Scottish Wrestling Bond

2009 RESULTS

The Standing Ovation


A standing ovation is rare at any sports event and particularly rare at wrestling championships, but it happened on Saturday 25^th April at the European Championships in Celtic Wrestling, in the John Wright Sports Centre in East Kilbride, Scotland.
There are two styles competed in the championships, backhold from Scotland, Cantabria (Spain), England, Iceland, Ireland, Leon (Spain) Sardinia and Sweden and ar gouren from Brittany. All weekend the tournament had been dominated by the professionals from the Canary Islands with Brittany a close second but when John Taylor of Yoker Wrestling Club stepped onto the mat for the 90kg (14st 2lbs) final in the backhold style, the atmosphere was electric.
John was only 1kg above the weight limit so was giving away about a stone (14lbs) in weight but he had been in devastating form throughout the earlier rounds conceding only one fall. His opponent in the final was Richard Fox of England the only wrestler who had managed to take a fall from him. He had already beaten Fox by 3 falls to 1; the championships are held under a pool system and Fox, a magnificent wrestler, had recovered from his defeat at the Scotsman’s hands and had fought his way through to the final without losing another fall. Richard Fox is the ‘World Champion’ under the English, Cumberland & Westmorland style rules and in this weight class he had been unbeaten last season and was considered by English pundits to be the favourite.
Everyone expected something special and the English team in particular were very confident. The two wrestlers took hold immediately unlike some of their continental rivals, then three sudden, explosive and very dramatic falls later the Yoker wrestler was the new European champion and the hall erupted. He was cheered and clapped by all the teams and spectators and the President of the Canary Islands teams ran over to the writer, shook his hand in congratulation and said, “That man is magnificent, he is a real ‘world champion.” Later John Taylor received the award as the, ‘Best Backhold Wrestler of the Championships.
The championship tournament had attracted 10 teams, Scotland only won four medals, against their state subsidised rivals, Rab Clark of Glasgow Wrestling Club made a silly error and lost the decisive fall in the final and had to be content with the silver medal in the 68kgs (10st 10lbs), Gordon Campbell of East Kilbride won the bronze at superheavyweight and David Blair of Dundee gained a bronze at 62 kgs (9st 10lbs 10ozs), but Scotland placed 4^th in the team list with 65 points.
Wrestling is the national sport of the winning team, the Canary Islands; despite their small population they have 7,500 registered wrestlers, more than there are for judo in Scotland and receive massive government support as do some of the other teams. In fact the team from León brought their Minister for Sport with them and two members of their office staff as did the Canary Islands.
The top five team scores were,
Canaria		97 points
Brittany		91 points
Leon (Spain)		90 points
Scotland		65 points
England		59 points

Follow the fortunes of the Scottish wrestlers on this page throughout the very hectic 2009 season and if you have any comments to make, just write to the editor.

A Debt Collected
“I owe you a debt son”, said Bert McGiffen to the European Wrestling Champion from Yoker, John Taylor. John looked at him in surprise, “why?” he replied puzzled. Their conversation was a bit difficult due to the noise as the Ben Nevis in Finnieston was packed last Sunday. Everyone who was there was there to celebrate the lives of Vera and Walter Littlejohn who had been stalwarts of the Scottish Wrestling Bond’s Highland games circuit and to raise the money for a perpetual trophy in their honour; they succeeded magnificently.
“Well son” Bert replied, Walter used to drag me along to Highland games from time to time and I thoroughly enjoyed it so when I heard about the European championships a couple of weeks ago I came along to watch, out of respect to his honour more than anything else. To me, it was the usual sporting contest, moments of frantic action then some boredom, in the jacket wrestling, but the Scottish backhold was on a different plane, it was consistently spectacular and dramatic. When you won the championship, that bout was special I have never seen anything like it and you were doing things which I didn’t think were physically possible, my heart was in my mouth the whole time and I’ll never forget it.” John a bit embarrassed didn’t know what to say when Bert continued, “I watched it with John McCourtney from Milngavie who had wrestled in the Olympic games in Mexico and he turned to me and said, “that was a bout between the man who was alleged to be the best wrestler in the world at this style of wrestling against the man who actually is, the best wrestler in the world, at this type of wrestling. One thing is certain; you won’t see any bouts as spectacular as that for a long while.”
“I’ll tell you what I propose to do John,” Bert McGiffen continued, “here’s my card, come and see me next week and my company Keats & Co., will give you some help towards your competition costs,. We would like to be associated with an athlete of your quality, we are construction debt recovery specialists and I would like you to wear my company’s logo!” John looked at him, shook his hand and said, “I will be proud to Mr McGiffen.” So those of you who go to Highland games for the first time will know John Taylor when you see a tall and very athletic wrestler wearing a Keats & Co logo on his competition vest.
The Vera & Walter Littlejohn Quaich will go to Luss Highland Games on Sunday 26^th July and will be the presented to the winner of the 14st 7lbs Scottish Championship. On current form it looks as though it might come to Yoker, so why not come and support the local champion? The Hirsch twins from Dundee Wrestling Club have other ideas though and John Hirsch, the heavier twin is the current champion, but there is a joker in the pack, Marcus Littlejohn. Walter and Vera’s son intends to compete, he has wrestled before but his main sport is judo and he is a member of the Strathclyde Police Judo Club. He is taking it very seriously and is training in the Glasgow Wrestling Club to try and take home his parent’s Quaich. One thing is certain, it will be a dramatic and hard fought championship.

