The Sports & Events Corporation announced Wednesday that the state traditional tournaments for TSSAA Division I wrestling will return to Chattanooga in 2027.
Approximately 600 student-athletes and 6,000 spectators are expected to attend the two-day championship event that will be held Feb. 19-20 at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s McKenzie Arena. The Sports & Events Corporation estimates the event will generate more than $800,000 in direct economic impact for the area.
Chattanooga hosted the state traditional tournament from its inception in 1961 through 1997, primarily at UTC’s Maclellan Gym, and it returned to town for one season in 2021, when it was held at the Chattanooga Convention Center as the TSSAA adjusted event sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are thrilled to see the TSSAA state wrestling championships return to McKenzie Arena,” TSEC board member Steve Henry said in a press release. “This event has a strong tradition in Chattanooga, and our community has always embraced it. McKenzie Arena provides a first-class championships stage, and there is no better place for Tennessee’s best wrestlers to compete for a state title.”
The Chattanooga area has dominated TSSAA wrestling by winning 81 of 112 team state traditional titles and 73 of 106 duals state titles, including girls’ competition. Area programs have produced 17 wrestlers who have won four individual state titles in TSSAA traditional tourney competition, while the Scenic City accounts for all four of the state’s five-time individual champions: Alex Whitworth (McCallie), Ethan Uhorchuk (Signal Mountain), T.J. Duncan (McCallie), and Zach Watson (Baylor). Meanwhile, Piper Fowler (Cleveland) is one of six TSSAA wrestlers to win four individual state titles at the girls’ traditional tourney.