BIG WRESTLING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 107, 7 May 1936, Page 5

BIG WRESTLING

WANGANUI SEASON OPENS FORSGREN DEFEATS WOODS A -POINTS” DECISION RUSSELL FAILS TO ARRIVE Wanganui optima its 193 j wrestling btu-uon at inj vpeia HOiUe ia„t n.gxxi, witn tue pxOivd»>iOau.i coHvCSq Dowden uaca; xo.sgrcn, tnawpiu.i Ox . L-iUiaaa, ailu nOc (XkOpaLH/ vvooas, ox Jmud atateo. Tn© bouu, wiiicn wag btageu o-eiore acruwueu. noiiSj, want udj luu eight raunns, eacu. contestant ga x niiig a rail, Vvoods in tne lourm uii ±ur»gren in tnu seveiiun rounu. xvex6xt.ft xuex Ancierson awa.uea tne nout to i Oxdgren on points, tne decxSioa being received witn mixed leeangu. “Cowboy” Rebel Russell, who was io have been matched with loiogreu, became stranded at Nelson owing tu the air services not operating on account, c-f t-ne weather and oous uepulised tor him. Forsgren took lire ring resplendent • in a deep blue dressing gown emb.azoned witn a maple leaj. His weigot was announced as Hist. lUlbs. and Woods was said to weight last. albs. The first round opened wild a sencz of jabs, and a. tendency to rabbit punch. Tne Canadian moved out under ine ropes suddenly and when watching Horn tne shelter of “outside” was grabbed by the head and slammed over ine top rope back into the ring, lhe American continued Io attack and, playing on the Canadian’s ,leit arm, slammed him three times. The Canadian gut “tne bird” from the crowd, but, Jike a lion about to spring, he looked do'vn the hall defiantly, g«rdud his muscles, pranced tu his coitur and glared his contempt at those inclined io “boo,” as much as to say, .“Who shall I start on]’’ More Elbow Jabs. . A series of elbow jabs broke out ia ihe second round, Woods defying his I opponent with rabbit puneh-es and open slaps to the face. Twice the Canadian shook his hands in derision at the referee, with an expression if “What have I done to deserve this’/ ’ on bis face. Again the Canadian sought the comparative shelter beyohd the ropes. A suspicion that, Forsgren was punch" ing his opponent low when he had him on the mat and on the “shady” side of the referee, raised the ire of the crowd, and cries of “Watch him. Alex.” punctuated the, next minute. Forsgren again challenged the audience with looks as he sedately tu-uk Jis corner. Woods initiated the third round by jumping into his opponent three times, and tne crowd howled its delight. Another suspicion of a stranglehold had the crowd in “fighting” mood against the Canadian again. He was knocked out of that, however, suffered a series of back slams and then hurled his opponent into the ropes and tripped him with a bent body on the rebound, and established a standing splits. Moods, by constant manoeuvring, broke that hold and retaliated with a semi-cradle splits, finally working himself into a favourable position tor an Int-ian deathlo.k, but eventually maintaining a semi Boston crab. The Canadian had the Yankee’s arm at the gong. A Fall to Woods. Retaliatory uppercuts opened the fourth rouuu, Woods being tne 1 sor. He came at the, Canadian t-igJi times and each time Forsgren went t c • the mat. He appeared to be groggj ' ami Wuous .junipvu into him bhree tiiuej 1 and thvu upper-cut him a like uumbei he followeu that up with a body press and was accorded a jail Iniinute lu see- ' ouds afteu the opening of the round. Beiore the filth issue opeired l ue Ca.ua- , dian protested to the referee about “upper cuts,” but the crowd was still yelling its derision, and Forsgren su'euied to be addressing nobody. 11-oliiug the Canadian with a shoitann bar, W uodf was again the aggressor at l»ie opening of me fifth juu'id, i out tae Canadian used his strength imu i a. stern hair-pull to gel out anu established a standing arm stretch on the ( Yank. Forsgien raised a laugh when, seeing to rabbit punch his opponent, • he punched his own middle aud then jumped hard four or five times to ease uis icm per Woods again got his cradle splits home, but the Canadian retaliated with a badly-applied Indira deathlock. W’oods held grimly to what • was believed to be a forlorn task, but , he managed it, gut the Canadian oil his balance and re-established a splits, r ne Canadian got out of that aud tried ■to roll Woods again with an armstretcii and a body scissors, but the Yank, came up again to within «a ace of a Boston crao. .It was the Canadian i leg- strength wiiich saved him. The Canadian tried icrcing Wuo/1> > back over the ropes and playing on his wind pipe. Toe referee intervened trice and Woods retaliated with two ■ upper cuts. Another force back over the ropes for Woods followed and a kick in the abdomen. Playing ut Woods’ left arm and jumping on it hard, ihe Canadian had a temporary advantage. Woods appeared tu tire and although he broke tnat hold it was reestablished. Woods kicked Forsgren off, to send him gesticulating wildly to the referee. More upper cuts.came at the Canadian when Joe was on his feet, but Forsgren had the. advantage at the goug. Forzgren Gets a Fall. In 25 seconds after the opening of th eseventh round the Canadian challenged with a vicious Boston crab, which the referee broke before it was fully on. Woods lay still in the ring, then groggily found his corner, Forsgren gaining a submission fall. In the final round Woods looked foo groggy to continue, but he came out and surprised sme of the. onlookeis. Reciprocal elbow-jabbing and uppercutting characterised the final stages of the final stages of the bout and Woods suffered a hammerloek, two rabbit punches and a kick in the abdomen. “r<it him out, ref,” yelled the crowd to vent disapproval of Forsgrra’s tactics. Woods was tiring at the goug. A section of the crowd “counted nt” the decision to award Forsgren the bout. AMATEUR BOUTS Results of the preliminary amateur bouts were as follow: Midgets.—J. McFarlane (5.8) and A. Gervine (5.8), drew..

