Saturday, July 11 and there was a definite chill in the Canterbury night air as around a hundred wrestlers and grapplers weighed in at the Rangiora Wrestling Club in preparation for the upcoming South Island Championships the following day. With such a strong turnout in freestyle Greco and submission and with a wide range of ages competing the weigh in took longer than usual.
Personally to see new member clubs of the using Olympic Wrestling Union in the new code off international grappling was most pleasing and especially observing the respect between clubs and competitors was testament to the organizers as well as the member clubs and competitors and their desire to be part of the official organization that will take submission grappling to all new heights in New Zealand.
With teams of wrestlers just returned from the United States and Australia as well as recently from the Australian cup the stage was set for a truly great South Island championship.
The president of the New Zealand Olympic wrestling Union Andy Roche and fellow board members Wayne Grant, director of officials, and myself, director of promotions, and one of the organizers with the establishment of the FILA World Grappling Committee international grappling for NZ in attendance to witness the first inclusion of submission grappling at the South Island Championships.
The wrestling produced some exciting spectator action and titles were strongly contested. From the 9am start the two competition mats were in constant use right up until the end of the freestyle and Greco-Roman competition and presentation at 1 p.m. The submission grappling commenced immediately after the wrestling presentation and did not disappoint action or the high calibre of the competitors.
The recent Canterbury championships received rave reviews from combat sports fans and these South Island championships took grappling to an all-new level as an official code. The competitors done themselves proud and were great ambassadors for the sport their clubs and this new code to the New Zealand Olympic wrestling Union. It is easy to see how this sport under the control of the global grappling giant Fila with its 80 million competing wrestlers not to mention all the other codes of grappling it conducts and controls will eventually achieve Olympic status for international submission grappling.
The conclusion of the submission grappling included speeches by the president Andy Roche and myself congratulating the competitors and formally inviting them to complete at the first national championships for international submission grappling conducted by the usual of wrestling Union the official body for FILA World Grappling Committee international grappling in NZ.
To complete at the first such nationals will make history and I'm sure although titles will be hard fought in 2009 they will every year become more fiercely contested with the growth of the sport in New Zealand.
There were aspects of the organization of the grappling where there is room for improvement but this will come as this new code identifies the needs and requirements of such competition and the officials and organizers grow in experience but this is to be expected and the most important thing was the standard of grappling was high and the competitors and spectators were pleased with the event.
We have received inquiries since from clubs and individuals confirming their intention to register and become involved after hearing just how well the championships went.
Already there is an international championship in Sydney in October being conducted by the FILA World Grappling Committee Oceania delegate Larry Papadopoulos that the New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union has been invited to send a team to based on competitors results at the South Island championships and the National championships.
We, at the Combat Sports School, are conducting the Combat Sports Open in Dunedin in September which will feature wrestling, submission grappling, mixed martial arts, and Thai boxing and invite all serious competitors to ensure all we receive the entries in August.
This has been the first season that the New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union has conducted submission grappling in New Zealand and the season since its commencement in April until present has already conducted three tournaments including two championships and has the Otago Championships where grappling will be conducted for the first time as well as the nationals and combat sports open and international meet in Sydney to go before the season ends.
The reality is simple, the top competitors are leading the way by joining the official code contesting titles and forging the way for grapplers to the wrestlers at serious international competition representing New Zealand and striving for higher honours. Congratulations to all the new member clubs and competitors and good luck for the rest of the season and next season which stands to be even bigger.
