DeKalb | Sigma Alpha Mu has performed well in men’s Tugs the last five years, finishing third as a solo team in 2015 — their highest rank since teaming up with other fraternities.

In 2010, the team joined forces with Phi Kappa Psi and Pi Kappa Phi, giving them a second place finish. They teamed with Phi Kappa Psi again in 2011 to become the first combination team to win the title.

After the duo’s 2011 championship, the Interfraternity Council put a rule in place prohibiting fraternities from making joint teams if those houses had more than a certain number of members. Now, only chapters with a small amount of members are allowed to team up with other fraternities. Sigma Alpha Mu had more than 70 members as of 2015.

The team practices in its indoor trenches in the beginning of the semester when the weather is colder. There, new tuggers learn timing and rhythm. They also hold five-on-five matches and as the semester goes on, they move to nine-on-nine matches.

Once the weather gets warmer, the team begins activities at its outdoor trenches. Practices are held four days a week and can last anywhere from two to three hours a night.

“If you’re known as a tugger in our house, you’re really committed,” said Devin Joseph, Sigma Alpha Mu president. “It takes a lot of time out of your schedule. It’s rough on you because you’re sore after and there’s a lot of injuries during the season. People are usually going to the gym twice a day sometimes just to get back in shape.”

A couple of weeks before Tugs starts, Sigma Alpha Mu sets up practice matches with other fraternities, such as Alpha Kappa Lambda and Phi Kappa Psi, looking to prepare for real-match scenarios before the event.

Sigma Alpha Mu has a strict policy that prohibits team members from eating at fast food restaurants. Members who want to gain weight take in a lot of calories and protein, and members who want to lose weight are constantly conditioning and going to the gym.

Joseph is a junior and, although he has never personally participated in Tugs, attends some of the team’s practices. Joseph said he is most looking forward to his organization facing Phi Sigma Kappa again, who eliminated them last year.

“Last year, we faced Delta Chi,” Joseph said. “We beat them, then, we faced Phi Sigma Kappa to go to the championship. Hopefully, we beat Delta Chi because then it’d be the same thing as last year. And if we lost, we’d just be in the third place championship match again.”