Bearsden & Milngavie Highland Games Saturday 13^th June
Every sport has its share of exceptionally gifted athletes and traditional Scottish backhold wrestling has had more than most. The stars of the past 20 years have been Walter Scott from Milngavie, Kevin Ballantine and Rab Clark from Glasgow and the greatest and most dominant heavyweight of the past 140 years, Rab McNamara of East Kilbride, but there is a new superstar, John Taylor of Yoker Wrestling Club.
European Champion John Taylor has been wrestling since he was 7 years old and is now in his full strength at 25; he has professional strength training advice from Bobby Preston of Preston Power and as far as technical skill is concerned he is in advance of any of his coaches who can only suggest or advise him.
Wrestlers train endlessly to develop skill and it usually enables them to beat much bigger and stronger men, but it doesn’t always work, sometimes they just get squeezed, so the spectators at the Bearsden & Milngavie Highland Games were not sure what to expect in the heavyweight final when 13st 8lbs John Taylor met 24stone John Watt. Big John is not just your average overweight big man, he is a former European heavyweight champion and he also placed 3^rd in the ‘World Judo Master’s Championship,’ two years ago and when the two men took hold it looked like a foregone conclusion.
The referee shouted “hold” and the Yoker wrestler attacked immediately with incredible speed and threw his huge opponent with a cross buttock. Big John landed on the point of his shoulder but also twisted his right knee and was forced to retire, so we will need to wait for a couple of weeks to see the conclusion of their struggle. John Taylor had a very successful day at Milngavie Games; he retained the Rob Roy Quaich for the 14st 7lbs category then won the Bowater Quaich for the open or heavyweight category but it was in the Helensburgh Games that he surpassed himself.
In the open weight final he met Frazer Hirsch of Dundee who is a much respected wrestler and is the 2009 French ’81 kgs Open’ champion, a wee bit lighter than John Taylor. It was a hard bout but Taylor won by 3 falls to 0, and it was the middle fall which was the most remarkable. He threw the Dundee wrestler off the ground with a swinging hype then when his opponent was in mid air changed it into a cross buttock to create the most spectacular fall that this writer has ever seen.
Bearsden & Milngavie Highland Game Full Results
10st 7lbs	1^st	David Blair	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Peter Orr	Yoker Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Olu Aluko	Glasgow Wrestling Club
	4^th	Greg Neilson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
12st 7lbs Scottish Championship & The Slater Hogg and Howison Trophy	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David Fairfield	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Mick Phillips	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Peter Orr	Yoker Wrestling Club
14st 7lbs & The Rob Roy Quaich	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	David Fairfield	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Neil Mitchell	Red Road Wrestling Club
Open Weight & The Bowater Quaich	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	John Watt	Strathclyde Uni. Judo Club
	3^rd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
Females
9st 7lbs Scottish Championship & The Mulguy Quaich	1^st	Tricia Anderson	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Caitlin Scoular	Red Road Wrestling Club
	3^rd	A MacKenzie	Glasgow Wrestling Club
Open	1^st	Gemma MacNeill	Red Road Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Marion Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Caitlin Scoular	Red Road Wrestling Club

