The second day of Men’s Tugs featured a showdown between Delta Chi and Phi Kappa Theta, with Delta Chi advancing to face the defending champions, Sigma Nu, on Thursday. 

A minute into the first rope, the knot remained deadlocked for both sides. Phi Kappa Theta took the knot for the only time nearly four minutes in until Delta Chi began to dominate, taking a foot and a half of rope. 

The knot entered Delta Chi’s first trench around seven minutes in, and it entered their third trench around 10 minutes in. Phi Kappa Theta conceded to Delta Chi in 11 minutes. 

“I’m feeling great,” said Delta Chi first trench tugger and junior finance major Matt Knigge. “We knew we put in all the time and work. We didn’t expect anything less. There’s a couple things that set apart the good teams from bad teams, it’s the small, little details.” 

Both sides would trade blows at the beginning of the second rope. One and a half minutes in the knot was only slightly on Delta Chi’s side. It would remain that way five minutes in, with Delta Chi pulling away around seven minutes in. 

The knot entered Delta Chi’s first trench around 13 minutes in, with Delta Chi continuing to control the knot for a rope two victory in 17 minutes. 

“We had a gameplan going into it (the match) and obviously, we executed,” said Delta Chi’s first rope caller and junior marketing major Giovanni Hernandez. “We wanted to hang a lot, that’s what we did. We knew they (Phi Kappa Theta) were going to break early.”

Tugs matches continue at 6 p.m. Wednesday when Alpha Sigma Phi takes on Sigma Alpha Epsilon in the semifinals of the losers bracket.