Cockermouth Show 2008

Wrestling

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Heavyweight Cumberland wrestlers

There were some good bouts of Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling at the Cockermouth show including the World Heavyweight Championship. Russell Housby from the Silloth area, seen here, was the eventual champion beating Joseph Robson in the final.

Wrestling throwCumberland wrestler being thrown

The sport is great for spectators because it is easy to understand and is quickly decided. There are basically two rules - keep your hands locked together and avoid touching the floor with anything but your feet to win. It is the best of 3 falls and each round, judged by three referees, often lasts for less than a minute. As can be seen above, the falls are often explosive and spectacular.

Of course all the holds and throws have their own names.

Young Cumberland and Westmorland wrestlersyoung wrestlersGrappling

I think these are called the Climb up a Big'un, Crush a la'al 'un and the Siamese Twin.

High throw over hipHeavyweight wrestler thrown

Above we can see Craig Naylor being lifted high over the hip of John Harrington and former heavyweight or all weights champion Carl Clark being thrown.

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©W&WL 2008