Helensburgh Highland Games Sunday 14^th June
9st 7lbs	1^st	David Blair	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Peter Orr	Yoker Wrestling Club
	4^th	Greg Neilson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
11st 7lbs	1^st	David Blair	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Thomas Muir	Yoker Wrestling Club
	4^th	Joe Gunning	Yoker Wrestling Club
13st 7lbs	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David Blair	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	4^th	Paul Brown	Yoker Wrestling Club
15st 7lbs	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Donald Shearon	Yoker Wrestling Club
	4^th	^{Paul Brown}	Yoker Wrestling Club
Open	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Donald Shearon	Yoker Wrestling Club
	4^th	Thomas Shearon	Yoker Wrestling Club

Ceres Highland Games
No Rest For the Wicked?
Bruce would have been pleased to see the junior wrestlers at Ceres Highland Games this year, their fighting spirit was the same as shown by the nineteen men from the village who marched to Bannockburn 695 years ago. Cameron O’Raw of Hamilton Wrestling Club was awarded the Spence Ostler trophy for the best junior wrestler and when he handed the beautiful trophy over to his delighted father, his father said, “Whit a peety Ah cannae hansel this the nicht.” When Sir Menzies Campbell, the Games Chieftain asked why, he replied, “the boys are competin the morn in a judo competition at Meadowbank and the weight-in starts at 8am, but ye can be certain, the morn’s nicht it wullnae be fu fur lang.”
Dundee wrestlers totally dominated the adult competition and the 10st 7lbs Scottish championship but the identity of the two finalists was a surprise, last year’s champion David Blair was beaten 3-2 in the first semi-final by club mate John Anderson and David Fairfield easily countered George Reid’s lightning attacks to beat him 3-1 in the other semi. The actual final was an anti-climax when David Fairfield easily took the title with three quick falls, but there was no hiding his pride and delight when Sir Menzies Campbell presented him with the magnificent Ceres Plate, the second year in succession that it has gone to a Dundee wrestler. David MacPherson of Hamilton the lightest man in the competition continued his rise up the rankings by winning a third and a fourth place. At Helensburgh last week he took two seconds and a third and is this year’s most improved wrestler.
Ceres Highland Games Full Results
10st 7lbs Scottish Championship and Ceres Plate	1^st	David Fairfield	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	^{John Anderson}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	^{David Blair}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	^{George Reid}	Dundee Wrestling Club
^{11st 7lbs}	1^st	^{David Fairfield}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	4^th	David Blair	Dundee Wrestling Club
13st 7lbs	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Mick Phillips	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
Open	1^st	^{Frazer Hirsch}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	^{Mick Phillips}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	^{Danny Watt}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	^{George Reid}	Dundee Wrestling Club
Female
Open	1^st	Marion Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Demi Courtney	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Caitlin Scoular	Red Road Wrestling Club
Juniors
The junior wrestling was badly affected by the rain on the way between Glasgow and Fife, which discouraged many of the parents who just turned around and went home. Some categories had to be cancelled but the wrestlers who came turned on a number of scintillating performances despite their smaller than usual numbers.
5st 7lbs	1^st	Logan Stewart	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	2^nd	John Graham	Glasgow Wrestling Club
	3^rd	James Smith	Glasgow Wrestling Club
6st 7lbs	1^st	Ewen O’Raw	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Martin MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Jack Airns	Hamilton Wrestling Club
7st 7lbs	1^st	Cameron O’Raw	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Ewan O’Raw	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Martin MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
8st 7lbs	1^st	Cameron O’Raw	‘walk over’

Balloch Highland Games
Another Championship!
John Taylor’s amazing run of success this season, continued at Balloch Highland Games on Saturday. First it was the European 90kgs title and the award as ‘The Best Wrestler in Europe’ at the European Championships in Celtic Wrestling at East Kilbride in mid April, then at the Bearsden & Milngavie games he won the14st 7lbs and the Rob Roy Quaich, then the heavyweight category and Bowater Quaich. Next came the Helensburgh Games where he won the 15st 7lbs and Open weight categories but sustained an injury, which meant he missed the historic Ceres Games in Fife, which were founded by the victorious survivors of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
The only thing, which for John Taylor spoiled his day at Balloch was that the magnificent Glasgow Police trophy, won last year by Northumbrian, Rab Leiper was not returned. Robert Leiper is a farmer and was unable to travel at the weekend but will probably hand over the trophy at Inveraray Games on Tuesday 21^st July.
Despite the Yoker wrestler’s success it was the Dundee club, which really won the games, taking thirteen out of sixteen prizes in the adult section. Frazer Hirsch in superb form easily won the British 12st 7lbs championship and took third place in both the 14st 7lbs and the heavyweight categories. Two weeks ago he made a 400 mile round trip from Dundee to Westmorland and in the 13st final beat the current Cumberland style 13st ‘World Champion’ Graham Brocklebank at the Langdale Gala. Clubmate David Fairfield, the current Scottish 10st 7lbs champion was quite happy to place second in the 11st category at Langdale as this was his first sortie into England, but he has his eye on the magnificent English silverware and intends that visit to be the first of many forays.
Balloch Highland Games Full Results
11st 7lbs	1^st	David Fairfield	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Tam P Muir	Yoker Wrestling Club
	3^rd	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Jamie MacGeechan	Dundee Wrestling Club
12st 7lbs British Championship	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Mick Phillips	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Peter Orr	Yoker Wrestling Club
14st 7lbs	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
Scottish Heavyweight Championship	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club

