PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING Lee Ann Krough (center) sets up Derek Martie (left) of Jesup and Carter Koop (right) of Marshalltown on the Monster Arm Wrestling machine for a friendly matchup. Krough, who lives in Ferguson, has run Monster Arm Wrestling for 41 years since 1980 and held an event at Dave and Sally’s Bar and Grill on Saturday.

A Central Iowa staple of offbeat sports entertainment returned to Marshalltown on Saturday afternoon at Dave and Sally’s Bar and Grill after a 2020 wiped away by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monster Arm Wrestling is the creation of the Mother Monster, aka Lee Ann Krough. Krough has a storied history in arm wrestling events from the local scene in Iowa and Nebraska (she lives in Ferguson) to the national championships of the sport, where she took home four arm wrestling championships in the 1980s.

On June 30, 1980, Monster Arm Wrestling began, and a win at the State Fair in 1980 cemented Krough’s future.

“We went to the bank and borrowed $2,000 to start it,” Krough said. “I started June 30 before the State Fair in August, so I had six weeks to prepare… Darlene Perry was the one that had won the State Fair in 1978 and 1979. But I came along, and she didn’t win in 1980. I did.”

Krough and her arm wrestling machines — of which there are at least three — have been all over the state of Iowa since the event’s inception with two main intents. First, they want to share the joy of a sport that has captured the imagination of not just Krough, but her whole family. She had the help of grandson Austen DeSchamp on Saturday.

Normally, when there are enough participants, traveling events turn into hours-long arm wrestling tournaments with different weight classes and trophies for winners in each class.

But at Dave’s, they didn’t have the numbers for a tournament. Sometimes, it just works out that way, Krough said. Even without enough participation for a full event, though, Krough makes the most of things and attempts to do something just as important — teach newcomers the tricks of the sport, with the hope that they come back and continue to attend and compete in future events. On Saturday, Krough said newcomers from Traer, Marshalltown and Jesup all arrived and learned more about working with the Monster machines.

“When we don’t have a tournament, it’s easier to teach people because you don’t have 40 people trying to wrestle,” Krough said.

Last year was a wash for Krough and company, as the scheduled events got canceled throughout the pandemic. Krough said it didn’t cost her anything as she didn’t have to bring the machines anywhere. She retired from her job at the Meskwaki Casino that summer and focuses on Monster and a trophy.

This year, she got things back underway at the State Fair, where Monster Arm Wrestling helps to run the state championship.

It’s the mix of running tournaments and trying to teach people who have an interest in arm wrestling — although at some tournaments, it turns into a kids’ event, which DeSchamp says can be for the best.

“We’ll get like 20-some kids who just want to wrestle each other,” DeSchamp said. “They don’t get trophies if you’re a kid. You do get a participation ribbon. You get a lot of people that see it when they’re kids, and then 10-15 years later, they try it for the first time.”

Now, fresh off of a year away, the work continues at Monster Arm Wrestling, in which Krough and her family have invested over four decades of their lives. They’re back, and they’re trying to get their name and sport back in people’s minds.

Why? Because it’s like another family for her.

“It’s like a family affair,” Krough said. “It just becomes part of you. I just love doing it, or I wouldn’t have done it for 41 years.”

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Contact Noah Rohlfing at 641-753-611 or nrohlfing@timesrepublican.com.