarez in 45 seconds to spark a furious Culver rally that included six wins in the final seven matches en route to the Bulldogs’ 45-36 win in last year’s Classic final.

A month later, Adams, who went 0-2 at the 2A/1A state championships as a sophomore the year before, went on to take fourth at the state tournament in Portland at 182 pounds.

While many factors may have played into the Culver senior’s rise, Bulldogs coach J.D. Alley believes Adams’ performance during dual meets and tournaments was a significant ingredient.

Especially at the Oregon Wrestling Classic, where second-tier wrestlers have the potential to be bred into state champions.

“You bet,” Alley says. “That can, and will, happen.”

This weekend, 80 high school teams are expected at Redmond’s Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center for the 33rd Classic — a two-day dual-match tournament that begins with four pools in each of the state’s five wrestling classifications, setting up competition in 16-team brackets. The Oregon Classic wraps up Saturday night with championship finals in each bracket.

Of the 80 teams, which will be divided by classification (6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A/1A), 33 of last season’s 40 top-eight teams at state will take part in the Classic this weekend, including all five champions and four of five runners-up.

It makes for the premier dual-meet tournament in the state, and one of the largest wrestling events in the nation in terms of individual participants as shown by the more than 3,000 wrestlers who took part in last year’s Oregon Wrestling Classic.

The tournament’s origins date back to the early 1980s. Now the stage is set for the 2014 Classic, which will be held in Redmond for the 12th straight year. Star wrestlers will stand out, such as Crook County’s Tyler Berger, a three-time Class 5A state champion while at Hermiston. But other wrestlers have the potential to break out — like Mitch Adams did — as the state championships draw closer.

“I think it’s a big confidence boost for those kids that are maybe the second-tier kids, that maybe win a match here or there,” Redmond High coach Kris Davis says of the Classic. “They get that feel that they’re contributing to the team. That’s a great thing to build off of and maybe get these kids to that next level and light a little fire under them.”

“Anytime that you’re given an opportunity to excel and do some things for the good of your team,” Alley says, “if it works out, it can be a tremendous steppingstone for an individual.”

Such individual progress, Davis and Alley agree, is a product of the team concept featured in the Classic’s dual-match format.

“It’s huge,” Davis says. “When you have kids that are willing to do anything to win a team event, that’s when you know you have a good team.”

Adds Alley: “Quality individuals will do for others what they can’t get done for themselves. That seems to manifest itself in that dual-meet category. That kid’s going to fight a little bit harder because he’s going to let down 13 teammates, not just himself. It amplifies the intensity of the wrestling, or it potentially can.”

The Oregon Wrestling Classic offers an opportunity for wrestlers — and not just the stars — to get extra time on the mat, which is a significant advantage through the eyes of Alley.

Not only that, the Classic provides a chance to compete on a bigger stage, which is important as the state championships draw near. After all, the Classic, as Davis observed last year, is “basically the state dual-meet championship.”

“You try to seek these opportunities out for kids, especially if you think that they’re heading to the state tournament,” Davis says. “You want to seek these opportunities out as much as possible and put them on that stage so that they’re not overwhelmed when they get to Memorial Coliseum (in Portland) at the end of February. You’ve got to put them in these situations and see how they react. This is where you kind of see what these kids are made of and whether they can handle it.

“You have your expectations of kids,” Davis continues. “When kids live up to those expectations, it usually translates to them moving forward and creating more opportunities for themselves.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0307,glucas@bendbulletin.com.