A change of venue to Guthrie Center and and change in format to folkstyle from freestyle resulted in the largest participation ever for the Iowa Games Wrestling Tournament.
Tim O’Brien, Lake Panorama, who served as commissioner, said a total of 431 wrestlers competed at Guthrie Center High School Saturday. That compared with 80 in 2004.
Traditionally, Iowa Games events have been held in Ames.
O’Brien said 1,200 matches were wrestled and that competition ran from 9:30 a.m. almost continually until 8:00 p.m. Wrestling in 10 divisions took place on five mats in the high school and junior high gymnasiums.
According to volunteers, coaches, parents and competitors were surprised and pleased with the level of competition. “Many of the matches went the alloted time distance, “O’Brien pointed out. “There really weren’t as many pins as normal for a tournament like this.”
Over 300 wrestlers were pre-registered and more than 120 were walk-ins Saturday.
The wrestling was free to spectators.
Except for a couple of small glitches in the morning session and one minor unsportsmanlike incident, O’Brien said the tournament went smoothly. That, he said, was due largely to dozens of local, knowledgable volunteers.
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