In 1899, Penn State students started Class Rush or Scraps to help initiate incoming students into college life. A Scrap was a brutal encounter between large groups of freshman and sophomores, resulting in many injuries, some even grave. Although this annual scuffle was not serious at first, while classes were small, as Penn State grew in size, this event became a major problem. Often each side had over a hundred members in the fray. In 1902, an agreement was reached between the two underclasses to dispense with what they called a barbarous rush and to substitute wrestling matches as a way of testing the relative strengths of the two classes. The first ever organized Penn State Wrestling event took place on 9/23/1902(Incidentally, my Birthday is 9/23). There were only three bouts: light, middle and heavyweight. The class that won two of the three was declared the winner. That first ever Penn State Wrestling event was won by the sophomores, 2-1.
