On Thursday night, students packed the gym floor of the Student Activity Center to watch a few friends duke it out in the ring for Delta Tau’s Fight Night.
The boxing event is the social club’s way to raise money for Youth Encouragement Services, an organization dedicated to bettering the lives of inner city children.
For a $5 fee at the door, those in attendance surrounded the makeshift boxing ring to watch and cheer on their fellow Bisons through three rounds of boxing.
Laced with gloves and wearing protective headgear, members of Delta Tau, Tau Phi, SID, Delta Nu and SOS (and even two independents) entered the ring to see who would be crowned the victor.
Delta Tau member Evan Webb declared the group’s event a unique way to bring the Lipscomb community together.
“It’s fun because it’s a little bit different than all the other events,” Webb said. “It’s the only event on campus like it.”
In the night’s first fight, Delta Tau’s Tate Dalrymple took on Delta Nu’s Andrew Rios, with Dalrymple emerging the victor.
To follow, SOS’s Andrew Gallaher defeated Delta Tau’s Geoff Patterson. Gallaher started the night off right for the social club, who went on to be undefeated for the evening.
Other SOS wins included Tyler Hickey’s victory over independent fighter Aaron Schmelzer, Connor Ray’s victory over Delta Tau’s Ty Ragsdale and Austin Nichol’s victory over independent fighter Matthew Proctor.
Gallaher said that the fight was challenging in the first round, but later efforts helped solidify his win. He expressed his enjoyment of the fighting experience.
“It was a lot of fun,” Gallaher said.
Host Delta Tau had another victor in Carson Burch, who won his match in a split decision over SID’s Alex Rector. Delta Nu won a match when Brandon Baxter bested SID’s Hadley Kelsey.
The evening’s main event came with Delta Tau’s Joel Mason taking on Tau Phi’s Phillip Yates. Mason walked away from the fight a winner.
“It was my first fight, so I didn’t really know what to expect,” Mason said.
Mason said that despite Yates’ strong hits, he was able to sway the judges in his direction.
“He definitely had some power behind his punches, but I guess the judges liked what I was doing,” Mason said.
In the end, the evening’s main goal was to promote awareness and funds for YES, which helped Mason achieve the big victory.
“That was the whole driving force behind that win,” Mason said.
Webb said he believes that Fight Night effectively provided those in attendance with good fights for a great reason.
“You’re supporting a great cause through hand-to-hand combat,” Webb said.
Video by Anne Paquin