Inveraray Highland Games
Wrestling
Justice is not always seen to be done but it certainly was very obviously seen to be done at Inverary Highland Games when Kenny MacAlaister, Justice Minister in the Scottish Government was invited to present the Glasgow Police ‘Scottish Heavyweight Championship Trophy’ to the new champion, John Taylor of Yoker Wrestling Club.
John Taylor had won the trophy on Glasgow Fair Saturday, four days earlier, at the Loch Lomond Highland Games, the previous holder Robert Leiper of Northumbria had been unable to travel north for family reasons but came to Inveraray as usual and brought the magnificent championship trophy with him. The Northumbrian weighs about sixteen and a half stones but despite their weight difference he and John Taylor are old rivals, the score between them being two wins each. Taylor at 13st 7lbs is the lightest Scottish backhold wrestler ever to win the championship and now joins an elite band, which include some of the greatest throwers in Highland games history. Nowadays few throwers enter the wrestling as there are a number of specialist wrestling heavyweights as big and heavy at least, as any of the throwers.
A heavily bandaged Taylor, despite having suffered a severely torn leg muscle at Loch Lomond Games on Fair Saturday against Frazer Hirsch in the 13st 7lbs final continually attacked from the left side to protect as far as possible his injured leg. He may have been helped a little in the final, once again against Frazer Hirsch when he countered an attempted buttock with a salto, the most dangerous throw in the sport, which stunned Hirsch who landed on his forehead. Medical attention was immediately called for and despite the first aiders’ decision that there was no evidence of concussion he was give five minutes to recover, but lost the final to Taylor by three falls to nothing.
Inveraray Highland Games Full Results
10st 7lbs	1^st	David Fairfield	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	John Anderson	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Greg Neilson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
11st 7lbs	1^st	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David Fairfield	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	John Anderson	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Peter Orr	Yoker Wrestling Club
13st 7lbs Scottish Championship	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Mick Phillips	Dundee Wrestling Club
Open weight	1^st	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Robert Leiper	Rothbury Wrestling Association
	3^rd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club

