The modern Olympic Games began in Athens in 1896, with wrestling one of the ten sports involved. Visitors to this area will see posters from every Olympics since 1896, and a record of how the American wrestlers fared in each of the Games. There are also posters and photos of most U.S. champions, as well as display cases with Olympic memorabilia. One wall also tells the story of the ancient Games, born in Olympia, Greece, some 2,000 years ago!

In the summer of 1832, a young Abe Lincoln ambled into a small frontier village in New Salem, Illinois. A few months later, the six foot, four-inch Lincoln was challenged to a wrestling match by Jack Armstrong, the town toughie. A life-size mural of the match greets visitors in the Lincoln Lobby. It was commissioned by the DGIWIM and painted by Jack Bender, a well-known national sports artist and Alley Oop cartoonist, and his wife, Carole. An entire wall in the center of the museum displays the original artwork by Bender, a native of Waterloo, and numerous other depictions of the match. A booklet entitled "The Sport of Lincoln," written by Mike Chapman, is on sale in the MATMAN Gift Shop.