BOUT AT WELLINGTON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 244, 15 October 1931, Page 11

BOUT AT WELLINGTON

ALLEY BEATS MEESKE AUSTRALIAN UNLUCKY' After a very bright display of fast, spectacular wrestling, the match in the Town Hall on Monday night between Tom Alley, of America, and Billy Meeske, of Australia, ended in rather an unsatisfactory manner. In the eighth round the referee, Mr J. Lack, awarded Alley a submission fall, and as this was the only fall, Alley won the match. Meeske seemed rather surprised when the referee lifted Alley off him, and he stated afterwards that he had not submitted nor had he any intention of doing so. On the other hand, Mr Lack was quite definite that Meeske had given in. "It is quite easy for a wrestler to say afterwards that he didn’t submit. He gave in all right,” he said. Prior to Monday night Meeske had had three bouts in New Zealand for three wins. It was his first appearance in Wellington, and he quickly established himself with the crowd. A fast, aggressive wrestler, with a fair variety of holds, he easily outpointed Alley over the first five rounds, and although he appeared to be tiring towards the end, he must have won on points had the final round been concluded. Indeed, the referee admitted as much after the bout.

Whether it was that he was not up to his usual form, or that he could not cope with Meeske’s aggressive style, the fact remains that Alley was well out of the picture in the early rounds. He was coming strongly at the end, and was giving the Australian a torrid time. Although there was an absence of variety in the wrestling, the match contained plenty of incident, as well as the hard, gruelling nature of the work, had the large crowd in a high state of excitement. Meeske weighed 13st 31b, and Alley 13st 101 b.

Australian Makes the Play They did not waste any time in getting into action, and Meeske led the way first, taking Alley to the mat with a swivelling wristlock and then a headlock. There was loud applause as the Australian kept this last hold on for a time, Alley eventually cleverly breaking free by means of a toehold. Meeske again went for a headlock, Alley retaliating with a head scissors. Encouraged by loud cries of "Make him take it, Tom,” Alley put on the pressure, and Meeske had to be stopped from using a one-finger hold in his attempts to escape.

A solid short-arm scissors went to Meeske’s account at the start of the second round, and, after a few minutes, Alley again resorted to a toehold to escape. Meeske continued to wrestle well, and he had his opponent in trouble with a body scissors, assisted with some punishment to Alley’s ears and head. After some more punishing work on the mat in which both men took every advantage of any holds' they secured, Meeske again got a body scissors which he followed with a headlock, and at the gong had a head scissors and reverse toehold. Amidst exciting shouting from the crowd, Alley had Meeske writhing in a short-arm scissors for some time in the third round. At last Meeske stood up in the hold, and Alley then kicked him off. Meeske landed on his face, and Alley rushed in to clap on three punishing headlocks, followed by slams. It looked any odds that Meeske would lose a fall, but the Australian came back very gamely, and set up a hot counter-attack, which had Alley working all he knew. In turn, Meeske hatched Alley, and then imprisoned him in a short-arm scissors, which he kept on until the gong. Alley provided something new in the next round, for instead of going over when Meeske headlocked him, he secured a reverse headlock himself, and put the Australian over on to the mat. Following this he dumped Meeske, but a kick on the head temporarily dampened his enthusiasm to go on with it. Strenuous and gruelling work ou the part of both men marked the rest of the round. Plenty of Incident The pace had been on all the way, and Meeske continued to make all 'he play in the fifth round. He chased Alley around the ring, eventually catching him in a headlock and halching him? There was wild excitement as Alley went for a crucifix, but he

could not complete the hold, and the cheering was redoubled as the Australian broke clear. Doing something all the time, he worked on a variety of arm and leg holds, and there was a bright moment as he was forced to relinquish a splits by a little spine massage.

The sixth round also contained plenty of incident, with Alley now starting to show up. The American’s extra weight and strength seemed to be having their effect on Meeske, who looked to be tiring. A New Lease of Life After some punching and jolting with elbows and shoulders, Alley sent Meeske down with a rabbit punch in the seventh round. The American tried hard to get a fall with an arm hold and body press, but Meeske resisted all his efforts. Alley, however, was all over Meeske until the Australian took a turn with a wristlock (a favourite hold of his), and the match, which in the sixth round had been in danger of going dead, took a new lease of life. Both men did not hesitate to rough it when the opportunity offered. Alley was obviously getting the upper hand, but the Australian is nothing if not a fighter, and he battled gallantly. The eighth round had just commenced when Alley again went for a crucifix. With the exception of having his toes locked, he had the hold completed, but by rolling over Meeske managed to partially slip away. He was still tied up in a combination of scissors and arm holds when the referee awarded Alley a fall, and with it the bout. Although the decision met with a mixed reception the crowd was not really demonstrative.