The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-11-28
JOE STECHER IS
REAL CHAMPION
Clean Cut Victory Over
Stranger Lewis Puts
Him in Front.

BY reason Of his clean-cut victory
over Stranger Ed Lewis, Joe Stecher
Is generally regarded as the foremost
OF the little clique Of wrestlers, whose
objective Is the heavyweight cham
pionship of the world. AS yet Joe is
not in a position to claim the title, for
Earl Caddock and Wladek Zbyszko, to
say nothing Of John Pesek n one or
two others, are entitled to consideration.
As far as Lewis is concerned, the
Stranger is definitely out Of the run
ming. OF course, all of the big fellows
have been beaten at n time or an
other without apparent injury to their
prestige, but his is a new deal, II
popular favor, which certainly has been
revived, is to be retained, the right
full ownership Of the crown must first
be established-not In a joke tourna-
ment, but In a series of elimination
matches. Zbyszko climbed into the
ring at the conclusion of the Stecher-
Lewis match on Monday night and
challenged the farm boy. Stecher in
dicated by his manner that he would
gladly take. on the giant Pole, SO that
a Stecher- Zbyszko contest no doubt viii
be put on in the garden very shortly.
The survivor of the meeting between
the farm boy and the Pole will be in
line for a match with Caddock, who
reports that, having regained his health,
he is ready to w~restle, In some quar-
tiers Caddock is regarded as the cham
| pion, but his claim to the title Is not
| taken seriously by close followers of
the game. AS a matter of fact, Cad
| dock generally Is over-rated. He Is a
| clever grappler and a versatile one, but
he Is too light to be effective when OPP
posed to men like Stecher, Lewis and
Zbyszko in honest-to-goodness contests.
Stecher, who Is regarded by unbiased
fellow %grapplers as the best OF the lot,
may be compared In his possession Of
the body scissors hold to a pugilist with
a soporific wallop lurking in either fist.
It some times takes Joe an hour or two
to ease his legs about an opponents
body, but once he obtains his favorite
grip the beginning of the end Is in full
sight. In his match with Lewis the
other night Stecher fastened a body
scissors on the Stranger only once, but
that lone grip was sufficient to bring
about the defeat Of the bulky Kentuck-
Ian, The farm boys showing in this
match was impressive: furthermore, 1t
was very gratifying to his admirers, for
not long ago It was reported that Joe
was unable to exercise his old power
In the application Of this hold. The
manner in which he subdued the pow
erful Stranger, however, served to set
this report ut rest.
Conversely, Lewis deadlock seemed
to lack much Of its old snap and pres.
sure, Three or four times he had
Stecher's head locked securely In the
grip. but only once-and that very early
in the match-did the hold seem to
bother the lsnky Nebraskan. Lewis
g~eneralship, too, was ~unwontedly poor.
There were a number Of occasions on
which the Stranger seemed in a fair
way to accomplish the defeat of his
rival by following up slight advantages
gained by tho use OF the deadlock, but
he faltered badly on each occasion,
AS a rule, Lewis wages a contest in a
remarkably efficient manner, SO II may
have been that his lethargic actions al
critical moments we're the result Of his
long layoff. Prior to his meeting with
Stecher, the Stranger had not taker
part in a match for some time.