You Can't Beat an Easton-Phillipsburg Wrestling Match

Saturday night I did something that used to be an annual thing for me- I went to the Easton-Phillipsburg wrestling match. When I was a kid, I never missed it, back in the days it was at Lafayette College's Kirby Field House. The match was there from the time I was about three or four years old until I was in college, and then they went back to the high schools. Then a few years later, I graduated college and wasn't always here in January for the match. With the match being on TV more often as well, I don't always go, especially years when it's at Phillipsburg and I can't get a ticket. This year though, I wanted to go.

The 25th Street Gymnasium at Easton High School was packed- there wasn't really anywhere to sit by match time. I had posted up in the top row, middle mat on the home side, and had the best seat in the place (until I later moved to sit with a buddy). The crowd was loud and rowdy, and had literally every demographic group in both towns there to watch the match. You hear some "interesting" stuff from the stands, but that's half the fun. Easton paid tribute to part of it's tradition, the 1981 and 1983 state championship squads, and brought back quite a few alums for that as well. The funny moment of the life came when Easton's DJ played "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" by Shania Twain during Phillipsburg's warm-ups.

The match itself was good, with Easton breaking a two year losing streak with a 32-18 win. There were a number of very exciting bouts, and both teams came to compete. It was what you expected from the historic best programs in each of their states. Next year is slated to be in Phillipsburg's new gym for the first time. While I know a lot of people in Phillipsburg don't like that, the gym they have doesn't seat nearly enough people for the kind of program they run, even if it is the best venue in the country. I'm looking forward to the 2017 match.