Plastered on the unfamiliar walls, and scattered throughout the colossal corridors of Batavia High School were a plethora of posters with the words “The Event” centered in bold. Underneath these powerful words was information outlining the when’s and where’s of “The Event”: the annual, exhilarating, wrestling meet between GHS and our long-time rivals, Batavia High School. This long-awaited match took place in Batavia’s extravagant auditorium, which is located in their (ridiculously) flashy Fine Arts Centre.

The actual sport of wrestling dates back to the time of the cave men, almost 15,000 years ago. Though archaic forms of wrestling were being exercised long before the invention of the wheel, it first became noticeably prominent in Greek literature and culture. Wrestling was one of the first sports in the ancient Greek Olympics, which took place in 776 BC. Withstanding the rebirth of the ancient Greek games, wrestling has evolved and developed over its many years of existence, but the basics of it have stayed relatively the same. The wrestler’s goal is to pin their opponent by putting them on their back, with both shoulder blades touching the mat, effectively “pinning” their opponent.

Normally, one would not go to a wrestling meet with friends to have a nice, audible conversation, whilst simultaneously enjoying the match, just as one would not go to a garbage dump to have a picnic. However, in the case of “The Event”, the matches are something else entirely. Of course, like every other wrestling meet, the basics of the match remain constant; two wrestlers, one from Geneva, clothed in a singlet of black and blue, and their Batavia adversary, adorned in their signature Bulldog Red. If either of the two opponents’ “supporting parts” are placed outside of the out-of-bounds line at any time, the referee will declare the wrestlers to be out of bounds. There’s no noticeable alterations in the match itself, rather these changes become prominent in where the wrestling mat is located, and what’s surrounding the mat. Perched on the glamorous stage of the auditorium, the wrestling mat is at a uniquely elevated spot, which could quickly turn disastrous, seeing as when the wrestlers stumble and tumble out of bounds, they could potentially plummet off of the stage and into the horde of frenzied students simmering in the front row seats.

Equipped with a deluge of spot-lights, lasers, and fog machines, “The Event” does not disappoint in the glittery and gaudy category. Even before the actual wrestling matches began, there was a profusion of appetizers to hold off the seemingly hysterical crowd of Batavia students that were packed into the bright red auditorium chairs. An absolutely hilarious lip sync battle between three Batavia High School students, each performing iconic Beyoncé hits, started off the pre-show. The antecedent performers were a pair of brothers who performed “Single Ladies” with impeccable sass, which seemed utterly untrumpable at the time. However, the challenger, a short girl who was covered head to toe in Batavia spirit wear, came out strong with gigantic confidence and spunk. The contender executed a near perfect rendition of Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)”, and held the screeching audience in the palm of her hand. Surprisingly, when asked to scream for whom they felt should earn the title, the audience squealed in the favor of the brothers.

By then, the atmosphere of the auditorium was thick with a tangible excitement, so unlike any other wrestling meet that I had ever experienced. The Batavia students were practically foaming at the mouth at this point, desperate for the impressive entrance of their wrestlers, who would be accompanied by the steady pounding of the Batavia drum-line. As both teams warmed up and rolled out stiff joints, the trepidation reached its peak, threatening to spill and gush into the hallways of Batavia High School. Finally, with various hip-hop and rock songs thumping in the background, the very first match of “The Event” was underway.

Just like any other wrestling meet, the lowest weight class, which happened to be 108 pounds, was the very first to wrestle. The two light-weights danced around each other, rapidly searching for the essential lead of hand control and an opening to shoot first. The numerous Batavia students barked and hollered whenever the Batavia light-weight managed to gain the upper-hand before ultimately being subdued by the overpowering colors of blue and black. As the third period conclusively came to an end, with Geneva as the victor, the Batavia students were mellowed, but defintely not for long.

The rest of the matches passed by in a flurry of sweat, blood, emphatic snippets of music, and the constant cacophony of the Batavia students’ school spirit. Unfortunately, Batavia came out as the champion of “The Event”, having acquired a winning streak towards the end of the meet that consequently crushed Geneva’s hope of ever taking back the lead. “I was very overwhelmed at first,” admits Max Miller, an experienced Geneva wrestler, “but it was a great experience and I had a lot of fun doing it.”

https://www.collegesportsscholarships.com/history-wrestling.htm

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/the_olympic_games/

www.wvmat.com/overview.htm

http://kopantherwrestling.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/NFHS_Rules_Photos.pdf