Cindy Owings, left, with husband Dan Owings, the Knappa wrestling coach who was honored Saturday for his 30 years of coaching.

KNAPPA — In one of the first local alumni wrestling meets, graduates of Knappa High School gathered last Saturday for some grappling between former Loggers, all to raise money for current and future Loggers involved with Knappa Kids Wrestling.

Gary Newberry, a former Knappa wrestler, organized the meet, in which 17 alumni wrestlers from Knappa took part.

In addition to Newberry, familiar names included Jeff Benthin, Meisha Boettcher, Tyler Boettcher, Justin Germond, Andrew Goozee, Rusty Hebert, Toby Mayes, Pat Morgan, Cody Pember, Cutter Pember, Andrew Richardson, Chase Roe, Nate Truax, Dawson Whiteside and Chris Whitworth.

“They had an enjoyable time and were a riot to watch,” said current Knappa coach Dan Owings, who was presented a plaque for his 30 years of coaching.

“Most of them had moved up a few weights from when they participated in high school,” said Owings, who coached many of the wrestlers when they were at Knappa. “The ages ranged from the early 30s to late teens. They wrestled their hearts out and were getting pretty sore by the time they wrestled their second match. Some even got sick to their stomach.”

Newberry, Morgan and Goozee won all of their matches.

“The fundraiser was a huge success and will probably become an annual fundraising event,” Owings said.

Newberry stated on his Facebook page, “The alumni meet raised $3,590.70 for the team. This town is truly amazing. The wrestlers had a good night … I think we put on a great show. It was an honor to recognize Dan’s 30 years.”

He added, “We will be able to fully fund our portion of the wrestling mats and buy the team some more singlets so we can all match next year. All and all a great success, and I plan on continuing this as a Knappa tradition.”