The Big Ten Wrestling Match, which was a first for Central, was considered a success, according to wrestling coach and Purdue alum Jason Hayes.

“For the first year, we had a good showing. I don’t have exact numbers, but I’d probably say it was over 1, 000,” Hayes said. “Purdue and Wisconsin both had good showings, and a lot of local wrestling clubs and teams showed up.  Many community members also came.”

One community member who went was junior Sam MacKenzie. MacKenzie used to wrestle, and enjoys watching higher level wrestling.

“I thought the matches were very cool. It’s amazing the speed and strength that the wrestlers had,” MacKenzie said.

Some of the highlights of the matches were a triple overtime, sudden death round and a Wisconsin win on riding time.

“One of the matches went into at least 3 overtimes, which was probably the best part,” MacKenzie said.

In addition to an interesting match, spectators were also treated to a national anthem rendition by the school choir, a halftime performance by the pommers, and recognition of the area’s Purdue wresting alumni.

As for a similar event in the future, Hayes is hopeful to repeat the success of last night’s event. “If it worked out in the future, I’d definitely like to do this again; Maybe Purdue and Iowa. Iowa is a wrestling powerhouse,” Hayes said.

Purdue beat Wisconsin 22 to 15.