ROYAL CITY — The planned high school wrestling cultural exchange between Japan and the Columbia Basin is just one week away, and organizer Randy Miller is still working to meet challenges that have arisen.

Because of the injury of his own son Darrin Miller and other reasons, Miller has not been able to fill the Columbia Basin team as of Dec. 23. He had it at one time, but challenges have arisen.

The Columbia Basin lineup lost some of the top boys in the region. Royal wrestlers will fill in a couple of spots where they were not already scheduled.

“They’ll be fine,” Miller said. “They train hard, and they are ready. They may not win, but that’s not the focus. The is an international cultural exchange. The focus is participation.”

Scheduled for the matches at Royal High School on Tuesday, Jan. 6, are:

• 110 - Eduardo Rodriguez, Royal
• 121 - Kiki Chabolla, Royal
• 132 - Josiah Guerra, Warden
• 132 - Abraham Medina, Royal
• 132 - Tyson Yamane, Warden
• 145 - Reese Jones, Othello
• 145 - Hunter Cruz, Moses Lake
• 145 - Cooper McCollough, Moses Lake
• 163 - C.J. Quintero, Royal
• 183 - Open
• 183 - Open
• 211 - Anthony Ruiz, Othello
• 264 - Chandler Fluiatt, Moses Lake

Japan has two boys at the 183-pound weight. As of the 23rd they had no opponents. One slot belonged to Darrin Miller until he was hurt. The other slot never was filled.

The Darrin Miller story is a sad one. He was planning on a big year to show college recruiters his talents, and he wanted to face Japan again, as he did last year at Japan.

Darrin went to the mat wrong at the recent Tri-State Invitational in Idaho and suffered a shoulder separation.

“The best we can hope for Darrin is a return to action at the end of January,” coach Miller said.

The Japanese wrestlers will arrive in Royal City at around 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 5. They will be bused in from Spokane International Airport by Royal School District. They’ll have a pizza lunch on the bus.

After arriving, the Japanese wrestlers will be paired with their host families and most likely will go to rest.

On Jan. 5, the cultural part of the exchange will begin at 9 a.m. Host families will bring the wrestlers to Royal High, from where they will be bused to Live Nations, back to Royal High for a school lunch then visits to Royal high and middle school classrooms.

There will be a school assembly at 2:30 p.m. to welcome the Japanese delegation. The two teams will the share a practice session. At 6 p.m. the Japanese boys will go to the Royal High cafeteria for a Mexican dinner organized by Ben Orth and prepared by several families.

On Jan. 6, starting at 9 a.m. the visiting delegation will be tour one of the Columbia River dams. It will enjoy lunch at Subway in Royal, then go to the Stewart cattle ranch for some horse riding.

The Japanese boys will be served a Mongolian barbecue at the Callahans’, then board the buses at 4:45 p.m. for the short trip to to the matches at 7 p.m.

On Jan. 7, the Japanese team will join the Royal High team at 10 a.m. and drive to Seattle for the Gut Check Tournament.