KNIGHTSTOWN — Just down State Road 109 about 30 minutes from Pendleton sits one of the most revered buildings in Hoosier basketball lore.
Hoosier Gym in Knightstown — the former high school facility where the 1986 movie “Hoosiers” was filmed — has played host to myriad events through the years, but in November, the Arabians wrestling team will make its mark on the storied facility.
Pendleton Heights will face Greenfield-Central on the mat Nov. 27 in the first meet broadcast from the gym when NineStar Connect airs the meet at a later time.
The teams were originally scheduled to compete at Pendleton Heights.
Arabians coach Dave Cloud is excited for the event. With Arabian Athletic Director Chad Smith and Cougar wrestling coach Josh Holden on board, the idea became a reality and was recently announced for the 2019-20 wrestling season.
While the Arabians are giving up home advantage, Cloud believes the experience will more than make up for the concession.
“Part of Arabian wrestling is having firsts, and this is a first and historic,” Cloud said.
He said the Hoosier Gym reminds him of the old Pendleton Middle School gym.
Holden was in from the get-go.
“Dave’s a pretty special guy,” Holden said.
When Holden first started coaching, Cloud reached out and offered help if he needed.
“This is a guy I’m trying to beat and he reaches out. It changed my coaching. So, I’ll return a favor anytime,” Holden said.
The maximum capacity for the gym is about 650.
Cloud said he hopes fans will come out and be a part of the event.
“We want to make this special, fun and something for everyone to remember,” Cloud said.
The Arabians, as the original home team for the meet, will keep gate admissions, while the facility, which is run by a non-profit, keeps the concessions take.
Plans are to run a two-mat event, with the possibility that younger wrestlers, such as from JV teams, will participate.
“We want this to be a time for the kids and coaches to come together for the fellowship and experience the camaraderie,” Cloud said.
Ideas have been tossed around for throwback uniforms for the wrestlers, cheerleaders and maybe even a band playing classics from the era.
Plans also include a reception after the meet in rooms that have been added to the facility.
Most Arabians wrestlers have not seen and a few haven’t even heard of the movie “Hoosiers,” but Cloud is optimistic they will before November. He hinted at a possibility of a viewing party.
“You don’t even have to be a basketball person to appreciate what this movie was about,” he said.
Cloud’s first job was at South Dearborn, and he drove by Milan High School every day.
The movie was inspired by the underdog team at Milan winning the Indiana High School state championship in 1954, long before the switch to class basketball.
Holden said initially his kids didn’t understand why holding the meet in the Hoosier Gym was significant, but once they stood inside and took in the atmosphere of the place, they were all for it.
Iconic is a word often used the describe the facility. “Hoosiers” director David Anspaugh said as much when asked why he chose the gym to serve as home court of the Hickory Huskers in the movie.
A continuous loop of the movie plays as part of the facility’s museum.
The Hoosier Gym was built in 1921 and is actually 20 feet shorter than current regulation gyms, but two 10-second lines have been added to offset the difference. In 2017, over 69,000 people visited the gym, and the building has played host to high school basketball teams from as far away as New York and Mississippi. The gym is open in the afternoons for visitors to stop by and take a shot on the hardwood.
Both coaches want to make the event a memorable one. “We want to make people who are not into wrestling get into this,” Holden said. “Indiana is on the cutting edge of high school wrestling, and we want to continue to build Indiana wrestling.”
