Fraternities and sororities roped in their best groundbreaking pullers to compete in the annual Greek Week Tug competition at the L.D. Brown Ag Expo Center.

Phi Delta Theta (Phi Delt) won first place against the fraternities in the annual Tug competition held Friday at the WKU L.D. Brown Ag. Expo. Center. Chi Omega (ChiO) won first place against the sororities in the Tug competition.

Tug has been a part of Greek Week for as long as it has existed at WKU, according to a story from the May 25, 1967, College Heights Herald newspaper.

WKU’s Greek History states that Greek Life started on the Hill in 1965, but Greek Week was only an idea that year, according to the May 27, 1965, College Heights Herald newspaper. WKU started its first annual Greek Week and the Tug competition one year later in 1966, according to the May 19, 1966, College Heights Herald newspaper.

Now 60 years later, Tug is still a prevalent part of Greek Week on WKU’s campus. 

The annual Tug of War competition during Greek Week is “probably one of the largest non-sporting student events” on WKU’s campus, Andrew Rash, Associate Director of Student Activities – Greek Life, said.

Rash estimated that over 2,000 people typically attend the annual Greek Week Tug of War competition. He said that while Tug of War is a game, the fraternities and sororities take the event very seriously.

“It’s not a kindergarten field day with people standing up and pulling on a rope,” Rash said. “It’s a lot more than that.”

In preparation for the competition, some fraternities and sororities said they spent months, while others didn’t practice at all. The secrecy of the practices was also dependent on each fraternity and sorority.

Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity brothers had their Tug practices at the FIJI Chapter House a few hours and days each week, FIJI Tug Coach Cavin Ashman and senior construction management major, said.

Ashman coached alongside Jett Meffert, senior environmental sustainability and geographic science major, at Tug practices. With only 12 people on their roster, FIJI tied a rope to a truck during their Tug practices to simulate a typical eight versus eight round.

Each team had five minutes to kick holes before each three-minute round, or “pull,” in the competition, according to the 2026 Greek Week Rules Packet. Ashman said FIJI had pre-dug holes during practices, but to simulate the exercise of kicking holes, the team did burpees before each of their practice pulls.

Landon Terry, freshman electrical engineering, math and teaching major, said since he is an athlete, he joined the Tug team to be most useful to his fraternity during Greek Week.

Terry said there is low representation from the younger classes in FIJI for the Tug competition, so he stepped up for the task along with a couple other underclassmen.

“There’s a couple guys that needed to step up, including me, and they’ve done a good job of replacing the class last year,” Terry said. “Last year’s class was really excellent.”

Terry also said he enjoyed participating in Tug to get to see the older fraternity brothers before they graduate. With their busy schedules as seniors, Terry said he doesn’t get to see the older fraternity brothers much unless it was at practice.

“I’m trying to smell the flowers, sit here and appreciate their presence,” Terry said. “I’m trying to soak it up like a sponge and absorb the most knowledge I can.”

The Delta Zeta (DZ) sorority sisters traveled off campus to a secret location for their Tug practices. They practiced for two hours each day for three to four days a week, said DZ Tug Front Coach Joselyn Trammel, senior healthcare administration major. Bella Knorr, sophomore pre-nursing major, was the back coach for DZ’s Tug team practices alongside Trammel.

Trammel said the team takes the pulls very seriously at practice, but in between pulls they like to relax and have fun. She said the team improved a lot since they first started practicing in February.

DZ was able to simulate eight versus eight rounds at practices with the sorority sisters who attended. When they weren’t doing a pull, the sorority sisters would practice kicking holes in the dirt.

Logan “Bulldog” Shelton, sophomore healthcare administration major, was the head coach of DZ at their practices. Shelton is a part of the Phi Delta fraternity but said fraternity brothers often help coach sororities for the Tug competition.

In preparation for Tug, Greek Week’s annual tug-of-war tournament, members of Alpha Gamma Rho worked tirelessly to train competitors and prepare the fields.

AGR Tug coach and senior construction management major Wiles Johnson said AGR provided coaching to Sigma Kappa, Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi and Phi Mu this year.

Johnson, who coached Sigma Kappa for this year’s tournament, said he often finds it hard to explain Tug and its strategies. Despite the steep learning curve, most take to it within two to three weeks of practice.

“Sometimes I really struggle with the fact that I’m having a bad practice…” said Hannah Vohs, a member of Sigma Kappa. “But luckily, our coaches are very good at being uplifting and keeping us motivated.”

During her sorority’s practices, Vohs has learned a variety of tug-of-war techniques, including the basics of how to correctly pull the rope and the proper foot placement for optimal leverage. She’s also learned a special technique called Skug, which involves the person on the back of the rope standing firmly to form an anchor point while the rest of the team takes turns pulling from back to front.

Brooklyn Gaddie, junior agriculture major, has been on DZ’s Tug team for two years. Gaddie said her favorite part of Tug is bonding with her sorority sisters at practices.

“As I’m getting older, it’s just harder to connect with the younger ones, but this has really brought me closer to them,” Gaddie said.

Regardless of how much time each fraternity or sorority practices, all Greek Life on campus packed together around the muddy field on Tug Day.

Unlike FIJI or DZ, Sigma Chi didn’t practice  prior to the competition, said Paul Worth, sophomore public relations and health administration major. Despite their lack of practice, Sigma Chi won their first round against Lambda Chi Alpha.

Sigma Chi’s Tug team all agreed that their Captain Brayden Rider, junior biochemistry major, helped them to secure the win in the first round alongside Baker Bruehl, freshman business administration major. Rider said the team took the win in the first round with nothing but caffeine and determination.

Ryan “Fishman” Troutman, freshman exercise science major, competed on Sigma Chi’s Tug team. Troutman and his teammates celebrated winning the first round of the competition with no prior practice.

“It’s all heart,” Troutman said.

Field prep for Tug at the Agriculture Research and Education Center is overseen by Spencer Campbell, another member of AGR who serves as the Tug chair for Greek Week.

“We’ve been running sprinklers and stuff on the field, just making sure it’s wet and people can kick through it,” Campbell said.

Tug is held on a patch of dirt and keeping that dirt wet ensures that participants can easily kick up holes to firmly plant their feet and push off them while pulling the rope.

“AGR’s known for winning Tug a lot, so we take it pretty seriously,” Campbell said. “I had a pretty good feeling I wasn’t going to be on the rope, but I’m glad I can still be involved on the day of the tournament.”

From the first to the last round of the competition, ChiO sorority sisters showed their team spirit in support of their sisters in the Tug competition.

Ava Oberst, junior sports management major, said she participated in the Red Cross Blood Drive for Greek Week, but came out to the Tug competition to support their chapter’s team. Oberst said she is proud of their chapter’s Tug team. She said she enjoyed the competition and seeing ChiO win, but she also enjoyed the event overall.

“I think everyone just competing is fun to watch,” Oberst said.