Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-01-19
STECHER MAKES
GREAT RECORD
in WRESTLING

.
Joe Stecher, mystery man Of the
mat game, has emerged from ObscuE-
ity in the nick of time to save this
favored sport Of the ancient Greeks
from dying ont in America The won
derful popularity of Frank Gotch
brought professional wrestling TO the
fore, but the sport was on the wane
following the retirement of the worlds
champion because he had no more
title holders to conquer. Stecher has
saved the game. but has shown one
weakness which he may eventually:
overcome. He is an exponent of the
zone hold" game in graphing
Goteh, too, had one great hold that
was terror to all his opponents. The
toe hold was deadly weapon in the
hands of the Humboldt giant that
made such strong men as Hacken-
schmidt. ZbysZko and Mahmout trem.
BILE as they approached clash with
the American mat idol. L.. @
Gotch Toe Hold Formidable. ..@~ ~ l.
The toe hold of Gotch, however, was
simply an invention of the champion
and Farmer Burns for the purpose Of
making the Humboldt wrestler more
formidable The champion could use
this effective hold when occasion de-
manded, but was an adept in other
grips and didn't depend upon the toe
hold to down his most formidable OPP
ponents. 49,.
If one goes through Gotch's record
he will discover that the Humboldt
farmer kept his worlds title by the
use of other holds than his most effec.
tive weapon Of offense and defense in
most of his important matches.
Gotch defeated Mahmout, the Bulga-
rian grappler, twice with the half nell
son and crotch. He pinned Zbyszko,
the bulkiest wrestler opposing him in
several seasons and one of the strong
est he ever faced, in flash with the
bar arm and half nelson.
Other important matches of Gotch's
long career were won with grips other
than the toe hold, on which his abid-
ing fame as a grappler principally
rests. r: -: r. g.. ...." F.: &c.,. -: -:
Stecher Depends on One Hold. - T..
The principal criticism of Stecher
up to date is his tendency to depend
upon one grip-the scissors on the
body-to win his important matches.
Practically all of Stecher's victories
have been won with this one hold,
and when a grappler appears on the
scene capable of solving this attack
with good defense, even though he
might be of mediocre class, the man
from Dodge probably will suffer his
first reverse. ST.. i" ...........
There is no doubt concerning Stech.
nY.'c nj 70 foo H1,i
the greatest mat men in the world,
but thorough schooling in the hands
of some old chap like Farmer Burns
or Dan Mcleod would do him no
harm. He needs to perfect more holds
and learn certain defensive moves to
ward off the horde of foreign challeng-
ers who will soon be after the title
held for nearly a decade by the ath-
lete from Humboldt. ..--..
Criticize Stecher's Matches.
Some have criticized Stecher for the
great length of some of his matches
and the breyity of others This criti-
cism probably is not merited George
Turner wrestled more than three
hours with Stecher on February IA
1914, the match terminating in draw.
Several bouts of the Nebraska farmer
recently have been long drawn out
battles. In other matches this Crap
pier has won quickly. He defeated
Americas recently in jig time-one OF
the big upsets in recent mat history.
The body scissors is usually secured
from standing position and might be
obtained in the first minute of wres-
Ting or it might be an hour or more
before grappler could trick his oppo
nent into the grip. When Stecher gets
this hold on an opponent il usually |
spells curtains" for this grappler
Americas tried to rough his man and |
employ his arm and leg combination in |
quick order, which probably accounts |
for his early reverse. He played into |
the hands of Stecher, who countered |
with his best offensive and defensive |
= -'....... j.. ...... II. /
Worthy Successor Of Gotch. >.=
The Bohemian race at last seems to |
have produced a wrestler who has real |
merit as high class mat artist capa-
BILE of being worthy successor of |
Gotch. The friends of this young farm. |
er from the corn belt of Nebraska are
hoping he early falls into the hands of /
some such trainer as Farmer Burns.
TO whom the worlds champion owes I
much of what he knows about the I
game. -