Wrestling Team at UW-Milwaukee

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Life's a Beach, Then You Get Tossed
28 July, 2008
Written by Darin Kwilinski

In good form and good spirits the UWM Wrestling Club put on another stellar tournament last Saturday, this time putting on the 2nd Annual King of the Beach Tournament. A one-of-a-kind tournament in Wisconsin, the UWM Wrestling Club gave wrestlers, wrestling fans and wandering spectators what they always wanted out of high school wrestling: throws, throws, throws.
The UWM Wrestling Club has the distinct honor of being able to say they have put on the first two beach wrestling tournaments in Wisconsin (the first being the 1st Annual King of the Beach Tournament). It was all apart of the Bradford Beach Jam, an all day beach fest of volleyball, rugby, music and, of course, beach wrestling.

For the unniformed, here are some of the basics of UWM’s modified beach wrestling rules. First, there is no ground wrestling, which is a staple of all beach wrestling. Second, there are three 90 second rounds with the wrestlers needing to score two points to win the round. Best out of three wins. A takedown or push out of the ring is worth one point, a throw to the back can be worth up to two and a throw with a landing to the shoulders is a touch fall, ending the entire match.

The Wrestling Club ran two separate tournaments: a four man, closest-to-weight round robin and an absolute division. The four man round robin is easy enough to figure out, but the absolute division split the wrestlers into two divisions: 175 and above and 175 and below, with the winner of the above and below weights going at it for the title of ‘King of the Beach” and taking home a big, gold cup. The little guy won, if you were wondering.

Now, wrestling on the sand may seem like a silly idea. I thought so at first, too. I mean, who would want to waste their day in the hot sun, wrestling on hot sand for a medal and possibly a big, golden cup when they could find a tournament indoors, on mats, in an air conditioned arena? Apparently 25 braver souls than you and me looking for something out of the ordinary that is extraordinarily fun.

We saw lateral drops to instant pins. We saw belly-to-backs and head throws. We saw torn rib cartilage, twisted ankles and the wind forcefully leave more than one persons lungs. We saw a shoulder pop out of joint at least a dozen times, only to be popped back in, by the wrestler, each and every time. He nearly won the tournament, too.

All in all, the tournament was a resounding success and true testament to the wrestling spirit. With sandy smiles and torn up skin, each and every wrestler walked away with an experience they can’t get anywhere else.