Destinations for state championship-bound winter high school teams in North Carolina have been confirmed after the NCHSAA released sites and dates for those sports on Friday morning.
Winter sports in the state include basketball, wrestling, swimming and diving, and indoor track and field for boys and girls.
For the second year in a row, and after receiving positive reviews from attendees last season, Wake Forest University鈥檚 Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem will host both the regional finals and state championships for boys and girls basketball, with those contests held from March 10-15.
Regional finals will be held in Winston-Salem from March 10-13 and state championship games will be played on March 14 and March 15. Regional finals winners from March 10-11 will advance to play again on March 14 and teams that win regional finals from March 12-13 will contend for state titles on March 15.
Game times and information about which classifications will play on which days will be announced later, the NCHSAA said.
Burke County high school basketball fans got a taste of the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum experience during its debut last winter as the East Burke girls basketball team won in the NCHSAA 2A West Regional finals at the site before falling in the 2A state championship game there.
According to the NCHSAA, while Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is in just its second season as basketball host, the city of Winston-Salem has hosted the events many times. The first occasion was for the boys Class B title in 1945 as Mineral Springs defeated Sanford 41-30. All three NCHSAA boys classifications played in Winston-Salem in 1953, the 3A boys title game was played there in 1954 and the 1A boys championship contest returned to the city in 1959.
Following that stint, the 2A boys championship game was held in Winston-Salem each season from 1960-80. Last year marked the first time girls title games had been played in the city.
The NCHSAA said that ticket information will be available on the basketball championship page of its website, , at a later date.
For wrestling, state championships will be held at two adjacent venues in Greensboro.
On Feb. 8, boys dual-team state championships will be contested at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Fieldhouse, the same venue that has hosted the events since 2018 after the NCHSAA stopped rotating state championship sites between the East and West Regional titlists each season.
The 1A and 3A dual-team state matches will be held at noon and the 2A and 4A matches are slated for 3 p.m. following the release of dual-team playoff brackets on Jan. 30.
Individual wrestling state championships for boys and girls will again be held at the Greensboro Coliseum from Feb. 20-22.
State championships for swimming and diving will be held from Feb. 5-8 at Cary鈥檚 Triangle Aquatic Center (swimming) and Raleigh鈥檚 Pullen Aquatic Center (diving).
Swimming championships will start with 4A on Feb. 6, followed by 3A on Feb. 7 and wrapping up with 1A/2A on Feb. 8.
As for diving, 4A will be held on Feb. 5, 3A on Feb. 6 and 1A/2A on Feb. 7.
Indoor track and field state championships will be contested at Winston-Salem鈥檚 JDL Fast Track, the same venue that has played host since 2013.
The 1A/2A event will be held on Feb. 14, 3A is scheduled for the morning of Feb. 15 and 4A is slated for the afternoon of Feb. 15.
In addition to those who attend the winter sports state championships in person, the NCHSAA says all state championship events will be available to stream live on the NFHS Network.