Submitted photo Wrangle co-founders Trent Hidlay, Joey Bender, and Hayden Hidlay.

If you ever wondered what happens when nostalgia crashes with reality, and community spirit leaps from the gym floor, then welcome to Wrangle in the Wild 5.

It’s not another night in the Mifflin County High School gym–it’s the only place in Pennsylvania where you can see a 58-year-old legend lace up his shoes, a couple of brothers wrestle for living room bragging rights, and three generations of Indian Valley’s finest circling the same mat.

The popcorn’s always fresh, the cheers come from the diaphragm, and the stories. They’re heavier than most heavyweights.

This Saturday night when the doors swing open at 4 p.m., they’ll usher in fans and an entire county’s worth of memories. By 5, the gym will buzz with kids, parents, coaches, and alumni–plus a few ghosts from Chief Logan, Lewistown, Kish, and Indian Valley, who will no doubt find their way into the rafters for old times’ sake.

It would be easy to say this is just another charity dual, but that would be like calling Thanksgiving “just another meal.” In five short years, Wrangle has become the region’s best summer ticket, a kind of wrestling county fair, family reunion, and fundraiser rolled into one.

The event is built around what organizers call “the most successful amateur wrestling event that happens on a yearly basis,” and the numbers back them up. Since its wild birth at the Body and Soul Community Center, Wrangle has poured more than $15,400 back into Mifflin County’s wrestling programs–gear, travel, and food for teams used to scraping by.

As Trent Hidlay, the county’s wrestling pride, puts it: “It’s more about bringing the community together and having a fun time for two hours or so and seeing some people that used to wrestle, seeing some of the up-and-coming best wrestlers in the county, and raising money for a great cause for our youth and high school programs. It goes a very long way.”

And this year, there’s a twist: it’s all about Indian Valley. Last year, the theme was Lewistown.

“We want as many IV guys there as possible,” Hidlay said. “We’re going to honor them before the event, and then we’ll have some IV guys wrestling as well. So it’s going to be super cool.”

The main event reads like a love letter to Mifflin County and the ghosts of gyms past:

* Kaleb Loht vs. Andrew Wert: the main event featuring Loht, a former NCAA Division III National champion, and Wert, a 3x PIAA state medalist and collegiate wrestler.

* Garrett Hoffman vs. Jacob Ferreira: the co-main event featuring Hoffman, a 3x PIAA medalist and NCAA qualifier, and Ferreira, former NC State and Hofstra wrestler who was a 2x New York medalist.

* Parker Kearns vs. Jacob Schultz

* Avery Aurand vs. Sam Melikian

* Kyler Everly vs. Zach Heeter

Wrangle’s undercard is where old rivalries, new dreams, and a couple of daredevils cross paths:

* Nick Wilcox vs. Kyle Miller

* Nik Christine vs. Chad Lemay: an all-IV affair.

* Adam Stout vs. Haydn Crum

* Harry Lowber vs. Charlie Burger:

* Adin Thorpe vs. Jay Ciccolini: Ciccolini has never wrestled before–yes, never–and steps into the circle for a real taste of summer glory.

* Mike Robinson Sr. vs. Toby Yorks

Let’s pause at Robinson. Some men refuse to go quietly into their fifties. Robinson plans to hit the mat at 58–District 6 Hall of Famer, PIAA runner-up, Lewistown icon, and possibly the only man in the county with more stories than scars.

“Mike’s older, but he stays in shape. He works out super hard. He’s been somebody I’ve looked up to for a really long time,” Hidlay said. “When he said he wanted a match, it was like, yeah, I’m getting him one no matter what. So it’s going to be really cool to see him lace up the shoes and go after it.”

His opponent, Toby Yorks, is no slouch–a past Wrangle veteran and, as always, willing to meet any challenge.

Some of the loudest cheers are for the smallest shoes. Three youth bouts kick things off:

* Bennett Harmon vs. Hugh Harmon: Brothers and last year’s highlight.

* Lennox Miliken vs. Declan Miller: Declan’s dad, Kyle, pulls double duty on the undercard.

* Kylinn Swineford vs. Xandria Yocum: The girls’ match is now a Wrangle tradition–Swineford is local, Yocum comes from West Perry.

“The youth matches are a big part of the event. To see the excitement they have when they step on the mat, it’s awesome,” Hidlay said.

In the corners, Indian Valley legends Tyler Bedelyon (Chesney Auctioneering Hammer Time) and Tye Boyer (Smeltz and Aumiller Real Estate Roof Raisers) coach rival squads. Each man is a link to the past, each intent on building the next wave. Bedelyon is an assistant coach for the Huskies, and Boyer is the new boss at Midd-West.

“You need a family, you need a village to help you run an event like this,” Hidlay said, nodding to the full-court press from friends and relatives who do everything from setting up the tables to running the raffle. “We want to make it for fun, for charity, but we also want it to be done right, and I think there’s value in doing it right.”

And then there are the raffle prizes, everything from ASICS gear and singlets to signed memorabilia and, rumor has it, a few surprise guest appearances.

What sets Wrangle apart isn’t the headlocks or the falls; it’s the sense that, for one night, the gym belongs to everyone. The old timers, the first-timers, the parents, the kids in oversized t-shirts, the alumni who left town but never left wrestling. The point isn’t just to win, but to remember. To look around and realize that for all the changes, some things–family, grit, a good mat, and a community coming together–never go out of style.

Doors open at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and admission is $5. If you want to see what makes Mifflin County special, you know where to be.

As Hidlay puts it: “We want as many people as possible in the stands to support the community. That’s what it’s about.”

Let the wild wrangle begin.