Commonwealth - Wrestling

New Zealand - Wrestling in the NEWS

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New Zealand Wrestling Team - 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games

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Moody bags rare wrestling double
Waikato Times, New Zealand - 4 Mar 2007
New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union president and tournament controller Brian Stannett said the Oceania event had proved very successful, paving the way for ...

Wrestlers bring home the gold
Wairarapa Times Age, New Zealand - 19 Jul 2005
... placing behind the New Zealand secondary schools champion and another national representative who had just returned home after six weeks of wrestling in the ...

PICTURE: MARK McKEOWN
Auckland's Igor Kopyl drives Alton opponent Thomas Werder to the mat .

Clinton grapples with blind ambition
MyTown Bay of Plenty, New Zealand - 11 Jul 2005
... Hall isn't blazing a trail in wrestling - blind former South Auckland ... when he was outclassed by Katikati's Ross Tanner, a former New Zealand representative, in

Chanel shines at wrestling champs Wairarapa Times-Age - Jun 14 5:28 PM

Chanel College made a huge impact at the New Zealand secondary schools wrestling championships held at Hamilton over Queen's Birthday weekend.

WRESTLING: Medal-collecting family wear out lounge carpet
Hawke's Bay Today, New Zealand - 9 Jun 2005
... They had returned from the New Zealand Secondary Schools Wrestling Championships in Hamilton over the Queen's Birthday weekend with two gold and two silver

( April 24, 2003 )NEW ZEALAND WRESTLING CONTROVERSY: WORLD'S OLDEST SPORT OR WORLD'S BIGGEST SECRET? (Part Three) We will conclude this three-part series about the controversy involving the New Zealand Wrestling Union with a rather lengthy statement from the man who initiated the raising of these issues, radio host Frank Shanly of 'Mat Chat.'

( April 21, 2003 ) NEW ZEALAND WRESTLING CONTROVERSY: WORLD'S OLDEST SPORT OR WORLD'S BIGGEST SECRET? (Part One) First I received a message from Josip Mrkoci, Chairman, Executive Committee, Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association. He is one of the rare activists in international wrestling who desires to publicize, market, and promote the sport. Their web site, at http://groups.msn.com/CommonwealthWrestling, is a must for everyone to read and bookmark

( April 19, 2003 ) MORE DISARRAY DOWN UNDER: OCEANIA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS CANCELLED According to our man in New Zealand, Frank Shanly, who hosts the weekly 'Mat Chat' wrestling radio show each Monday at 5 PM on Wellington Access Radio at 783 AM, the annual Oceania Championships, scheduled for this weekend, April 19-20, in Hamilton, New Zealand, have been cancelled.

New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union Inc. ( April 19, 2003 )

New web site - http://www.olympicwrestling.org.nz/ ( click on it and it should take you to the web site)

Wrestling: Seed-less system gives luck of the draw new importance

02.08.2002 - By DAVID LEGGAT
When it comes to hoping for a little green man on your shoulder at these Games, no sport comes close to wrestling.

When the draw was being done early today for tonight's opening session, coaches were offering silent prayers for a favourable outcome. The problem for the grapplers is that there is no seeding system.

They fight in pools - 12 fighters in a division means four groups of three, eight means two groups of four - to find those who advance into medal contention. But the inherent inadequacies of that system mean one pool could have wrestlers from, say, Canada, England, South Africa and India, who are tipped to be the strongest nations, with another comprising representatives of Cameroon, Kenya, Malta and the Gambia.

"There used to be a Commonwealth championship tournament, where these guys could go and get a ranking," New Zealand coach Malcolm McBeth said. "But that's not been held in the last couple of years. That makes it very difficult and we've all got our fingers crossed."

Wrestling is one of those sports with a language all of its own. This is the freestyle form, the key aspects being strength, agility and technical ability. It is not Greco-Roman, which has some holds which can be truly puzzling to the uninitiated and bears no relation to what Hulk Hogan and the meathead squad serve up as fake D-grade entertainment on our television.

New Zealand have all three of their Auckland-based competitors in action on the first day - Martin Liddle in the 55kg class, Iranian immigrant Ricardo Aryan in the 66kg division and big Nick Daly in the 84kg event.

Aryan, who has built up a reputation as a high-quality wrestler, is tipped as the most likely to succeed, with all depending on the draw. The squad trained at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver en route to Manchester and tried to simulate contest conditions. However, there is a limit to the help you can get from simulation and forward planning if the names come out of the hat in the wrong order

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WRESTLING - WAYNE THURSTON

Wayne ThurstonWayne Thurston has never actually wrestled himself. A former boxer and rugby player Wayne decided to take up refereeing after watching his friend and former Commonwealth Games wrestler Nigel Sargent in action refereeing in Wellington.

Wayne has now been refereeing wrestling for 14 years. He gained his international licence in 1990 and has had experience refereeing all over the world including the Commonwealth Cup, Asia Oceania, the Junior World Championships, the Oceania Championships and the Australian and New Zealand Championships.

The highlight of his officiating career to date was attaining a category 'E' status in January 1998, which is the highest grading that can be achieved. Unfortunately the travel required to maintain that status has meant Wayne's accreditation has since been downgraded. Wayne is looking forward to his first Commonwealth Games experience in Manchester.

College Sports: Wrestlers reap golden harvest on US tour
07.06.2000 - By JENNI RUTHERFORD

Kees Meeuws and Bull Allen are household rugby names. Their muscle and strength have been admired by many fans during their careers. But few know that a lesser known sport - wrestling - contributed to their success.

Both dabbled in wrestling. All Black prop Meeuws wrestled for four years during his time at Kelston Boys High School, while Allen wrote in his book, Mark of the Bull, that wrestling had helped his propping.

New Zealand secondary schools coach Iain Adamson believes every rugby player should incorporate wrestling into their training sessions. "I've had 130kg props being thrown by an 80kg schoolboy," he said.

While wrestling was a sport on the side for Meeuws and Allen, some young New Zealanders are muscling their way to the forefront of the sport. Israel McMillan, from Rosehill College, has gone from strength to strength, winning the 54kg class at the New Zealand secondary schools championships.

McMillan also impressed on a recent tour to the United States. Another to catch the watchful eye of the Americans was Andrew Miller (King's College), who won the 58kg class. Miller, who captained the team in the United States, defeated a state placegetter while suffering from a shoulder injury, causing a major upset in a country where wrestling is a strong sport.

"It has more wrestlers than the number of rugby players in the entire world," said Adamson.

The New Zealand secondary school team toured southern California and at the two meetings picked up 28 medals, including 11 gold. The trip was an eye-opener for many of the boys, who had never been so far from home nor trained so hard. "We weren't used to the intensity. The Americans were amazed that we only trained twice a week," Adamson said. "Over there, they run in the morning and then have two training sessions a day."