Featherweight.— I’. J. James (8.13) beat C. Cripps (8.12) by one fall in the third round. The winner was too strong and twice the referee broke his holds, fearing a strangle. Welterweight.--L. Nort.hover (10.0) beat A. Reeves ( 10.0) in the third round after having the worst of the first two. He gained a fall with a body press in the final round. Light Heavyweight. — N. Northover (11.4) beat L. Wilcox (J 1.7) on points. This bout livened tiie spectators, in | that the contestants “mixed” things a bit in the third round, and twice the referee thought, fit to intervene in | ’ what looked likely to develop into a ! bout of fisticuffs. The decision was ! received with “mixed” feelings, but. ’ was fair, in that the winner had been the aggressor for the greater part of the bout and made his points. Middleweight. Bren Sheppard (10.8), Wanganui, defeated A. Tucker (11.0), Wellington, the loser collapsing in the second round and having to be carried from the ring and to hospital. When the bout opened the spectators were treated to something to their liking. A standing splits established by Tucker, followed later by determined tackling, had the crowd on its toes. Sheppard gained a fall in the first round with a body press. Midway through the second, when Sheppard had him face down on the mat and was playing on a leg, Tucker collapsed. DOMINION BOLTS BLOMFIELD AKD R.rrS3ELL. [ [ Per Press Association. ] NELSON, May 7. A professional wrestling bout, between “Lofty’’ Blomfield and “Cowboy” Russell last night resulted in a draw, each man gaining a fall. In the fourth round Blomfield submitted to a death lock. Blomfield gained a fall with a dump in the seventh round. There was a record attendance. MEHRINGER AND RUSSELL. Providing one of the most entertaining professional wrestling contests seen in Napier for some time. Pete Mehringer held “Cowboy” Reb. Russell tu a draw before a capacity nouse at Napier on Saturday night. Each man secured a fall. WADE AND WOODS. Before a packed house at Taumarnnui on Saturday night Glenn Wade and Joe Woods drew, with a fall each, in a contest which was described fts the brightest and most exciting ever seen i-n the King Country.