THE MAT GAME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 142, 17 June 1936, Page 4

THE MAT GAME

KRUSE AND RUSSELL ON RACE NIGHT By "HEADLOCK"

That fast-moving wrestler, “Cowboy” Rebel Russell will make his Wanganui debut on Hi turd ay next against the international celebrity, Bob Kruse. The contest should be a splendid one, full of brilliant wrestling, for it is doubtful if a greater exponent than j Kruse has ever visited Wanganui. When Russell was in America he took part in , some thrilling contests, but luck has been against him here. However, Rebel hopes that things will go better this time and patrons will see some good mat work and also some fireworks. In Kruse the "Cowboy” will meet a formidable opponent —a wrestler who has been through the mill and become seasoned with years of experience on the mat. He thinks that he must have had fully .1000 professional bouts, his busiest year being .1931 when the sport was booming in the Vancouver district and he had 13G contests —nearly three times as many as McCready had in New Zealand last year. Though he has so much behind him he should also Lave plenty of activity ahead as he is now only 33 years old, having reached the age when a wrestler is usually in his prime. He is sft. Ilin, in height and weighs about last. Sib. iSince he learnt his wrestling from Ted Thye it is only to be expected that Kruse’s mat work should be modelled on that of the Portland promoter, and he shares Thye’s propensity for wrist locks, hammer locks, r.nd head and body scissors. Mr. Walter Miller, manager of the union’s men, carries a lasting reminder of Kruse’s strength in the form of slightly mishapen shoulder, caused when Kru>e broke the bone. The only men who beat him while they held the world title were "Strangler” Lewis and Jim Browning, the latter taking over an hour to secure a fall off him. The amateur bouts to precede the big professional contest on Saturday night have been arranged as follows: S. Vernon v. A. Kennedy (midgets'). Al. Boyd v. P. Roberts, three 3-miii-ute rounds. Jim Wilkie (Turakina) v. J. Phillips, three 3-minute rounds. Stan Goldsack (Turakina) v. ’]'. Garland, three 3-minute rounds. Boy Hakaraia (Turakina) x. Cyril Marshall, three 3-minute rounds. • • * « Earl McCready would nave been unlucky to have lost last Wednesday’s contest with Sam Leathers,- but it isu fair to declare, that he has not been nearer to defeat in New Zealand than he was in the sixth round of this sparkling contest which finished so sensationally. Congratulations arc to be extended to Leathers for taking the i only straight fall registered against McCready in New Zealand. ’What the 1 writer means by straight fall is gaining , a fall with a legitimate hold without resorting to elbow jalts, etc. Leathers proved that he is one of the ! smartest and fastest wrestlers ever I seen in Wanganui. His speed was amazing, and*the precision with which he clapped on holds and counter-holds drew applause from the crowd. He showed local fans something new in his figure-four scissors. When he had McCready trapped in this hold he sat on his back and made him jockey him all round the ring. And was McCready done when he fell back on his opponent? I’ll say he was. He hud to crawl ever the mat on his stomach, drag himself upon Leathers’ body to secure the press. Then he crawled on his hands and knees to his corner, where he collapsed. But McCready is a sportsman through and through. When the bell went for the seventh round Leathers, who up till then had been lying in the centre of the ring, made a valiant effort to rise, but collapsed, “Mac” looked at him, and then asked the referee to ask him if he would carry on. How many wrestlers would have done that? They would have rushed over, picked their man up and made a thorough job of him. Judging from the attitude of the crowd at most of the professional bouts in which things become a little willing, it is apparent that many do not know what is allowed and what is illegal in the matter of jolts and the like. For that reason it may be explained that an elbow jab is not allowed, nor is a punch, but a forearm jolt is perfectly permissible, this comprising the use of the arm from the wrist to the elbow. Joe Woods has been pretty active since he made his first appearance in the Dominion on April 20. Up till last Saturday he had engaged in 13 contests for two wins, five draws, two point losses, and four defeats. He has drawn with Forsgren, Boesch, Blomfield and Russell, and one of his best performances was in defeating Harry Kent at Wellington on his first appear ance. According to the March issue of The Ring the ranking of wrestlers for 1935 is as follow: —Danno O’Mahoney 1, Vince Lopez 2, Ernie Dusek 3, Dean Detton 4, Earl McCready 5, Ed. Don George 6, “Strangler” Lewis 7, Jim Browning 8, Hank Barber 9, Dick Shikat 10, Everette Marshall 11, Chief Little Wolf 12. The three new grapplers, Bob Kruse, Uris Zaharias and Sam Leather.-., all had their opening bout last week. Kruse was the only man to come out with a win to his credit, but Leathers was very unlucky. Ray Steel and “Jumping” Joe Bavoldi, accompanied by the one and only Ted Thye, the noted American wrestling promoter, who had a major hand in the selection of the present season’s team for New Zealand, are expected to leave for New Zealand to-day. The Wanganui Wrestling Association should have been very pleased with the box office returns at last Wednesday’s bout. Contrary to expectations, the Opera House was packed to the doors, and the crowd departed satisfied that it had witnessed the best wrestling contest ever staged in New Zealand. A feature was the large number of ladies present. George Walker is reported to he in the pink of condition, but he has no one to wrestle. It is a great pity that he will not appear with some of the men now in New Zealand. He would

