The Fallen Heroes Wrestling Tournament continues to be one of the toughest early season tournament in the state of West Virginia.

The two-day event, now in its fourth year, will run Friday and Saturday at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. Twenty-four high schools and the same number of middle schools will compete on eight mats.

The tournament’s inaugural year was 2022. It was created by Jeff Varney and Independence head coach Cliff Warden to honor Jeff Taylor and Chuck Smith, two former wrestlers at Independence High School who were killed in the line of duty.

Taylor, a 1993 graduate, was a Navy SEAL who was one of 16 on board a Chinook helicopter that was shot down by enemy fire during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan in 2005. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with Valor and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Smith, who graduated in 1995, was in the Marine Corps for four years then returned to serve with the City of Beckley Police. He was shot and killed by a drug dealer during an arrest in 2006.

Both Taylor and Smith were state placewinners.

The high school division will get things started Friday at 10 a.m. For the first time, girls high school wrestlers will have a division on Friday only.

High schools competing will be Braxton County, Calhoun County, Capital, George Washington, Greenbrier East, Greenbrier West, Independence, Johnson Central (Ky.), Liberty, Meadow Bridge, Midland Trail, Nicholas County, Nitro, Ravenswood, Richlands (Va.), Richwood, Riverside, Scott County (Ky.), Shady Spring, Sissonville, South Charleston, Williamstown, Wirt County and Woodrow Wilson.

Woodrow is ranked fifth in the Division I preseason poll. In Division II, Williamstown is second and Braxton County eighth. Greenbrier West and Ravenswood are in the also receiving votes category.

Woodrow won the inaugural tournament and Johnson Central has won the last three.

The middle schools will then take the mats at 4 p.m. Teams will be Barboursville, Beckley-Stratton, Braxton County, Charles Town, Doddridge County, East Bank, Eastern Greenbrier, Fayetteville, Independence, Johnson Central, Midland Trail, Oak Hill, Park, Point Pleasant, Ravenswood, Richlands, Shady Spring, Sissonville, South Charleston, Summersville, Webster County, West Fairmont, Western Greenbrier and Williamstown.

The first day will have a round robin format, with results used to repool the tournament on Saturday. High schools and middle schools will split the mats on Saturday starting at 10 a.m.

Three $500 scholarships will be awarded, two for boys and one for a girl.