1883 Tournoi Buffalo de New York
Le vendredi, Juin 29, 1883, quatorze lutteurs payés $50 participer à un tournoi de deux jours pour un $500 ceinture de championnat et $500 prix. Richard K.. Fox, propriétaire et éditeur de la Gazette de la police, mettre le prix en argent et la ceinture. Fox a soutenu avidement la promotion de la boxe professionnelle et de la lutte professionnelle.
Alors que quatorze hommes tentaient d'entrer dans le tournoi, Fox accepted eight participants. The wrestlers competed in catch-as-catch-can, collar and elbow and side hold wrestling bouts. The contestants wrestled on a carpeted stage.
Artist drawing of Duncan C. Ross from a pack of Allen Minter Cigarettes circa 1888 (Domaine Public)
To start the tournament, the favorite, Duncan C.. Ross, a Scotsman wrestling out of Louisville, Kentucky, met Peter Curran of West Brighton, New York in a catch-as-catch-can bout. Ross beat Curran in seventeen minutes.
Au deuxième match, Mervin Thompson of Rochester, New York defeated George Steadman of Brockport, Ontario in eleven and a half minutes, also in catch wrestling. The third bout brought the first excitement of the night.
Ross wrestled Dennis Gallagher of Buffalo, New York in the third catch wrestling bout of the night. Ross weighed 210 pounds to Gallagher’s 150. Gallagher overcame his size disadvantage to nearly beat the favorite.
When the men met in the center of the ring, Ross looked like a man walking his kid brother to school. Fans shook their head and said, “Ross will break his back.”
Ross seemed as amused as the fans. He played with Gallagher for the first twenty minutes making no attempt to score a fall. Ross was shocked when he attempted his first hold and Gallagher reverse him nearly scoring a pin.
After ten more minutes of rough wrestling, Ross looked at his corner. Fans clearly heard Ross tell his seconds, “This kid is made of whalebone.”
Ross continued pressing Gallagher to the mat only for Gallagher to wiggle free. Repeatedly, Ross slammed Gallagher to the mat in a helpless position. Cependant, the smaller man squirmed free avoiding the pin each time.
After fifty-four minutes, Ross lifted Gallagher to Ross’ shoulders, pinned one of Gallagher’s arms to his side and slammed Gallagher to the mat for the only fall. An exhausted Ross shook his head because he had to continue wrestling after a short break.
By tournament rules, after the first two matches, the winner of the third match continued wrestling until he lost a match. Ross led the tournament with two falls but the second fall against Gallagher sapped him.
Despite his weakened condition, Ross threw Mervin Thompson in collar and elbow style wrestling after eight minutes. Ross scored three falls to lead the tournament.
In the sixth bout of the night, Ross wrestled Gallagher again. This time the men wrestled collar and elbow style. Gallagher threw an exhausted Ross after eleven minutes to avenge his earlier loss.
In the last bout of the first night, Gallagher wrestled Mervin Thompson in collar and elbow wrestling. Gallagher threw the 230-pound Thompson in ten minutes, thirty seconds. After the first night of the tournament, Ross led with three falls, Gallagher tallied two falls, and Thompson had one.
Malheureusement, the newspapers did not cover the second night of the tournament, which Duncan C. Ross won. Gallagher took second place.
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Sources: The Buffalo Commercial (Buffalo, New York), Juin 30, 1883, p. 3 and July 6, 1883, p. 1
