Wrestling Toned Down

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 562, 15 January 1929, Page 12

Wrestling Toned Down

Kilonis too Heavy for Sunni

Greek Gains Two Straight Falls

THE recent wrestling boom in Auckland reached its climax tat the Town Hall last night when a record house for this class ot sport witnessed the downfall of M. A. Sunni at the hands of John Ivolonis. the advantage of 31 pounds officially, and probably quite a deal more actually, the Greek again demonstrated the truth of the old saying that in nine cases out of ten, the “good big man will beat the good little man.”

J>RIOR to the start, the whisper went round that the various professional contestants had been warned that police action might follow any repetition of the former outburst of wild horse-play and accompanying showmanship; and, as expected in expert quarters, this had a depressing effect on the two big bouts. For all that, however, the lively preliminary staged by a rugged Irishman and an ex-Australian policeman served as a more than adequate introduction to another cosmopolitan clash between Greek and Moslem. The big bout started with a stern protest by Sunni's second at the pedal armour of the Greek. Sunni, however, cut the argument short by signifying that he would carry on, regardless of Kilonis’s boots. They * presented an abrupt contrast—Kilonis, hairy-chested and massive; Sunni, melancholy and almost frail-looking, dwarfed by comparison. Round one started to the usual lively accompaniment from a packed and perspiring house, in which was a fair sprinkling of women. Kilonis early made himself unpopular by “roughing” it with his midget opponent, and spluttering disdainfully at the crowd when it signified its disapproval. Kilonis next intimated that Sunni had dug his elbow in his eye, and was roundly hooted for his pains. Referee Dunn, resplendent in a gorgeous striped red blazer, sternly ordered him to get on with the business in hand. The chief feature of this round was Sunni’s amazing and snake-like facility for wriggling out of Kilonis’s brawny arms. GREEK’S SMASHING STRENGTH Round two saw Kilonis jump at Sunni like a big Newfoundland after a cat. Sunni took the offensive, and pinned the Greek with a headlock. By sheer .strength, the Greek smashed clear in a series of convulsive rolls across the ring. This proved to be the whole story of the bout—Sunni magnificent on defence, but overwhelmed by superior strength, and all his carefully applied holds broken by a much stronger and heavier opponent. The third stanza started with Kilonis standing Sunni on his head and forming a letter S with Sunni’s convulsively twisting body. In a maze of spinning network holds, Sunni spun clear of a headlock, but ran straight into a comI ination head and crutch hold, and the Greek gained a rather lucky fall. A comic opera touch was lent to the start of round four by Kilonis threatening to punch Sunni, and anticipating the hoots of the crowd, pausing with uplifted fist, and gesticulating fiercely at the seething auditorium. A shrill female voice exhorted Sunni to bite his opponent’s cauliflower ear, and a gale of laughter swept the building. There was little wrestling in this round, and at its conclusion a section of the crowd amused itself by giving three cheers for Sunni, and hooting the referee, who frigidly ignored the compliment. SUNNI’S BEST ROUND By the time round five had started half the male population of the theatre had removed their coats. The heat was stifling, and the sweating bodies of the two gladiators gleamed like a couple of underdone roasts. This was Sunni’s best round. He attacked the Greek cleverly and consistently, and once had him nearly pinned. Kilonis on one occasion expostulated vigorously to the referee when the latter raised his hand, and appeared to be about to give one of his lightning decisions, which had aroused violent controversy in the earlier bouts. In round six, Kilonis made a grab at Sunni’s legs, and there were warning

shouts of “look out for the Crab, Sunni'.' The elusive Indian, however, wriggled out of harm's way, and both men started to apply the toe hold simultaneously. Neither could get anything decisive, until Kilonis applied a murderous half-arm scissors. His face drawn In convulsive agony, Sunni

THE WINNER

slowly capitulated, and his lean shoulders went to the mat for the second time—two straight falls and the match.

ROUSING PRELIMINARY

The professional preliminary bout between Pat McCarthy, the Irish and Canadian champion, and Jim Heslin, who claims the heavy-weight championship of Australia, provided a wonderful contest, the decision being a draw. Every second of the * bout was crowded with incident, and every moment the crowd was cheering, as first one and then the other evaded holds which seemed to spell disaster. The bout was not so scientific as the main professional contest, but it was more spectacular. Both men stripped very fit and the weights were announced as McCarthy 12st 81b, and Heslin 13st 51b. From the first gong both crowded action into every second, holds being broken as fast as they were applied, and both wrestlers waging the warfare all over the ring. Heslin evaded a fall in the first minute by sheer strength, and two or three other times he had narrow escapes. He proved himself to be a fast and clever wrestler, and in addition showed he was no stranger to the “rough stuff.” He had McCarthy in quandary a few times, but the Irish - Canadian was a h«*rd man to pin and cleverly evaded several nasty-looking holds. Diving from their corners in the second round both got to grips, Heslin securing the “splits.” McCarthy endeavoured to emulate his late opponent, Kilonis, when he attempted to escape by trying to crawl through the ropes, but Heslin was too heavy. However, McCarthy broke the hold after pondering on the position for a time. McCarthy had Heslin with the Japanese toehold, but the Australian’s strength again broke the hold and he nearly secured a fall with a lialfNelson and a body scissors. As the gong clanged for the final round McCarthy rushed across the ring and nearly butted the Australian over the ropes with his shoulder. Shortly

afterwards McCarthy secured the standing splits, Heslin being in agony. He endured the pain and gradually worked McCarthy off his balance and broke the hold. Heslin had a turn at the splits, but McCarthy broke it. The Irish-Canadian just missed with the Boston crab, Heslin being a trifle too quick. A minute later McCarthy missed with the standing splits, and again with the Boston crab. Heslin got McCarthy’s throat across the ropes and nearly choked him. The gong went a moment later and the crowd yelled for a draw. The referee’s decision was a draw, but in the opinion of many McCarthy earned the decision by his aggressiveness.

AMATEUR CONTESTS

SOME LIVELY WRESTLING Two brisk and entertaining amateur bouts were staged as preliminaries to the main events, the contests putting the crowd into good humour for the professional matches. Mr. V. Dunn was the referee. Results are as follow: R. Iverson, 9st 81b, beat R. Pilkington, 9st 41b. After a few minutes of brisk wrestling Pilkington secured the first fall with a cross-buttock, Iverson evening the score in the next round with an arm scissors and a halfNelson. Iverson secured the deciding fall in the first minute of the third round with a full-Nelson. This pair provided a willing contest Jelly Bst 121 b, beat G. Iveson Bst 101 b. and there was little between them. In the first round Iverson drew applause by cleverly evading several holds. The second round was also fought out without a fall being secured, but in the last round Jelly gained a 'doubtful fall and the decision.