WRESTLING

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22371, 7 April 1938, Page 14

WRESTLING

OPENING OF THE 1938 SEASON

YOURIST GIVEN VERDICT OVER BAFFERT The 1938 wrestling season in the .city opened in the Theatre Royal last night, when two wrestlers new to Christchurch met in a bout that went the full eight rounds. Abe Yourist, 16st, was the winner on points, although his opponent, AI Baffert. 15st 121 b. was equal in falls, of which each man took one. A section of the big crowd found the bout lacking in excitement, and it certainly was lacking in a variety of holds. Yourist relied mostly on headlocks, which are never very spectacular, and Baffert- had some holds of his own, including a habit of lifting Yourist to his -full height, and then depositing him on his feet on the other side of the ropes, which did not seem to serve much purpose. Baffert was the first to take a fall, and no one was more surprised than Yourist. Apparently securely held in an arm bar, Baffert somehow wriggled out of it. and sitting on the backs of Yourist’s legs, manoeuvred his shoulders to the mat. where they stayed long enough to register a fall. Yourist took hig fall some rounds later, after a bodypress applied when Baffert appeared still groggy from some unexpected elbow jolts. . . ~ Yourist opened the bout by using the headlock that later became so familiar, but Baffert twice broke the headlock, and for good, measure put Yourist on the outside of the ring—quite gently, of course. In the second round Baffert warmed to his work and dumped Yourist, and then tried to add to his advantage by jumping on a prostrate opponent. But Yourist shifted to one side and Baffert jumped on the mat. The third round showed an improvement in wrestling, with both men using more holds. Baffert took a leaf from Yourist’s book and responded in kind to the elbow jolts he had been receiving, and when his opponent was groggy again put him outside the ropes. But Yourist returned to the ring, still in good condition. The fourth round saw both men rebounding from the ropes and diving at each other with considerable momentum but less accuracy. . In the fifth round Yourist took an early advantage, but Baffert surprised Yourist and most of the audience by converting an arm-bar against him to a strange but effective hold in his own favour, which ended in a fall. The sixth round, with Yourist still puzzled about the reason for his loss of the fall, was not spectacular. But the seventh was exciting, and rather reminiscent of a ballet burlesque. Baffert seized Yourist by the heels, and rotating him from that axis spun him round and round the ring. Both men became giddy, and the manoeuvre did not seem to be getting very far. So Baffert finally dropped Yourist, and In the excitement and giddiness fell back himself, striking his own head. He was rather groggy after that, and Yourist, giddy but determined, took an easy fall with a body press. In the early part of the eighth round there was more unorthodoxy. Presumably to break a hold, Baffert jumped on to Yourist’s back, and the pair progressed in that fashion round the ring several times, with Baffert steering by means of a tight hold on Yourist’s chin. They tired of that, and the bout ended soon after with Yourist. who was certainly the more aggressive in the early stages, hailed the winner—a verdict that was given a very mixed reception. Mr A. P. Craig was the referee. The amateur bouts, for which Mr Gordon Mowat was the • referee, resulted:— L. Secord (Bst 121 b) beat W. Joyce (Bst 91b) in two straight falls; L. J. Genet (lost) beat R. E. .Mathie (lost) in two straight falls; V. Cairns (list) beat A. Long (list) on points; H. Batt (lOst 71b) beat ’ R. Fraser (9st Xllb) on points.