The 17th annual Tri-State Grip it and Rip It tournament kicks off on Friday afternoon at New Canaan High School. 

The tournament features 36 schools from Connecticut and New York. There are 27 Connecticut schools participating. Among them are defending state champions Staples (Class LL) and New Canaan (Class L), and two state runners-up in Darien (Class L) and Wilton (Class MM). Avon Old Farms will be in attendance as well. 

Some of the top programs in New York are participating as well most notably Cardinal Hayes and defending state champion Archbishop Stepinac among others.

The opening round will be on Friday afternoon starting at 1 pm and there will be an evening session at 4:30 pm. 

The second round of play will be on Saturday and the results of pool play will then be used to seed a double elimination tournament. 

Teams are guaranteed six games. The cost for the tournament is 800 dollars per team but well worth it when you see all the top programs in attendance.