by Jill Funke

On Saturday, crowds of people descended on the town of Larchwood. Some came for the Larchwood Family Days parade, some for the car show and some for the children’s activities. However, the Pig Wresting contest drew the largest crowd of all. With the bleachers full to capacity, it was standing room only in every other inch of the area surrounding the pens. As the afternoon sun beat down, the crowd cheered and groaned in response to the efforts of the pig wrestlers.

In the Co-Ed Youth Division, the team No Names took first place at a time of 6.59 seconds. At the Calcutta (auctioning of the teams- the owner of the winning team receives a large portion of the pot), Sandi Grimmius had the winning bid of $50 for the team, and her share of the pot from the Co-Ed Youth Division was $220. The Wild Hogs team finished in second place at 9.89 seconds, and a time of 12.22 seconds earned the Van Hogs team the third place finish.

The 3 Little Pigs walked away with the first place title of the Women’s division, boasting the fastest time of the day at 4.22 seconds. At the winning bid of $50 for that team, Chris Rasmussen took home $344 from the pot of bids for the Women’s Calcutta. Hog University placed second with 8.23 seconds and Mama and the Hootchie Girls finished in third place with their time of 9.46 seconds.

Deliverance really delivered in the Men’s division with an impressive time of 4.98 seconds. From his $80 bid for the team, Jerry Snyders walked away with $1028 from the pot gathered for the Men’s division. The Farmers Elevator team finished a close second at a time of 5.19 seconds, followed by the Scrambling Squealers at 6.30 seconds.

While organizers thought that the event would be popular, they had no idea that pig wrestling would draw the size of the crowd that turned out on Saturday. As it was the first year for the event, organizers were thrilled to see the enthusiasm of the spectators who stood in the heat to show their support. Larchwood Community Group took many suggestions and is considering a number of ideas to make the event even better next year. Two of those suggestions include more seating around the pen and the addition of a 50 and older division.

Large attractions like Pig Wresting require a lot of work from a number of volunteers. Organizers would like to thank Howard Koedam for supplying the hogs for the event, Vic Heyden for braving the heat and the animals to push the hogs out of the trailer, and Doug Harms for bringing his PA system and announcing at the event. In addition, organizers recognize the assistance they received from the family of lead organizer, Jamee Childress, as well as other community members. They also want to thank Josh Feucht for his help with Pig Wrestling and all of the other Larchwood Family Days activities.