Solving the Mystery of Abe's Rumble Day 2

Another cryptic headline appeared in my feed while I was looking for photos of swimmers from Menominee, Michigan.

It was attached to this picture, all in caps, with no punctuation:

ABE’S RUMBLE DAY 2: PORTA BEATS EL PASO GRIDLEY, AUBURN FALLS TO REED CUSTER

Sports headlines are unconscionably cryptic.  Apparently they expect fans to know exactly who these people or institutions are, but for us mere mortals, it takes some research.

Obviously a wrestler, so I guessed that this was Porta, who beat an El Paso wrestler named Gridley, while in another match, a guy named Reed Custer beat his opponent at Auburn.

My goal: to discover what Abe's Rumble Day is, and where it takes place.

The rest of the very short article gave only a few more details: Porta's win would ensure them 8th place in the tournament after losing to Prairie Central in the quarterfinals.   Meanwhile, Auburn fell to Reed Custer, but Caleb Nix continues to win.

1. The Website.  It's on a page advertising "All Local Sports.  All the Time," but it doesn't say sports from where.  Maybe Texas (El Paso?) or Alabama (Auburn?)



2. Caleb Nix, who continues to win.  Great name, like a 1920s comic strip character:  "What scrapes will Caleb Nix get into today?"

There are actually several Caleb Nixes listed on various athletic websites, and about 40 listed on Facebook.  That doesn't help 













3. Reed Custer, who beat the Auburn player.

He's a wrestler from Emmaus, Pennsylvania, now a student at Kutztown University (I don't know which of these guys he is, hopefully the one on the right, taking the photo).

Reed Custer is also a school, Reed-Custer High School in Braidwood, Illinois, population 5,000, about 30 miles south of Joliet.  According to Wikipedia," RCHS offers numerous classes that vary on many different subjects that are not just core classes."

How informative.

So either Pennsylvania or Illinois.




4. Gridley from El Paso, who was beat by Porta.

There's an El Paso-Gridley High School in El Paso, Illinois, just north of Bloomington.  Gridley is the town next door.  So maybe Gridley is not a person, but a high school beat by Porta.

So we're talking Illinois.

(The photo is actually of a powerlifting teen from New Hamburg, who popped up when I was searching for El Paso Gridley wrestlers.  No actual photos of the team -- no wonder Porta beat them).

5. Porta isn't a person, but a high school, PORTA (always in caps), in Petersburg, Illinois, near Springfield. Auburn is near Springfield, also.

I'm guessing that this is an Auburn wrestler, from the giant A on his chest.

I'm from Illinois, but I never heard of any of these towns before.  Maybe if I was a sports fan, I would have.












6. Knowing that this wrestling tournament occurred in the environs of Springfield, Illinois, I was able to look up Abe's Rumble Day on a "what's happening in Springfield?" website. Somebody really likes capital letters:

The Rumble In The Land Of Lincoln Is The Premiere Class A Dual Meet Wrestling Tournament Co-Hosted By Auburn Li’L Trojan Wrestling Club And Petersburg PORTA Wrestling.

Abe must be Abraham Lincoln.