Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 68, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 March 1915 — WRESTLING GAME IN COMATOSE CONDITION [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WRESTLING GAME IN COMATOSE CONDITION

The once-popular but sadly mistreated sport of ■wrestling was In a comatose condition during 1914. While the faking management of the game was largely responsible for Its recent downfall, after a strong revival, the European wars, both Balkan and all-Europe, had a lot to do with its demise. Of recent years, nearly all the excitement that could be scared-up was created through the importation of terrible Turks, horrible Greeks and pests of various other nations. These large, uncouth apparitions were taken round the country, on carefully arranged, tours, “meeting” and “defeating” a flock of home-grown wrestlers, who were sent a jump ahead of the European ’’champions,” and who met them again and again—always the same inner circle, of course, with no rash outsiders or really ambitious youngsters permitted to cut in. Frank Gotch, who used to come out of his cage and leisurely flop the hor-

rible Bulturkians, after they had been sufficiently advertised, grew tired of it, and hasn't emerged for quite a while. And then —the war finished up. The terrible matmen of Europe, of course, are large, husky—far bigger and stronger than the average. They had no chance to escape the eagle eye of the recruiting officers. Give them credit for a match that wasn’t “framed” —those who had to return to the colors, as a rule went back gallantly, and tackled an opponent who wouldn’t “lay,” wouldn't stall, and wouldn’t even stand for a draw. Those who didn’t feel like returning to the flag were mostly Induced to do so, anyhow, and right now there are very few European wrestlers at liberty to wrestle anybody but the gents in the other uniforms. Many of them have fallen in battle, and by the time they can cross over here again the survivors will probably find that the whole wrestling game has been forgotten.

Champion Frank Gotch.