Carnage on the Court raises funds for senior party

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Calvin Vivier appeared in a Mexican pro wrestling mask.

Friends, family, faculty and fellow students gathered at the high school gymnasium, last week for "Carnage on the Court," a battle between the wizards of the hardwood and the masters of the mat.

The event was a fundraiser to support the senior celebration, a supervised alcohol-free all-night party for graduating seniors on May 30.

The opening contest was an exhibition basketball game. The wrestlers played the game dressed as a '70s retro team, with white jerseys, wigs and goggles. As far as the game, it was reminiscent of the Globetrotters versus The New York Nationals, the only thing missing was "Sweet Georgia Brown" playing on the PA.

The first quarter ended with the basketball players leading 9-3, from there they went on a 30-2 run through the second and third quarter.

"The tension is running high here, the wrestler's scores aren't, but the tension is high," said James Bird, a high school English teacher who emceed the games.

Mercifully, it was announced in the fourth quarter that each basket the wrestlers made would count as 5 points. The wrestlers then went on a "15-0" run, to narrow the gap at 39-20, but in the end the basketball players prevailed 43-20.

The event also featured a blindfold boxing match between both team's coaches. The coaches who participated were Stevhn Tesar and Dallan Rupp, who represented the basketball team, and Scott Mederios and Kevin Bish, representing the wrestling team.

Each coach was given giant "Rocky" boxing gloves to use, and on this night, the "sweet science" wasn't so sweet. The match became a donnybrook, where even members of the competing teams got involved.

In the end, the referee declared no winner and Bird said, "if you weren't in a fight tonight, ladies and gentleman, you are all winners."

Following the matches, the children in attendance gathered the gloves and posed as little pugilists staging mock matches between each other.

The evening concluded with the wrestlers taking the basketball players to the mats. The event featured singles matches, where each point scored would be added for the team and whoever scored the most won.

Two competitors stood out in the event, Calvin Vivier of the wrestlers and reigning homecoming king Brian Cobos of the basketball players.

Vivier sparked the crowd wearing a luchador (professional wrestler in Mexico) mask and defeating his opponent by way of an airplane spin into a slam. Cobos added elements of sumo and professional wrestling during his match, but he was unable to defeat his opponents.

The final matches became more like professional wrestling as competitors tagged in their teammates to aid them in defeating their opponent. The matches eventually became so out of hand that even the referees got involved in the melee.

The match round ended with the wrestlers leading 39-0. The announcer then kicked off an added challenge round, but the result of that round didn't change the outcome and despite their best efforts the basketball team was unable to score against the wrestlers, losing 48-0.

The evening raised $855 for the senior celebration.

"I was very pleased at how much of the student body showed up. The senior celebration will truly benefit from this event," said volunteer Toni Woodland.

"I thought the whole event was highly entertaining, I knew the wrestlers would put on a good show and I'm proud of the JV and sophomore basketball players who stepped in for the varsity players," said lead organizer Sherene Vivier.

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