“The Great Wrestling Match” became part of the Camp Van Dorn lore. It only happened once because it caused so much physical pain but it was such an event that not a day went by that the wrestling match wasn’t mentioned.
The whole thing began when Polk brought his weight set out to camp so that he could lift during rest period or at night. As a group, the counselors were very competitive and by midsummer they had grown tired of taking out their aggression on board games and cards. They had to make room for something more physical because the testosterone had to find an outlet and lifting weights fit the bill. Of course, the boys had to challenge each other by lifting more weights and by doing more reps. Fr. Early initially laughed at Polk for bringing out his weights because he thought no one would use them but, when it became obvious that not only Polk but half of the other counselors were really into lifting, Padre had to admit that he was wrong. The true surprise was when Franklin, or Wimp, embraced lifting weights with a passion. He was tired of being called a “candy” because he was physically weak. While it was true that he couldn’t lift nearly the same amount of weights that Polk and Scott could lift, Franklin’s drove himself to get a bigger and better body than when he began the season at Camp Van Dorn.
The simple act of lifting weights was not very satisfying so the competition between the counselors quickly escalated to wresting. Polk came up with the idea of clearing all of the weights and benches to the walls of the lodge and throwing down some mattresses in the middle of the floor to have a wrestling match. It seemed like a good idea. What could go wrong? The main problem was that the mattresses from the cabins were only two inches thick and offered minimal protection from the hard wood floors. By the end of the night, all of the counselors ended their match with bruises on their shoulders and welts on their backs.
As the night progressed, the counselors grew tired of wrestling each other one on one. “How about if we do tag team wrestling like they have on television,” offered Polk. “We can split up into teams of two. I’ll take Scott as my partner.” Everyone knew that Polk used to play football, because he reminded them daily, and that he was a defensive end for the Farragut Anchors. It had been almost a year since he played and he had let his body to to waste but, even though he was fat, Polk was still very strong. He probably masturbated over the idea of wrestling someone smaller than himself. In effect, he was giving himself permission to beat up on the rest of the counselors and he didn’t’t let the chance go by to settle some old scores.
“No,” said George. “You and Scott are the biggest and strongest two counselors so we have to split you up. I’ll take Scott as my partner.” They all agreed that this was fair and, to make things even, Polk took the smallest guy, Danny, as his partner. That left Barney and Zolo to partner up as they were both somewhere in between the size of Polk and Danny. Getting into a tag team wrestling match was against type for Barney and Zolo, but it sounded like fun to the other four, so they joined in. It was a decision that they would regret for days to come.
It was the best of three rounds. There were six mattresses in the middle of the floor and whomever was pinned or pushed off the mattresses lost their round. It was agreed that Polk and Danny were the best team so George and Scott would wrestle Barney and Zolo for the honor of competing against Polk and Danny. There was no warm up. George wasn’t in the same class as Polk, but was still very strong, literally threw Barney off the mats before he had a chance to tag out or even defend himself. The next two rounds went just like that and Barney and Zolo were eliminated. However, this first match was just a warm up for the main event.
George knew that he couldn’t beat Polk but he couldn’t back down from a wrestling match without losing face. He knew his only chance was to continue to tag off with Scott in the hopes of wearing Polk down so that Danny would have to come in. Danny was the youngest and the thinnest but he was quick and wiry. Surprisingly, Danny turned out to be a good wrestler. He grabbed on to George, refused to let go, and kept one shoulder off the mat so he couldn’t be considered pinned. Once he felt his energy draining, Danny wriggled over to his partner to tag out. Polk was fueled by the very last of his beer, in fact the last of any beer, at Camp Van Dorn, and was glad to take his frustration out on George, who had made fun of his Gimp craft and who lorded over the camp because he was the head lifeguard. It was the best two out of three and Polk and Danny beat George and Scott in two successive matches.
It was supposed to be fun, something to do to kill some time, but the boys could barely move after wrestling what was, in essence, a bare wooden floor. As members of the winning team, Polk and Danny got the bragging rights until the next matchup and just as with the “Risk” game, Polk was not a gracious winner. Polk considered it just one more peg up the totem pole that led to an elite status and he claimed that he was the senior counselor. George and Scott could care less about the chest beating and the competition to be the senior counselor. They never wanted to participate in another wrestling match because so much pain was involved. They had done it once, had the welts and bruises to prove their manliness, and never wanted to do it again.
What was surprising that there were no physical fights between counselors over the wrestling match. These were teenage boys and they wore their hearts on our sleeves; very dramatic and very emotional. They were still trying to figure themselves out; to find out who they were. Once a competitive wrestling match was thrown in then all sorts of emotions got stirred up. All of the counselors were bragging about how they had faired in the wrestling match or, if they were defeated soundly, they promised that they would do better at the rematch. The taunting was endless and, sensing that the competitive drive was being ratcheted up, Fr. Early stepped in and outlawed another wrestling match. Padre was afraid that the counselors would really hurt themselves if he allowed another match, a real fear after the boys walked away from the first one with a lot of welts, bruises, and minor cuts. Once they knew that there would be no more matches the counselors threw up some false bravado and swore that “it is a good thing that there won’t be another match,” they bragged to each other. “Certainly I would pin you if given another chance!”
For that one night, the fat, stupid, and happy Polk was king of Camp Van Dorn as he had defeated all comers. His self confidence had peaked because he was the undisputed champion of “Risk” and wrestling. That summer at Camp Van Dorn was the highlight of Polk’s life and it was all downhill for him from there
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