Luss Highland Games
Luss Games stepped in to help The Scottish Wrestling Bond in an emergency and sponsored the 9st 7lbs championship when this year’s Stirling games were forced to cancel. David Blair of Dundee, last year’s champion was unable to defend his title due to a knee injury, ironically, sustained while playing 5 a side football to improve his fitness level. However, seventeen year old David MacPherson one of the rising young stars from the Hamilton club excelled and gave his opponents many lessons in faultless technique to win the championship Quaich.
Despite the hectic activity and dramatic spills in the lighter weight categories the major interest was focussed on John Taylor of Yoker and the 14st 7lbs championship. Taylor is undefeated this season and has so far won three titles, the European 90kgs and the special award for the best wrestler in Europe, the 13st 7lbs Scottish title at Inveraray and the Scottish Heavyweight championship at The Loch Lomond Highland Games. Weighing only 13st 7lbs, he is the lightest backhold wrestler ever to win this championship and his opponent in the heavyweight final was John Hirsch of Dundee. Hirsch the defending 14st 7lbs champion who had been beaten 3 falls to 1 in the heavyweight championship is a dour and determined wrestler who has moments of brilliance. The question for the fans who travel round the games circuit to follow the wrestling was whether he could ‘raise his game’ against Taylor who is consistently brilliant; it didn’t take too long to find out.
Taylor won the first two falls in spectacular fashion then Hirsch suddenly ‘switched on’ and won two falls in a row and seemed to have gained the mastery, using all his extra weight and strength to his own advantage. The final fall was sudden and very dramatic and technically brilliant, Hirsch attacked but Taylor evaded it with some difficulty then swung Hirsch high into the air with a left leg hype, which in mid-air he changed to a cross buttock. The fall was so sudden, dramatic and heavy that the referee was concerned that Hirsch may have been injured, but he was only winded. A delighted John Taylor is now the first winner of the new championship quaich, which had been sponsored for Luss Games by The Scottish Wrestling Bond in memory of Walter and Vera Littljohn, in an interesting twist their youngest son Marcus placed 4^th in the 14st 7lbs class.
Luss Highland Games Full results
9st 7lbs Scottish Championship	1^st	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Scott MacNaughton	Glasgow Wrestling Club
	3^rd	James Shepherd	Yoker Wrestling Club
	4^th	Ross Shepherd	Yoker Wrestling Club
11st 7lbs	1^st	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Peter Orr	Yoker Wrestling Club
	4^th	Joe Gunning	Yoker Wrestling Club
13st 7lbs	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Mick Phillips	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
14st 7lbs Scottish Championship plus the Walter & Vera Littlejohn Memorial Quaich	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Marcus Littlejohn	Strathclyde Police Judo Club
Open	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
Female
10st 7lbs	1^st	Caitlin Scoular	Red Road Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Emma McDermott	Red Road Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Heather Neilson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
Juniors
5st lbs	1^st	Darryl Cattenach	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Logan Stewart	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	James McDermot	Red Road Wrestling Club
6st 7lbs	1^st	Kylie Stewart	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Paul Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Logan Stewart	Hamilton Wrestling Club
7st 7lbs	1^st	Emma McDermott	Red Road Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Heather Neilson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Stewart Cattanach	Dundee Wrestling Club
8st 7lbs	1^st	Caitlin Scoular	Red Road Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Emma McDermott	Red Road Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Martin MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
10st 7lbs	1^st	Scott Macnaughton	Glasgow Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Greg Neilson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Jamie Sheridon	Yoker Wrestling Club
Open	1^st	Scott MacNaughton	Glasgow Wrestling Club
	2^nd	James Shepherd	Yoker Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Greg Neilson	Hamilton Wrestling Club

The Bridge of Allan Games
^{An exhausted John Taylor came back to Yoker in Glasgow on Sunday after the Bridge of Allan Games, but apart from a limp, no one would have realised it, as he carried two heavy pieces of silverware in triumph to show his friends and club mates. John had just won his fourth championship of the Highland games ‘grass season’ but this was the big one, the British Heavyweight Championship.}
^{Taylor had a long, long day, first he won the 13st 7lbs category and his final against Frazer Hirsch was a classic. He took the first fall with a cross buttock then lost the next to a stunning swinging hype from the Dundee wrestler. Taylor was very surprised as he has not been hyped for about 4 years but the speed of Hirsch’s entry was sufficient to by pass all the carefully practised counters and blocks every champion develops. The next two falls were won by the Yoker wrestler each with a different throw, a flying hank then an inside hype, which was at least as fast as the deadly attack his opponent had been successful with earlier.}
^{None of the wrestling giants had turned up this year for the British Heavyweight championship; a long and busy season competing every weekend in}^Scotland^and^England^{has taken its toll of minor injuries. The heaviest wrestler who competed, John Hirsch of Dundee Wrestling Club only weighs 15st though he has at various times beaten all the big men except Rab McNamara who was missing after sustaining a hamstring injury at Langholm two days previously.}
^{Frazer Hirsch and John Taylor were drawn in the same pool and this time when they met Taylor won by three falls to nothing. The Dundee wrestler then had to wrestle his twin brother in the cross-over to decide who would go into the final but lost by three falls to one. The scene was now set for a very dramatic final bout between John Taylor and John the heavier of the Hirsch twins. The heavyweight final was the only event on the field and after the announcer had described each of the opponents and given details of their records this season the bout commenced. John Hirsch quickly gained two heavy falls and looked as though he was unbeatable then after a hard wrestle Taylor gained a fall from a hank then equalised with an inside hype. The deciding fall lasted less than a minute and Taylor was under great pressure when he spectacularly countered an attempted lock hype with incredible speed to throw Hirsch very heavily with a very high cross buttock. Many of the spectators in the stand rose to their feet to clap and cheer the new champion who just lay on the grass for a moment to recover his breath before he was presented the trophy by the chieftain.}
The Bridge of Allan Games ^{Full results}
^9st^7lbs	1^st	^{David MacPherson}	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	2^nd	^{T Anderson}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	^{C Scoular}	Red Road Wrestling Club
	4^th	^{E MacNeil}	Red Road Wrestling Club
^11st^{7lbs Scottish Championship}	1^st	^{Robert Clark}	Glasgow Wrestling Club
	2^nd	^{David Fairfield}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	^{George Reid}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	^{Greg Neilson}	Hamilton Wrestling Club
^{13st 7lbs}	1^st	^{John Taylor}	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	^{Frazer Hirsch}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	^{George Reid}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	^{Neil Mitchell}	Red Road Wrestling Club
^{British Heavyweight Championship}	1^st	^{John Taylor}	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	^{John Hirsch}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	^{Frazer Hirsch}	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	^{Danny Watt}	Dundee Wrestling Club

