1883 Buffalo New York kev sib tw
Txog rau hnub Friday, Lub rau hli ntuj 29, 1883, Kaum plaub wrestlers them $50 Nkag mus rau ib ob hnub kev sib tw rau ib tug $500 championship belt thiab $500 nqi zog. Richard K. Hma liab, Tswv thiab publisher ntawm tub ceev xwm Gazette, muab tus nqi zog nyiaj thiab siv. Hma liab avidly txaus siab rau qib uas ob leeg professional boxing thiab kev wrestling.
Thaum plaub tug txiv neej sim nkag mus rau cov kev sib tw, 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 yog nqus duncan C. Ross los ntawm ib pob ntawm Allen Minter Luam yeeb circa 1888 (Public sau)
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.
In the second 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.
Thaum cov txiv neej tau ntsib hauv qhov chaw ntawm lub nplhaib, 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. Txawm li cas los, 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, peb caug. After the first night of the tournament, Ross led with three falls, Gallagher tallied two falls, and Thompson had one.
Hmoov tsis, the newspapers did not cover the second night of the tournament, which Duncan C. Ross won. Gallagher took second place.
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Qhov chaw: The Buffalo Commercial (Buffalo, New York), Lub rau hli ntuj 30, 1883, p. 3 and July 6, 1883, p. 1
