Greek fraternity members will test their brotherly strength at next week’s Tugs competition.

Members of several Greek Row fraternities will begin the annual tug-of-war competition at 3:30 p.m. Monday outside Huskie Stadium on the east tailgate field. A weeklong pass for the event is $15, with individual matches costing $5 and the championship match costing $10. There are 14 matches in total among 10 houses.

Junior accounting major Adam Wachowiak is organizing the event. He was drawn to Tugs by the spirit of competition, among other things.

“It’s been a tradition here on campus, something that I know the Greeks and the student body get real excited about,” Wachowiak said. “It’s been a tradition that’s been here long before I have. It’s been something that’s had a lot of potential to grow and it has grown over the years.

Wachowiak said the competition has been very successful the past couple of years.

“It’s something that’s caught my eye and made me want to get involved,” Wachowiak said. “Not only from a Greek Row standpoint, but also as from a student body standpoint. It’s something that was cool.”

Senior business major Bryan Collins is president of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and has participated in the tug of war contest in previous years. He understands the sacrifices those competing have made in order to participate in the event.

“People put their whole semester into it,” Collins said. “They sacrifice their nights and sleep just because of house pride. It goes to the fundamentals of the sport. You want to have pride in yourself and challenge members and challenge yourself to get that first spot. A lot of teamwork goes into it and people sacrifice their bodies just to get there.”

Bryan Cassidy, junior exercise science and kinesiology major and vice president of public relations for IFC, is a former tug of war participant. “You go out there and [if] you don’t practice you’re going to get killed,” Cassidy said. “You’re going to get destroyed. It’s going to hurt a lot more. You lose, it looks like an embarrassment.”

Cassidy said people can tell which teams practiced and which didn’t.

“There’s houses that have no social events second semester and the practice every night,” Cassidy said. “Then there’s houses that don’t until two or three weeks before, or ones that don’t at all. They get killed, and they get last place. That’s the difference between first place and last place.”

Trophies are awarded for first, second, and third place teams.