Atholl & Breadalbane Highland Games, Aberfeldy
It’s tough being a champion Scottish backhold wrestler nowadays and it’s not just a matter of the very busy summer competitive season, which involves competing every weekend from May till October, often both Saturday and Sunday, but also the international trips.
As soon as the last bout took place at Aberfeldy on Saturday the wrestlers in the Scottish team rushed to Edinburgh Airport and flew to Sardinia to compete in the Sardinian ‘Open’ championships on Tuesday 11^th August. The championships are held in Villagrande in the mountains of Barbaggio in central Sardinia and attract seven or eight countries, but the Scots dominate. This year due to a run of injuries during the very busy season, the Scottish Wrestling Bond team is smaller than usual, only four weight classes out of seven were selected and all from the one club,
62kgs		John Anderson	Dundee
81kgs		Mick Phillips	Dundee
90kgs		Frazer Hirsch	Dundee
100kgs		John Hirsch	Dundee
The wrestlers were having a difficult time in Sardinia when they made an emergency phone call to the writer on Monday 10^th August! Frazer Hirsch phoned from a beach café and said that it was a bit too warm but the sea temperature was OK and the iced coffee was delicious, their only real problem was that the piper had not arrived. The Scottish Wrestling Bond had to make emergency arrangements to send another piper to play prior to the wrestling for dancer Shona Cameron from the Hemingway School of Dancing in Glasgow who was also to give a concert performance on Tuesday evening.
Aberfeldy Games Full Results
9st 7lbs	1^st	John Anderson	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	John Donnachie	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Scott MacNaughton	Glasgow Wrestling Club
11st 7lbs	1^st	David Fairfield	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	John Anderson	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Peter Orr	Yoker Wrestling Club
13st 7lbs	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	John Anderson	Dundee Wrestling Club
Open	1^st	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club

Cowal Gathering 2009
32 Wrestlers and a New English Champion
Joe Robson from Kendal Wrestling Academy became the first Englishman to win a Scottish championship at the Cowal Gathering since 1948 when he won the Scottish ‘Open’ championship on Saturday. The big Englishman who was used to the smaller English events was overwhelmed by the whole ‘Cowal experience’ and vowed to be back next year with a full team.
The rough and tumble nature of backhold wrestling was once described in 1889 by a famous French sports writer as being more like a dance than wrestling. Some dance? There were thirty two wrestlers from Brittany, England and of course Scotland competing and John Taylor from Yoker in Glasgow was the favourite for the title but he injured his left hamstring when winning the 13st 7lbs class and was severely handicapped in the championship where he was beaten 3 – 1 in the semi-final by the Englishman. Joe in turn pulled a muscle in his chest in the championship final against John Hirsch and was forced to withdraw from the heavyweight category, which was won by light-heavyweight, Frazer Hirsch from Dundee.
Cowal Gathering 2009 Full Results
9st 7lbs	1^st	John Anderson	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	David MacPherson	Hamilton Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Erwan Tassel	Brittany
	4^th	John Donnachie	Dundee Wrestling Club
11st 7lbs	1^st	Robert Clark	Glasgow Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Martin Maussion	Brittany
	3^rd	George Reid	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Guillaume Tanguy	Brittany
13st 7lbs	1^st	John Taylor	Yoker Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Martin Maussion	Brittany
	4^th	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
15st 7lbs Scottish Championship and MacGill’s Buses Quaich	1^st	Joe Robson	Kendal Wrestling Academy
	2^nd	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	3^rd	Martin Maussion	Brittany
	4^th	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club
Open	1^st	Frazer Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	2^nd	Nicolas Grannec	Brittany
	3^rd	John Hirsch	Dundee Wrestling Club
	4^th	Danny Watt	Dundee Wrestling Club

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