Wrestling fans hoping to see some of the best grapplers in the state needn’t go farther than North Bend this weekend.

Now in its 24th year, Friday and Saturday’s Coast Classic, a bracketed tournament, has become such an early-season high school wrestling mainstay it now includes 33 squads, with an 11-team waiting list. All told, more than 600 wrestlers will take to the mats throughout the two days.

Every team that was in the tournament last year is back for this year’s event.

A word on talent: Among Class 6A schools, No. 1 Roseburg, No. 2 Canby, No. 3 Newberg, co-No. 4 squads Sprague and West Salem, No. 6 Gresham, No. 8 Redmond and No. 11 North Medford are making the trip to North Bend; it’s a similar situation among Class 5A teams, as Nos. 3-7 (Thurston, Century, Hillsboro, Cleveland and Crook County) will be hitting the mats, as well as the ninth-, 10th- and 11th-ranked squads (Eagle Point,Dallas and West Albany); Illinois Valley and Phoenix, ranked No. 5 and 6, respectively, join North Bend and North Valley in the Class 4A ranks.

Individually, more than 20 wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their classifications could be competing, including almost every one in Class 6A. Nearly 80 Class 6A and 5A wrestlers who rank in the top five in their weight classes could be in the tournament.

“It certainly is a great early-season tournament for people to get a good idea of who are going to be the best wrestlers in the state... We’re going to see the premier wrestlers of the state, at least some of them, wrestling here this weekend,” said North Bend athletic director Boyd Bjorquist. “I go to the state championship every year, and a lot of the state champions were South Coast champions.”

Marshfield and Coquille join North Bend as the three South Coast teams participating in the tournament.

North Bend coach Gary Prince, now in his second year with the Bulldogs, said battling the best wrestlers in the state can only help his 26-member team.

“It’s going to be interesting,” said Prince. “I think our older wrestlers are going to be able to compete. Anything can happen on the mat. It’ll be an eye-opener for them and for me to see where we stand.”

It’s likely many of the wrestlers who wind up on top at the Coast Classic will be competing for state titles, making the tourney the first serious look at where the state’s talent lies.

“This will be one of the few tournaments we go to that are going to have multiple champions,” said Prince. “We’re going to see some of the best wrestlers in the state of Oregon.”

Action begins at noon Friday for the junior varsity tournament, with varsity matches starting at 1 p.m. The first matches Saturday will be at 9 a.m. The cost is $7 for adults and $5 for students, per day. Full weekend passes are available for $12 for adults and $8 for students.