More than 400 youth wrestlers and their families packed the Iola High School gymnasium Sunday.
The occasion was the annual Iola Open, a youth wrestling tournament hosted by the Iola Wrestling Club.
While the club has hosted annual competitions in the past, none were as big as Sunday’s, noted Jana Taylor, one of the 40-strong volunteers who helped put the competition together.
She suspected Sunday’s tournament ranks up with the largest sporting events ever hosted in Iola, in terms of numbers. The tournament drew competitors from across Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and even Nebraska.
“We can’t grow any more,” Taylor noted. “There’s nowhere to put anybody else.”
With easily more than 1,000 parents, workers and curious onlookers, the gym was a cacophony of noise from start to finish.
The workers kept the proceedings going at a brisk pace, so much so that the last competition was over by 4 p.m.
“Once you get these tournaments going, they almost run themselves,” Taylor said.
Included in the competition were more than 60 wrestlers from Iola and Humboldt.
Their results follow.
Iola Open
Iola Mustangs
6-and-under
Wyatt Griffeth (1-2), third in 37 pounds
Knox Hufferd (4-0), first in 40 pounds
Elisha Ivy (3-0), first in 40 pounds (B)
