For those who like to debate the merits of public school wrestlers vs. private school wrestlers, tomorrow night is another chance to see if there is substance to the debate.

The annual Haswell M. Franklin Senior All-Star Meet is set for River Hill High School at 6:30 p.m. The meet is basically a tri-meet pitting Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association seniors in the 4A-3A and 2A-1A classes against the Maryland Private/Parochial school seniors in each weight class.

"When I was wrestling at Centennial, this meet was a much bigger deal," said Centennial coach Dave Roogow, who is one of the coaches for the public school wrestlers. "I wasn't good enough to compete in the meet, but I went to it. It was held at Johns Hopkins back then and I remember there being great excitement over this tournament."

Things have changed a little in the past five years, with Mount Mat Madness and the Ray Oliver Tournament providing opportunities for some of the public and private schools to meet during the regular season, and the scheduling has also made it difficult for the private schools to field a full roster.

"Our season was over three weeks ago," said McDonogh coach Pete Welch, one of the coaches for the private schools tomorrow night. "It's a difficult situation, asking kids to continue to train for three more weeks. A lot of guys move on to spring sports."

The private schools will be without competitors in the 103- and 112-pound classes, but both Welch and Roogow said the meet will still provide a lot of talking points and should be a lot of fun.

"I wish every kid who had a chance to wrestle in this tournament would do so," Roogow said.

-- Sandra McKee