Catfish Festival's first ever Catfish Wrastlin'

Sun, 07/07/2019 - 3:13pm — Hannah Vanover

Grapplers got down and dirty with some of the biggest catfish that the city could find.

The first ever “Catfish Wrastlin’” event took place at the Green River Catfish Festival on Saturday, July 6.

Contestants had to get into a water tank and wrestle a 10 to 15-pound catfish and bring it to the surface using only their bare hands. The contest was open to the first 20 people to sign-up and all participants were asked to sign a liability waiver beforehand.

Contestants competed in heats in pairs of two and based on their times, the winner from each advanced into the next round. A championship round was then held to crown the first-place winner. The winner received a $150 and prize belt and the second-place winner received a $75.

The first-place winner was Corey Burden and second place was Jake Martin.

Robin Johnson, chairman of the festival, said they plan to have the event next year.

“We are excited to have this event for you guys this year and we hope to have more people participating next year,” Johnson said.

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