High school wrestling: PC North takes on Edmond Memorial in 'Mall Madness'

“I think we can get enough kids out there to support it. They are at the mall anyway,” said Putnam North coach Mitch Brinlee. “For our sport, unfortunately, we kind of need to do things like this to build up some fan base.”

There will be no seating, which will be a home dual for Edmond Memorial. Bulldogs coach Darren Huff thinks many fans will be watching from up above on the upper level of the mall.

Huff got the idea for wrestling in the mall from his assistant coach, Kirk Mammen, a four-time All-American grappler at Oklahoma State University. Mammen's Indiana high school had staged a wrestling match in a mall.

“They really enjoyed it so we are going to try it and see how it works,” Huff said. “It promotes wrestling throughout the community. I think it will be kind of fun for us, fun for the kids. It will be an experience for the shoppers.”

Brinlee was skeptical when Huff first suggested having the dual in the mall.

“My initial reaction was it might be kind of flaky,” he said.

However, the more Brinlee thought about it, he decided, why not wrestle in the mall?

“I think it will be really exciting for our kids,” he said. “We would love for people to come out and watch.”

On Monday night, Edmond Memorial will host Three Dog Night, a wrestling match between the Bulldogs, Edmond Santa Fe and Edmond North. Each school will wrestle the other two in duals.

“It will be a crazy two days of wrestling,” Huff said.