AMATEUR WRESTLING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22957, 12 August 1936, Page 5

AMATEUR WRESTLING

OTAGO CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS DECIDED While the finals of the Otago Wrestling Championships, which were decided last evening in the Town Hall Concert Chamber, did not bring out any fresh talent, they at least demonstrated that in the past 12 months the standard of amateur wrestling in Dunedin has improved to an encouraging degree. Some of the contests were inclined to be on the dour side, but this was due, not so much to lack of ability on the part of the competitors as to the fact that in practically every class the contestants were very evenly matched. L. Goughian,, the. holder of the lightheavy and heavy-weight championships, retained both his titles, but in A. M’Millan he met an opponent who, thdugh neither so strong nor so fast as himself, gave him a stiff tussle. G. .Terry successfully defended his welter-weight title against, F. Keach, but an extra round of a minute was necessary before he. could swing the balance of points in his favour. In the middle-weight bout Terry was. somewhat unlucky, in that he was suffering from a bruised rib received in his contest against Keach, which so affected him that he was unable to continue after the second round. What might be termed the premier award of the evening, the C. J. Thorn Memorial Belt, for the most scientific wrestler, was awarded to L. Small, a clever light-weight, who went through his division unbeaten, and Was never, at any stage, seriously challenged. Messrs M. P. Goughian, J. Hall and C. L. Finer acted as referees. The following are the results: — FLY-WEIGHT G. Murray 8.0 beat H. Taylor 8.0. Murray went for his opponent from the opening gong, and scored an easy victory on points. BANTAM-WEIGHT B. Marks 8.4 beat H. Vent 8.6. Although only a youngster of 14, Vent put up a remarkably plucky showing against his older and stronger opponent. Marks scored in the first round with a head scissors and armbar, and took another fall in the second with a half-nelson. FEATHER-WEIGHT A. Sands 8.13 beat C. Reid 8.12. Reid took a fall in the first round with a gravevine and headlock, Sands equalising in the second with a halfnelson and further armbar. Sands’s work was cleaner and more finished than that of his opponent, and his work on the mat was clever and fast. It was these factors that gave him the balance of points that weighed the decision in his favour. LIGHT-WEIGHT Semi-finals L. Small 9.6 beat D. Thompson 9.9. Small, who is a fast, clever wrestler, brought his man down with a double armlock soon after die commencement of the first round, and pinned him with a body press. Over the two final' romids he was oh top practically throughout. A. Beveridge 9.9 beat J. White 9.9. This contest provided three rounds of tight but very uninteresting wrestling, Beveridge gaining a fairly easy win on points. ' Final Small beat Beveridge. Small was the cleverer wrestler of the pair, and, exploiting a greater variety of holds than Beveridge, he gained a fairly comfortable win on points. WELTER-WEIGHT G. Terry 10.8 beat F. Keach 10.5. Keach established a lead on points in the first round, but in the next Terry commenced to make up his leeway, and in the third was on top of his opponent all the time. The referee .found them level at the end of the bout, and in another minute’s wrestling Terry put himself far enough ahead to gain the decision. MIDDLE-WEIGHT R. Faurell 11.2 beat G. Terry 10.8. Terry, who was suffering an injury received in his earlier bout, wrestled mostly on the defensive. At the end of the second round it was obviously unwise for him to continue, and the referee stopped the contest and awarded the decision to Faurell. LIGHT-HEAVY L. Goughian 12.1 beat A. M’Millan 12.4. In the first round, while they remained on their feet, there was little between the pair, and, if anything, M’Millan more than held his own. It was a different tale, however, when they went to the mat, for then Cdughlan’s superior speed and strength told, and he worked bn his opponent all the time to gain a qjear-cut points decision.’ HEAVY-WEIGHT L. Goughian 12.1 beat A. M’Millan 12.4. As in the previous bout between these two, Goughian did the greater part of the work while they were on i

the mat, but he showed an inclination, when he brought his man down, .to stand off, instead of. getting over him. Near the end of , the third round he took’ a fall with, a headlock and body press. SPECIAL AWARDS Most scientific wrestler (C. J. Thorn Memorial BeltL—L. 'Small.. Most improved wrestler in lighter divisions—G. Reid. Most improved wrestler in heavier divisions—H. Stevens.