"WRESTLING IS NO PING-PONG GAME,” SAYS GARDINI

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18897, 23 October 1929, Page 9

"WRESTLING IS NO PING-PONG GAME,” SAYS GARDINI

BUT NO REASON WHY THEY SHOULD TRY TO SQUASH IT IN N.Z

A squat little man, with distinct olive complexion and speaking with a decided American twang is Maracci Gardini, the American wrestler, who is to meet Farmer Vance, the Canadian, next Monday evening in Christchurch He arrived in the city this morning from Wellington to prepare for his match with Vance. He is a modest sort of a man for one in his profession, and when asked of his performances abroad he declined, saying, “I never pack my clippings round with me. I make my record wherever I go, on my own bat. I must be frank with you,” he added. “I have not had any wins in New Zealand. My last match with Johansen in Auckland went the full eight rounds, but I was giving away a stone, although I am not attempting to excuse myself on that score. I’m no orator, or I might be able to give you something more. “My late arrival in Christchurch is accounted for by the fact that I had the chance to go to Australia for contracts there. However, I had a chance of meeting Ecklund, another American, at Dunedin, and I did not want to miss that, so I decided to stay on in New Zealand. The decision of the Wellington Association to give me more matches there -was what' finally decided me to stay. “No Ping-Pong Game.” “Wrestling is no ping-pong game,” he told the interviewer, “and when I tell you that I was laid out for a month by the Indian wrestler, Singh, before I met Johansen, you will get what I mean. He put one of my arms out with a hammer-lock. “It is a very hard sport, but what the public forget is that the man who is ‘getting the worst of it can always cry quits by letting out a yell or ‘tapping the match.’ The game is as ancient as the hills. The old Greeks and Romans were adepts at it. “It cannot be as brutal as it is made out to be, however, for all the religious institutions in America make a great thing of it amongst their other athletic activities. The Y.M.C.A., the Mormon Societies, and the Catholic bodies all take it up, mostly, of course, with amateurs, and they turn out jolly good teams. “I see no reason why they should try to squash it in New Zealand, or Christchurch, anyway. It has taken on well in Auckland and Wellington. In Auckland they are drawing £SOO and £6OO houses for every match. There is no reason that I can see why it should not be taken up here.

Likes the Flat Country. “It’s good to see some flat country round about here,” he said, “after what I have been used to. I like it much better than climbing hills. When I was in the North Island I drove from Wellington to Auckland, and I never saw such hills and curves in my life. “See you spell my Christian name right,” he warned the reporter. “Lots of people chew and chew at ' it and finally spit it out.” Gardini was heading for the Fire Brigade station when he left the secretary’s office, to work out with some of the men on the staff there whom he had learnt took some interest in the sport. At 8 o’clock to-night he is to give a demonstration in Mr J. Thompson’s boxing school, and on the following evenings before the match with Vance, who arrives on Friday, there will be demonstrations with other amateurs in either Thompson’s or Musson’s boxing schools. Gardini is sft SAin in height and turns the scales at 12st 71b, although from his squat appearance one would take him for thirteen stone at least. He said that when he met Ecklynd in Dunedin he would be down to 12st 41b or 12st 51b.