Photo by Samantha Davis: Ty Rangaard (red) from Canby wrestles with Beck Johnson (blue) from St. James-Madelia at the Battle of the Baron wrestling tournament in the 16U division on Sunday at the Red Baron Arena in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Red Baron Arena in Marshall filled with nearly 130 eager wrestlers from ages eight to high school seniors for the third year of the Battle of the Baron wrestling tournament on Sunday.

The tournament spread across five mats that began with a Greco-wrestling style clinic, followed by a Freestyle clinic. The event was held through USA Wrestling with the help of the Mustang Wrestling Club, and directed by Southwest Minnesota State University wrestling coach Chayse Jackson.

Wrestlers were grouped into round-robin groups to ensure participants got as many matches as possible, with brackets based on age and experience.

Jackson noted how widespread the event has become, bringing wrestlers in from various surrounding areas like Canby, Montevideo, Pipestone, Wayzata, Iowa and South Dakota, and a few from the cities as well.

Several wrestling clubs also joined in on the tournament.

As the matches went on, coaches and parents stood nearby the mats to cheer on their wrestler, along with some families sitting in the arena bleachers.

The Greco Clinic took to the mats first, a style of wrestling that focuses on upper-body strategies rather than emphasizing the use of holding below the waist or using legs for attacking.

The Freestyle clinic took place after an hour intermission, where wrestlers can use their entire body to compete.

The tournament did not use a traditional on-site weigh-in of every wrestler, but rather used the weight wrestlers registered under and did random weight audits throughout the day for confirmation.

According to Jackson, this year’s 130 wrestlers marked the highest participation yet out of the three years the tournament has taken place. He also made it a point to visit each mat throughout the day and talk with as many wrestlers as he could with words of advice or encouragement.