Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/five-thoughts-on-bedlam-wrestling/
On the atmosphere, some top-performing underclassmen and Bedlam.
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Thanks Seth, it would have been a good dual to have attended.
I attended yesterday and am so glad I did!!! The atmosphere was absolutely amazing!! The crowd really brought it. Especially during the Surber match where it got eardrum busting loud!!!
I watched Bedlam on tv, and you can’t really hear the true level of noise that people are describing who attended the dual. That’s how it used to be in Gallagher Hall for Bedlam wrestling matches. You would have capacity crowds at 6,000, and it was so popular that they devised an odd and even number system based on the last number on your student ID. For the important duals like OU and Iowa State, they would alternate odd and even numbers. I remember sitting in the bleachers and when the fans stomped their feet, my ribs actually hurt from the noise that produced. And the cheering got so loud along with the foot stomping, that at times I was unable to even hear my own thoughts. I’ll never forget that experience. So I agree with Seth that it’s more exciting to see a down to the wire Bedlam dual instead of the Cowboys stomping the Sooners. You just never could determine beforehand which team would prevail. I hope that the program some day gets back to being the dominant team in college and they start getting 12,000 fans in their for the big duals. Sunday competition was not allowed back then by the NCAA. So the duals were on Saturday night, as it should be.