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Wrestling championship held in Carrick

Published Monday, 02 May 2011

The NI Open Freestyle Wrestling Championships were held in Carrickfergus over the weekend, with competitors from all over Europe arriving in the Co Antrim town to take part.

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Freestyle, or Olympic, wrestling has taken hold in Northern Ireland in recent years, helped in part by the rise of mixed martial arts.

The sport is worlds apart from the professional wrestling seen on TV, but as one of the mainstays of the Olympic Games there are hopes an NI grappler will be competing at London 2012.

Dave Finlay, who has been involved in wrestling for more than 50 years, said the event has drawn huge international support.

"We've had competitors here from all over Europe, Ireland and Great Britain," he told UTV. "This has been a great day for Olympic-style wrestling, it's just got bigger and bigger."

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Comments

3 Comments

Kit in Carrickfergus wrote (385 days ago):

The reason why each of your sports did not get coverage is most probably because you get enough already! Wrestling is a developing sport and definately does not get anywhere near the amount of press that you get, so why don't you stop complaining and say something positive...

CRFC in Carrick wrote (388 days ago):

And also ... why not cover Carrick Rangers as they played towards and succesfully won a League & Cup double??

windways in Carrickfergus wrote (388 days ago):

explain why you cannot find the staff to cover the Carrick R F C seven- a- side three day annual rugby union tournament in it's 39th year, which attracts hundreds of players from many Countries and spectators and fills every available hotel and B & B bed in the Area. yet you cover a wrestling tournment.