The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-03-18
! | a,lian II Grappler Surpriso Zbyszko In Crack New
 Haven Match.
By ROGER TERRI.

| NEW HAVEN, March 18-"In III. | estimation Renato Gardint is the bos. ] 185-pound wrestler in the world an l l believe he Is the worlds champion i at the Greco-Roman style and tha1 i he will have a wonderful chance tC | win bis laurels in catch~as-ca catch-can ] matches. As you will notice we were both handicapped by sore arms, which prevented us from applying ! the proper finishing touches to the i fall. But this is no alibi and I mean | not to deprive Renato of any of the 1 credit, for he won fairly and squarely 1 tonight. It was my fault. l under i rated him.
 1 This exclusive statement Wladek ! Zbyszko, the Polish claimant to the 1 heavyweight championship of the
 world, made to the writer last night ! following the sensational match be- | fore 40OO fans at the Arena here. It
 was a bitter night for the Polander | for he was sent against a human | Waterloo Renato Gardini the Italian 1 from Akron, o. zbyszko was so con 1 fident that h would defeat his op- | ponent that he agreed, when the 1 match was made, to throw his Oppon- | sent twice within an hour. This he ] failed to do and the Italian was ! awarded the decision much to the 1 pleasure of the 5000 or more of l his fellow countrymen and women
 who damned into the spacious audi tor1um.
 New Haven will never forget this match. for it was the most thrilling
 affair ever staged here in years. The 1 Brown boxing battles furnished | excitement for fight fans. but it was not one-ffth as thrilling and sensa-
 tional as that supplied by the two i huskies last night. They grappled 6O
 minutes without a, rest and spared i nothing, but to no good effect.
 Gardini wisely did not endeavor to
 antagonize his opponent, preferring to take the defensive And in doing
 this he placed himself at an advan-
 tage The Pole tried all his famous
 holds on the Italian, but the latter was too slippery and got away when
 q fall seemed imminent. The last five
 minutes of the match was crowded i with thrills. Three times during that
 period Zbyszko had his opponent
 pinned to the floor in apparently con-
 quered position, but each time Gar
 dini slipped through or jumped his
 way out.
 zbyszko was in desperation during
 the last ten minutes. He jumped
 about the ring as if he were a ban
 tamweight. He Ieaped at his evasive
 opponent applying first one hold and
 then another, but in vain. They grap-
 pied for minutes, but neither seemed
 to make much headway. Zibby seven times tried the toe hold. Once he had Gardini almost pinned to the mat
 when his opponent gave sudden
 jerk and sprang out of the trap amid
 the deafening applause of his hun dreds of friends.
 Zbyszko wrestIed better last night than he 'grappled in most battles in
 which the writer has seen him. He
 was stronger, powerful and determin- edIy aggressive. His grips seemed
 unbreakable. but to the Italian they seemed easy.
 , Following the match Zibby made
 the following statement to The Time ! representative:
 T believe that Gardinf is a much stronger man that Sergeant Earl - Craddock, although it is my belief 1 that the soldier will defeat him in a . match because of his superior ex-
 perfence. But natural strength is an
 asset to any wrestler"
 '' "As for myself, I can say nothing n about tonights match other thar T that 1t was a big disappointment te me, for I expected to win withou = much trouble. It was a case 0 II over-confdence and under estimation ;. of an opponent. And it Is not thu , first time that have been caught tha way, either, but I assure you 1t wil
 be the last.
 :, Next Friday meet Strangler Lew u Is at the Madison Square Garden ant u , the best I can say now Is that I an ~ ready to beat him. I have beer
 working hard as you will learn b.
 turning back to your files. Durin: :, the month of February I wrestled 2 II opponents in as many nights. | Jack Cur1ey, my manager, is ; good fellow and a gentleman, but h keeps me too busy. I mean that. F'ol T instance, look at this week. Witt II the big contest on my hands for Fri U day I am matched by my manage u to wrestle every night. Tuesda
 night I go to Harrisburg, Wednesda, n night at Springfield. where I mee ' Hal Christainson and Thursday a l. Scranton, Pa; Friday, of course d comes the big match.
 ). Tt Is a very busy month, Indeed e hut my mana ger-he Is a. wise gen 0 tleman-and I am following his pro s gram. But personally, believe he i e keeping me too busy and if am no
 in my best form on Friday and d - not defeat Lewis 1t will be becaur
 1 I have been overworked. That's .n