Student take 'Jell-O shots' in Harnwell

It was rough, tough and downright messy in 200 gallons of strawberry Jell-O. Friday night's "Wrestling at the Rathskellar" event packed almost 100 Penn students into the basement lounge of Harnwell College House as they watched 12 of their peers go to battle in a tub filled with the squishy red stuff. Co-sponsored by Harnwell's Arts House residential program, the Penn p.m. event marked the first time that the group ventured beyond its traditional support of campus drama and musical acts, switching gears to the performance art of Jell-O wrestling. Although student referees spelled out rules banning violent moves like kicking, scratching and ear-biting from the three-minute matches, it was clear from the opening whistle that the action was no holds barred. In the opening heavyweight bout, male contestants sloshed around in the 54-square-foot pool of red gelatin as each tried to grasp enough of his opponent's slippery body to throw, body-slam -- or worst of all -- faceplant him. "It was very cold at the beginning but once you are covered in Jell-O, you don't realize it," Wharton sophomore Adriano Savelli said as he recovered from his opening-round victory. "You just feel really sticky." And when the females entered the ring, the competition got even more physical. Rolling around in the gelatin, some lady wrestlers went straight for each other's T-shirts, drawing roaring cheers from the male members of the crowd. Others took plenty of "Jell-O shots" as they pelted each other -- and eventually the audience -- with a storm of red cubes. "I don't think I'll eat Jell-O ever again," quipped College senior Cindy Liebman, who involuntarily ingested the well-trodden treat after she was dunked. Style was clearly more important than substance. Forcing an opponent to consume a large mouthful of Jell-O certainly seemed to earn more of the judges' and audience's favor than a pin -- much to the chagrin of some competitors. "These were the most unfair circumstances," complained Engineering sophomore Hiram Mac, a black-belt in karate who blamed his defeat on the fact that he was covered in slippery Jell-O. "I couldn't summon any leverage." But most took a more light-hearted approach, using the occasion to find innovative ways to show there is "always room for Jell-O." "It makes a good hair gel," said College senior Jill Kleckzco as she lathered red globs in her hair. And Wharton junior Rob Eggleston added, "I came in here with a white T-shirt and I am leaving here with a pink one." While College freshman Grace Cary defeated the winner of the male division in a co-ed final to become the overall champion, some members of the crowd were not sure what to make of the quasi-varsity sport. "When it was guy versus girl, there was less wrestling, more grabbing and more play," College freshman Jen Bolson said. But Harnwell Faculty Master David Brownlee, director of College Houses and Academic Services, put an intellectual spin on the event. "It fulfilled all my expectations of establishing community and civilization," Brownlee said. "It is one of those events where audience and performer are united in a common sense of participation."

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