STRANGLE-HOLD FOILED

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 247, 16 July 1935, Page 10

STRANGLE-HOLD FOILED

A Wrestling Comedy REFEREE USES BELT ON OFFENDER Then Throws Him Through Ropes By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, July 15. One of the most sensational endings to a wrestling contest in Auckland, and at the same time one of the most humorous, occurred in the Town Hall to-night when a match was staged between Blomfield (Auckland) and Kruskamp (America). The contestants had each gained a fall when the sixth round arrived. Kruskamp then took great exception to the Aucklander throwing him through the ropes. Climbing into the ring again the American applied a stranglehold upon his opponent. The referee, Mr. C. Pollard, tried in vain to pull Kruskamp away. The unusual spectacle was then witnessed of the referee removing the belt from around his trousers and wrapping it tightly round Kruskamp’s neck. He succeeded in pulling the American off by this method, but the referee was immediately subjected to some punching by Kruskamp. Mr. Pollard, himself a former wrestler, retaliated by throwing Kruskamp through the ropes in front of the Press table.

Kruskamp returned to the ring and grabbed the belt from the referee, winding it round the official’s neck. The referee broke away and declared Blomfield the winner, his opponent having been disqualified. To this stage it had been a keen contest, each having gained a fall.