In their March 1, 2006 issue of Wrestling USA magazine staff writer Al Fontes called the Walsh Jesuit ASICS/Ironman “The Toughest Tournment in the Nation”. Fontes goes on to say “In fact it has been the toughest for the past few years and appears to be getting even tougher.”

The Ironman was the creation of Walsh Jesuit coach Bill Barger. The first one was held on December 17th 1994 featuring 16 teams from all over the nation. Walsh Jesuit won the first Ironman, Northampton PA was 2nd, Nazareth PA 3rd, followed by Bismarck Century N. Dakota, Easton PA, Choctaw Oklahoma and St. Edward Ohio. Several other Oklahoma teams and several California teams were entered as well.

The Ironman was the nation’s very first “SUPER tournament”, meaning it brought together many of the very best teams from all over America. Currently the Ironman is much larger with approximately 30 to 34 full teams and a dozen or more partial teams each with just a few wrestlers. So much interest was generated by the first Ironman that it just grew and grew, and has since been imitated by several other tournaments around the nation.

The Ironman not only brings top teams together, it has been an innovater in technology, using matboards projected on the walls; using a paperless scoring system; and being seeded live on line 3 days before the tournament begins. The 2006 version of the Ironman will feature the nation’s top 2 teams in the preseason rankings, St. Edward Ohio and Blair Academy New Jersey. The Ironman will be the ONLY tournament this season where these 2 goliaths meet head to head.

The Ironman is still held at Walsh Jesuit, in a high school setting which many fans prefer. It is expected that upwards of 70 college coaches will attend the Ironman, now held in 2 gyms close together to accommodate the growing number of teams and all the fans who want to attend. All quarterfinal, semifinal, place matches and finals matches are held in the main gym.

Since Walsh Jesuit’s team win in the initial Ironman, only two other teams have won the title: Blair Academy 7 times and St. Edward 4 times. There has never been a 4 time Ironman champion, but 6 wrestlers have won it 3 times including: Mark Jayne of St. Edward, Jeff Knupp of Walsh Jesuit, Harry Lester of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Ohio, Kurt Backes of Blair Academy, Patrick Bond of Great Bridge VA, ands Aaron Hart of St. Paris Graham Ohio.

Now in its 13th year, the Ironman continues to be the model that sets the standard for elite competition, cutting edge innovation, and the promotion of all that is positive in high school wrestling.