The Fort Dodge wrestling team will host the 50th annual Don Miller Invitational on Saturday.

Since 1974, the Miller Invitational has been held on the third Saturday before Christmas, and the Dodgers will welcome a large contingent for the historic invite.

“We try to break the season up into three parts,” said Fort Dodge head coach Bobby Thompson. “The first part is before Christmas. Then we have the second half and then postseason.

“We try to pack the schedule with tough matches, so we can be ready by February.”

The Dodgers are coming off two dual victories on Thursday. The Dodgers beat Des Moines Roosevelt 66-12 and Des Moines Lincoln 62-9.

The Dodgers claimed the team championship last year with 243.5 points, ahead of Ankeny Centennial (230.5) and Algona (164).

Winning titles for the Dodgers were Dru Ayala, Kane Butrick, Koy Davidson, Damarion Ross, and Dreshaun Ross.

The Dodgers have won two straight Don Miller Invitational crowns. Davidson will look for his second championship, as every other Dodger in the lineup will fight for their first.

Fort Dodge will be joined by area schools Humboldt, Webster City, Algona and Emmetsburg.

Also in the field is Ankeny Centennial, Bishop Heelan, Decorah, Des Moines Roosevelt, Forest City, Iowa City West, Lewis Central, Sioux Center, and Sioux City East.

Broedy Hendricks was the 175 pound champion for Humboldt last year.

For Webster City, Carson Doolittle was the 126 pound champion and Landon Griffin was the 25 pound King.

“With our young team, we just want to continue to get better each time out,” Thompson said. “We can go into break and work on the things that we need to fix.”

Action begins at 10 a.m. in the Dodger gym. Finals will start at approximately 3 p.m.

PROBABLE DODGER LINEUP

106 — Trace Rial, so., (12-3); 113 — Damien Yeoman, fr., (10-6); 120 — Hunter Kasperbauer, jr., (3-11); 126 — Drakes Hayes, fr., (2-0) or Kadince Kisler, fr., (1-0); 132 — Bo Marsh, so., (6-8); 138 — Amari McCaleb, fr., (8-5); 144 — Koy Davidson, sr., (15-1); 150 — Hunter Richardson, sr., (5-8); 157 — Rylee Brown, jr., (9-7); 165 — Jayce Skow, so., (5-8); 175 — Jesse Egli, jr., (11-4); 215 — Kaden Nichols, fr., (2-11); 285 — Joe Constable, so., (12-3).