Weekend Pick: Wrestling Time

Iowans tell time by sports. Some of the most important marks on that stadiachron correlate to late winter. They are the high school championships in wrestling, girls basketball, and boys basketball. These take place in Des Moines and usually coincide with major weather events. The 2008 wrestling matches got under way on Wednesday, February 13th.

While having lunch with a friend I commented that I was wondering what to write about wrestling for AroundDesMoines.com. That started my friend talking about her six-year-old grandson and the wrestling matches in which he competes. She is proud of the sportsmanship her grandson displays but wishes he participated in a different sport. She also said it can get to be too much, there were four competitions in two days on one weekend. I was telling another friend about this conversation later that day and she thought it was neat that children as young as four, both boys and girls, are wrestling. The second friend’s brothers competed in wrestling when they were in school.

The 1963 Encyclopedia Britannica calls wrestling “one of the most primitive and universal of sports.” The entry goes on to note that hundreds of wrestling scenes can be found “[u]pon the walls of the temple-tombs of Eni Hasan, near the Nile. These date from approximately 3,000 B.C. “Great reliance is placed upon the power of the arms and particularly of the hands….” If you are interested in details of the 2008 wrestling matches, check out details on the Iowa High School Athletic Association web pages.

For Iowans looking to relive their high school years through other drama, High School Reunion returns to the Des Moines Playhouse on February 15th. Performances are on Friday and Saturday nights at 6.30 p.m. through March 8th. Tickets cost $40 and include dinner. This is an interactive comedy, with the play and the audience moving from the main stage to the Kate Goldman Children’s Theatre as part of the performance.

The Olson-Larsen Gallery (203 Fifth Street, West Des Moines) has an opening on Friday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.. New work by William Barnes, Richard Black, Priscilla Steele, Jack Wilkes, and Amy Worthen will be featured. You can also enjoy a retrospective of 50 years of work by Cornelis Ruhtenberg.

“Mojo” Jono Smith is the featured musician at Sunday’s Blues at the Botanical Center from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $4.

Monday is Cultural Advocacy Day. Take a moment and call or write your state legislator to share your opinion on the importance of the arts. Events are scheduled at the Capitol and East Village locations.

The last forum to discuss a diversity plan for the Des Moines Public Schools is on Saturday. It will be held from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at Moulton Extended Learning Center (1541 8th Street). After you do your civic duty, go down to Gray’s Lake for an ice fishing lesson from the Polk County Conservation Board. Meet at the North Entrance (1400 Fleur Drive) at 1:00 p.m.

M.R. Field encourages organizations and performers to send news about their upcoming events to events@AroundDesMoines.com.