Earl McCready informed the writer last week that he would be leaving New Zealand in about eight weeks’ time, his destination being America, where he will have a lilt at the world’s championship. Earl stated that he liked New Zealand very much and would return at the first opportunity. Everyone in this country will wish him the best of luck, for, during his stay here, he has endeared himself to the sportsloving community. When “Headlock” approached Walter Miller last week on the sudden departure from these shores of Ste\e Savage, he' laughingly stated that he (Savag ) had met McCready once, ami was scheduled to meet him again. Take your own conclusion from that, he concluded. When Sam Leathers was informed that this was the home town of matman King Elliot, his eyes sparkled. Then “Sad Sam’s” face broke into a smile —they say he never smiles, but this time he did. Well, well, and how is the young fellow? I remember the time when King first came over to the States. J gave him his first match, and also his first cauliflower ear. And, boy, wasn't he proud of it! Wrestling fixtures scheduled for the remainder of the week are:— I To-night.—Mehringer v. Woods, at I Christchurch. Thursday.—Woods v. Zaharias, at Ashburton; Blomficld v. Boesch, at; Hastings. Saturday.- Kruse v. Russell, at Wanganui; McCready v. Leathers, at Dunedin; Woods v. Boesch, at Gisborne. Among the offers which Dick Shikat i has received since he won the wrestling championship, one iA from I Jack Kanner, of Denver, who has made jShikat a flat offer of 35,000 dollars to defend his title against Everett Mar'shall. I ’ ! ’ hris Zaharias. brother of the Crying Greek from Cripple Creek,” created a surprise by arriving instead of his brother to wrestle in New Zealand, 'fhe mistake apparently occurred as the result of over-bre :ty in the cables which have been exchanged, but the error was not as serious as it might have been, for wrestling runs right through the Zaharias family, and Chris l has already shown that ho is on the way to establishing a record as distinguished ns that his elder brother. George Zaharias is expected to be on his way to the Dominion before very long. ♦ • • « I Interviewed in his dressing room after last Wednesday’s bout, Sam i Leathers stated that McCready was the first man he had met who was able to I get to his feet when the figure four | body scissors was applied. When asked how he liked J 7 stone falling on top I of him, he replied: “Seventeen stone! I That man is well over eighteen stone or 1 guess I am a poor judge of weight!

The opinion v.as sought of Walter Miller regarding Toni Lurich’s claim to | the British Empire championship. Wai ter said that it is unfortunate that whenever some men know enough alxiut wrestling to be able to put on tights and bools, they lay claim to some sort of a championship. “And,” said Miller, warming up, “if Luric.h thinks he is champion, the offer that was made when Earl McCready visited Australia still stands. McCready will beat him by three falls in six rounds and I will ha ml you a cheque for £lOO as part of a wager to say that McCready will do that. ” Walter Miller, who was present at last \\ ednesday's contest between Sam Leathers and Earl McCready, had an anxious look on his face throughout the I whole bout, and the only time he broke into a smile was when McCready was falling back on his opponent for that never-to-be-forgotten slam. Miller, in an interview after the bout, said that he knew 7 Leathers was good, but he did not expect such a high standard of the code to be produced. 1 doubt if you will see Leathers here again, for after this bout, he will be in big demand from the centres, still draw crowds.