WRESTLING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 156, 4 July 1934, Page 4

WRESTLING

"HEADLOCK")

I (13),

Ali Bey and Wong Buk Cheung tonight at. the Opera House. following are the list of fixtures for - this week:—To-night: Bey and Cheung, at Wanganui; Walker and Michot, at . Christchurch; Betton and fcjanten, at . Blenheim; Thursday: and Bet- • ton, at Hamilton, and Walker and Alamos, at Invercargill; Friday: Aleyer . and Michot, at Tiniaru; ShikHia and : Bey, at Hastings; Saturday: Betton and Santen, at New Plymouth. •• * ' The preliminaries to to-night’s professional bout at the Opera House will be return contests with Taranaki amateurs. The draw is as follows:—G. Pod.jursky v. Pilcher; C. Matson v. Guilin; K. Willacy v. Conway; H. Bartlett v. Couch; F. Podjurskv v. Bowe. Wanganui amateurs are mentioned first in each case. AJark Autunovicli recently issued a challenge to any light-hca\y in the nonunion, especially Anton ” Koolman, of Wellington, for the title. Koolman intimated last week that he was prepared to meet Autunovich any tune and anywhere. Here is a glorous opportunity for the Taihapc Wrestling Association to match these two matmen at their fixture scheduled for th’s month. The defeat of Walker by Koloff was the only second defeat on falls Walker has suffered during the live years he has been the big card in the mat game in this country. He has been disqualified three times (against Pinto. Alley and Varga) and has lost on points three times (against Alley, Karasiek and Rumbcrg). • * * * Arrangements are being made, for a special amateur bout to bo the cur-tain-raiser for the next big match in Wanganui in about a fortnight's time. The boys to be matched are Carl Pago (Wellington) and Harry Bartleit (Wanganui). If this bout eventuates it should provide one of the tit-bits ot the present season. The local team ot amateurs which visited Stratford last week arc going to New Plymouth next Saturday to try conclusions with another team of Taranaki boys in preliminaries to the Dctton-Santcn bout. • « • • Should first-class wrestlers agree to matches in small towns? asks a leading mat man, who stated that he had actually wrestled once in New Zealand for nothing. Is it fair to be generous? There is a risk of straining a muscle, breaking a borne or being otherwise temporarily deprived of a livelihood for practically nothing. Local wrestling enthusiasts will be pleased to hear the famous ex-world champion, Bus Sonnenburg, will spend a few weeks in the Dominion on his forthcoming honeymoon. “Gus” is to leave San Francisco by the Monterey on July 24 for Australia and New Zealand. George Walker, like most wrestlers, reckons that bouts are the only way. to get into real form, and he. feels that being called upon to moot Aleyer and Koloff in his second and third matches of the season gave him little chance of reproducing his best form. ♦ * " • A wrestling promoter of Philadelphia I 'U.S.A.) has offered Jim Londos and Jim Browning—who toured Australia with John Pesck four years ago— a purse of £4OOO to wrestle for the world's heavyweight title. Each man claims the title, but Drowning is generally recognised at the present, time. * * * ♦ In recent communication with a inend in Wellington, Toni Alley expressed the desire to come to New Zealand this season. It is understood, however, that, as there is already a full supply of wrestlers, perhaps more than a full supply, in New Zealand, no official invitation will be sent The devastating dives taken by ‘Emil Dusck and Tom Alley at. the Wanderers last week, states the latest Capetown paper, have resulted in an innovation which some might think a little effeminate. It will be remembered that, those two 2001 b. bullets flattened themselves out on the hard red earth of the Wanderers. AVell, to-night there will bo mat-treses all round the ring, except where the Pressmen sit—they, of course, will have to fend for themselves! » • ♦ * A South African girl, Dot McClinton, took part in a wrestling tournament staged by the National Sporting Club at. Leeds.’ last month, her opponent being June Neilson, a Canadian. Dot wore a bathing costume with a red top, June an all-black costume. When rhe gong went, says a Daily Afail correspondent, they leaped at each other across the ring, they caught each other round the neck, they strained, fought and fell to the boards with a thud. With their faces hidden by their hair as they lay. they pulled back each other’s arms. At one moment one was thrown across the other’s back. A fighting mass of hair, logs and arms—that was all one could see most of the time —vent over six rounds cd. a minute each. The result was one fall each. The contest was hilled as “ ‘All-in’ Lady Bear Cat Wrestling.” The wrestling wave that is at present surging over the Hand rises to such a height on Saturday nights that apparently not. less than two tournaments are considered necessary over the week-end. To-night (May 22) three American heavyweights and a Russian Lion will “paddle” with all the abandon of children in their square roped-in “beach” at the Wanderers, and at the same time air American, an Englishman, a Greek and a Lithuanian will make wrestling’s bow at Benoni. •:+ <s # « In Auckland wrestling circles the question has been raised as Io whether Walker should have been disqualified on being assisted back to the ring by his seconds during his contest with Dean Detton. There is nothing to this effect in the handbook of the union. Dealing with the matter of a contestant falling out of the ring. Rule 9 of “Rules for professional contests” reads: “When wrestlers roll off the mat, or are thrown under, through or outside the* ropes or foul the boundary lines in any way, they shall be ordered to the middle of the mat by the referee and shall resume again on their feet. Twenty seconds shall be allowed for this purpose.” Obviously there would be nothing to gain by rendering a wrestler liable to disqualification for being assisted back to the ring. In the first place, if he

was in sufficiently bad condition to require assistance, it stands tc- reason that he. would fall an easy prey to his opponent upon re-entering tlic ring. In the second place, the anscnce of the stipulation “must return unassisted” eliminates a big opportunity for malpractice on the part of seconds and other ringsters who might have a financial interest on the outcome of a contest. At a fair in the north, the champion wrestler invited any of his listeners to try a fall with him. A huge miner, grinning sheepishly, accepted the invitation. Later, in the local “pub,” he gave this description of the bout lo an enthralled audience: “ ’.E got ’old of me round the middle, and then got