Lindsay Randall and Preston Thompson won two Dallas Cowboys tickets apiece in the university’s first intramural pillow fight Wednesday evening in the Campus Commons.

Straddled across a padded wooden beam over an inflated, red and blue apparatus, participants swung pillows at each other while trying to maintain their balance.

Four participants signed up for women’s division and automatically qualified for the semifinals. Alyson Morales, a freshman journalism major, defeated Alison Deathe, a freshman fashion merchandising major, in the early match. Randall, a junior psychology major and Campus Recreation employee, defeated Kristen Upton, a freshman psychology and child development major. Randall won the final in the best of three match when Morales, in yellow, lost her balance twice and rolled over the beam.

“During these types of things it’s a good way to get away from the stress, the homework, college,” Randall said.

The men’s division saw a larger turnout, with 32 contestants. Only 16 made the initial tournament list, while the other 16 were waitlisted. The final four in the men’s division included Preston Thompson, Jeremy Burkett, Will Gaffney and Ben Halliday. Thompson, a freshman pre-business major, battled Ben Halliday, also a business major, in a vigorous display of aggression, strength and agility for the final match. Halliday swung hard, and delivered fast hits directly at a comparatively smaller Thompson, some landing on his face. Thompson maintained his balance while fighting back with hard hits of his own.

“It’s all about balance,” Thompson said. “Look at me, I had to win.”

The blue and red inflatable apparatus came from Texas Sumo, the company Campus Recreation hired for the event. The “Pillow Bash”, as Texas Sumo employee Patrick McHenry called the red and blue apparatus, had a bar in the middle for contestants to balance on while dueling each other. The rules, explained by Mike Hackemack, assistant director of Campus Recreation, forbade the pillow fighters to grab each other’s pillows, touch the middle or bottom of the Pillow Bash for support, or interlock their feet to prevent them from falling.

Hackemack said the turnout pleased him and that the Cowboys tickets drew in more people.

“Cowboys tickets are always a nice prize,” Hackemack said. “I’m sure the two people that won are going to be really happy when Sunday comes.”