WRESTLING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22629, 22 July 1935, Page 5

WRESTLING

M'CREADY DEFEATS WADE WINNER'S CLEVER DISPLAY Pitted against the only wrestler at present in New Zealand who appeared to be capable of fully extending him, Earl M'Cready maintained his unbroken sequence of wine on Saturday evening

by scoring a victory on points over Glenn Wade, after a contest that went ;s the full eight rounds. A crowd that packed 'every inch of seating accommodation in the Town Hall witnessed the bout, which, as was anticipated, provided unquestionably the best exhibition of straight wrestling ever seen in Dunedin. There was nothing spectacular about the' . contest, which was hard, fast and clean, and whilst neither man bothered his head about showmanship both of them more j than compensated for this by the

outstanding cleverness of their work. The

Teferee had a light task in controlling the match, for never throughout the whole/ strenuous eight rounds was

there the slightest evidence of doubtful tactics. The breaking from • the ropes 1 was clean and prompt, | and perhaps the greatest complij ment that could be paid the wrestlers : i is to.,say that they showed themselves to be as' good sportsmen as they were wrestlers. , > ■ • M'Cready's weight at the ringside was given as. 17.0, and that of Wade as 15.11, M'Cready also/having the.advantage of about sis inches in height.' That he is a great wrestler there can be no doubt. Beautifully balanced and as fast as' lightning, he iclamped on every hold, .even from blind positions* with a snap and as cleanly as the proverbial whistle, and, more versatile than his opponent, he exploited a wide.variety of holds, one or \ two of'which have never been seen here before. Wade, although beaten, was by no means disgraced, and, whilst not as pretty a mover as his opponent, he was for all his stocky build almost as quick, whilst' his clever countering .made-him dangerous.even whenxjn an apparently hopeless position. - As soon as the first round 'opened M'Cready neatly slipped a forearm twist -and clamped on a Japanese armlock. Wade managed to win free and went for a"'body bold, only to find himself in a 1 full Nelson. He broke this and, 'send- ■ to the mat with a headlock, hung.on. M'Cready rose, but Wade /brought, hip down again, and here M'Creadyv showed his cleverness by succeeding in, working round and getting Wade into a hammerlock. Wade twisted free and got in some good work with a forearmhead twist—his own particular specialty—but M'Cready majaaged to counter with a standing splits,, which he followed with an ankle lock, twisting the upper leg out from the- knee, and incidentally giving Wade an uncomfortable minute or two. Wade seized his opportunity, and in, a .flash' had his apponent in a lying splits, but he was hardly tall , enough to make this thoroughly' effective, while ; M'Cready, with'his-iong arms, wak able to reach forward and slip on a ; reverse wristlockl The gong sounded with honours

even. Wade was on top in the first half of the Becond round, f f!.and was warily • wrestling at long range so as.to prevent M'Cready from bringing .off hia favourite leg catch.'. Three' times in succession"the

latter'went for this hold, but Wade "was moving very smoothly arid deftly countering his." opponent's long reach, by clever 'vfootwQrk., t it'Cready Wade flying ■with'rtwo .successive'deadlocks, arid finally j;ot him in a quarter Nelson, to bring him to they mat and hold iim with a reverse arm bar.. This round was also event:--. :•..■;•..-r..-- ( •■ ~';•.' >''■ i The third round sawvM'Oready, from a blind position as he; wan; held in a headlpck, smartly bring his legs over to,-secure- a t head scissors, which he :clamped on like a pair of tongs. Wade got out and secured a toe lock —one of the best holds of the contest—but M'Cready, with a ,t*emendous effort, broke free, and as Wade came back for

a crotch, hold, trapped him with a headlock and arm bar. \Vade took some real punishment until he succeeded in countering with a reverse arm bar. With extraordinary.. agility, M'Cready spun clear, but Wade was on him again and held; him helpless with another reverse arm bar. This was Wade's round. M'Cready exploited the Japanese leg lock to some .purpose early in, the fourth round, and later held Wade well -clamped with a body scissors and arm bar. Sheer strength bjrought Wade to his feet, but he could iiot break the tcissors, and M'Cready swung him clear of' the mat and brought him down again. Opening the next round, Wade worked M'Cready's trick of snatching for the leg, and got his opponent in a splits. M'Cready's long reach again came to his aid, and he was able, to counter, with a Japanese leg lock, which he gradually worked into a reverse leg bar. For a moment it looked as if. Wade would be compelled •to- /submit,':but, stout little wrestler that he is l , he worked away quietly and shot out of the hold, to the accompaniment'of cheers from the crowd. M'Cready soon had him again with a body scissors, which he followed up with a toe hold. Wade slipped on a reverse' arm bar as soon as they came up for the Bixth round, but M'Cready performed the almost impossible feat of straightening his arm and rendering, this ineffective, his lorig* reach and height pulling Wade righi. off his balance. '■ Wade wemV for a deadlock, but in a fiash'M'Cready had gathered him into the deadly rocking chair splits and was rocking arid bumping" him dizzily all around the ring. The position looked bad ;for Wade until he scissored one arm, and put a bar on the other, and tried for a body press. Here he had the hardest part to do, as M'Cready is a notoriously hard man to pin. Once more Wade got a taste of the splits, and when the round ended he was obviously feeling the effects of his rocking. The!- next round was also taken by M'Cready, who exploited the head scissors particularly to good advantage, and had. Wade in trouble with a-toe-hold when the.gong sounded. As they came out for the final round Wade went for a headloekj but M'Cready got him by the leg and forced him t,o the ropes. As he came out M'Cready shot across the ring and, securing a jpotch. hold, sent him to the mat with aflevastating dump. Few wrestlers could have survived, but Wade did, and, after coming through a punishing leg scissors, he managed to struggle to the ropes. It might have

been thought that such a game effort would have pleased the crowd, but for some reason or another a certain section greeted him with hoots; M'Cready's superior weight and the punishment he had taken were beginning to tell their tale on Wade, who was now moving much more slowly than he had been, and was frequently using the ropes for defensive purposes. M'Cready got in with a flying body scissors and'-it was obvious that Wade s was doAe, although gheer gameness kept his shoulders off the mat. He made an effort to counter with a reverse wristlock, but lie had not sufficient strength left to hold it, and the final gong must have come as a welcome relief. THE PRELIMINARIES. H. Wilson 11.1 beat C. Turner 11.4. Both lads .displayed a good variety o¥ holds; and the wrestling throughout was tisht and hard. There was only a small margin of points between them at the finish. A. M'Millan 11.7 beat H. Stevens 11.0. Although he is a comparative newcomer to the game, Stevens made a p;ood showing against his more experienced opponent, and scored a fall in the first round with a forward head hold and body press. M'Millan equalised in the second with a half-Nelson with the legs and a body hold, and pinned his man for the deciding fall with a head-hold and body press. L. Coughlan 12.3 beat G. Thorns 13.3. This was easily the best of the'preliminaries. Thorns, who was making his debut in public, kept Coughlan busy for the first two rounds, but in the third Coughlan went into action properly and secured a fall with a body press following a head scissors. J. Leach 10.8 drew with B. Oakes 10.9.

Leach was the stronger of the two, but Oakes stuck to him well, both lads giving a good exhibition of fast, clever work.

F. Keach 10.3 beat C. Keach 0.4. This was more or less of an exhibition bout, which the winner had little necessity to take seriously. Mr F. Anderson refereed the main bout, and Mr M. Coughlan the preliminaries.