Junior Parkin Srisutiva kicked off the matchmaker date by impressing junior Isabelle Haake with chocolate and a red rose.

“It seemed liked the proper thing to do,” Srisutiva said. “Without chivalry, what is there? Got to be a gentleman.”

Haake and Srisutiva were the winning candidates of the matchmaker contest in February’s issue.

At approximately 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, Haake and Srisutiva met up for the date set up by the Free Press staff at Johnny Brusco’s Pizza.

The date starts off a little rocky, with the two making polite conversation. But as the date continues, they forget the reporter and photographer sitting behind them and begin to talk more.

The conversation ranges from stories of canceled flights to Srisutiva’s experience playing football when he was younger. They shared a good laugh about the giant pile of garlic knots that come as an appetizer and Haake’s green chicken.

When the date is over, neither admits to being nervous for the date.

Both agreed that the date went well. Srisutiva admitted it was “perfect.”

“It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to find something to talk about,” Haake said. “We kept each other entertained.”

Both Haake and Srisutiva enjoyed each other’s company.

“She’s just really fun to talk to,” Srisutiva said.

Haake had similar feelings when it came to Srisutiva.

“What I liked best about Parkin was that he’s easy to talk to,” Haake said. “[He] has good stories.”

The date went well enough that Srisutiva was open to going on another blind date.

“It’s a great way to meet new people,” Srisutiva said.

Haake says she would only do it if it were kids from Free State.

“If it were just some rando, I would not do that,” Haake said. “Not like match.com. No. That’s scary.”

It seems that both Haake and Srisutiva would agree that the date was successful.