WRESTLING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13493, 21 May 1907, Page 3

WRESTLING.

CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS 'IN THE j ROYAL . ALBERT .HALL. : C," \ Wrestling contests for the heavy, middle, and light ..weight amateur championships of the Auckland province were held last evening in the Royal Albert Hall. There was a fair attendance! ' Mr. C- H. Poole, M.H.R., was the chairman for th© evening. Everything passed off very' 1 successfully under the direct management of Professor Potter and i Mr. J. 11. Trudgeon. The sport provided i during the evening was decidedly interest- | ing, and . the contestants ; were always hard' at work* and chiefly due to the fact that tho men were mot allowed to wrestle down on the mat more than . three minutes at a stretch the:re was no unnecessary loafing, j Despite the fact. that "the wrestlers wore j drawn in each case the contests were very !even, and in two instance® so much so that the bouts had to "be declared a draw and I postponed. A number of the rounds and finals had to be'postponed, and these will take place on Friday night in th© Royal Albert Hall. Besides the wrestling some men-of-warsanen belonging to the squadron now in the harbour gave expositions of bayonet and singlestick play. These proved very "successful, and - greatly pleased r- those present. A first-class display of jiu-jitsu by Mr. A. Bray (of H.M.s. Encounter), a champion of the' British navy, also met with decided - approval. Tho -wrestling 'contests were refer*K»d by Mr. Plugge, who gave every satisfaction. Below are give® details of the various bouts i— . \- LIGHT WEIGHTS. FIRST BOUND. A. Ballantyne v. N. C. Ballantyne. These were a well-matched pair, and provided an excellent contest, both lads 'working hard throughout. The first fall ) was secured by A. Ballantyne, while the second went to his brother. The deciding fall was secured by N. C. Ballantyne " after about five minutes' wrestling. * Leslie v. Yal. Dunn: The first mentioned was announced by the chairman to be tho light-weight amateur champion of New Zealand. A, fine tussle ensued for the first fall.' Dunn twice had his . opponent in extreme difficulty. . Although Leslie was for the creator part tho aggressor Dunn more often had the upper hand when on the mat. • Leslie 011 the other hand showed considerable agility in extricating himself from awkward positions. ' After 37 minutes' wrestling the contest was announced a draw. ~ . ' -'... MIDDLE WEIGHTS. College and Russell were drawn in the first round of tho middle weights. Both men quickly got to work, but it was not long before" College secured an advantage, and after five minutes' wrestling he was awarded the first fall. The exposition given for the second fall was much better, Russell showing skill in avoiding and getting out of tight places. College was in first-class condition, but his opponent was palpably out of form, and consequently was for the greater part underneath and on the defensive. Despite this, however, the bout was watched with lively interest. It was "found necessary also to stop this contest, which was given a draw. - ' " HEAVY WEIGHTS. In the heavy weight division two local constables in Tait and Waters were drawn to meet. The first-mentioned had the advantage in weight, and after ten minutes' wrestling secured a fall. For the second fall Waters got into a bad position, and Tait, greatly assisted bv his handicap in weight, forced Waters' shoulders to the floor and won.