Wrestlers enter the ring at Hethersgill Vintage Rally

This year saw this first event put on by the Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association in the grass season.

This took place at the Hethersgill Vintage Rally on May 1 this year, following a rather rainy night that saw wrestlers and spectators relieved to see had passed when it got time to fight.

This evet was perhaps the one that a lot of the people who arrived at the Rally came for, although if that were true they certainly wouldn't have been disappointed by the other fare on offer - vintage cars, tractors, absurd DIY creations, and food trucks.

The sport attracts the experienced and the amateur, of all ages, and is open to anyone who dares enter the ring.

Linda Scott, chairwoman of the Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association, explained that along with the rally itself, this marked a first in two years because the wrestling was put on hold due to Covid.
Linda said: “We usually come here every year, and this is usually our first event of the year.

“At the most we can have nearly 60 events which run from May right through to October.
“This year we’ve had a few that have dropped out altogether, Covid has just put an end to things, but we’re hoping we’ll still have plenty of shows.
“We’ve found homes for all of championship events – we have 15 championship events and they start with the children’s under 10 and under 12. Once it gets to adults, it goes into weight classes.

“We had 17 applications for these events so we were happy about that because we thought ‘what’s going to happen after Covid?’”

The event started out with the under 8's, going up in age until it reached the under 21's, by which point the competition saw the ladies' open, 12.5 stone, 14.5 stone, and all weights categories, in that order.

The rankings were as follows, in descending order:

Under 8's:

• Elliot Howe
• Sam Pollock
• Connie Cubby

Under 10's:

• Bobby Stewart
• Elena Peacock
• Sophie Armstrong

Under 12's:

• Bobby Stewart
• Abbie Whiteford
• Tom Armstrong

Under 15's:

• Nathan Guy
• Matthew Story
• Thomas Moffat

Under 18's:

• Thomas Nelson
• Vinnie Davidson
• Jade Gibson

Under 21's:

• Thomas Wilson
• Vinnie Davidson
• Jack Gibson

Ladies' Open:

• Abbie Whiteford
• Kelsey Thompson
• Izzie Story

12.5 stone:

• Andrew Carlisle
• Johnathan Wharton

14.5 stone:

• Andrew Carlisle
• Vinnie Davidson
• Thomas Wilson

All weights:

• Thomas Gibson
• Andrew Carlisle
• Vinnie Davidson

The final match was a spectacle, seeing Thomas Gibson win against Andrew Carlisle after it went the other way in the 12.5 stone match.

Speaking to Thomas soon after his victory, he spoke rather humbly about his win: "It was alright.

Tom Gibson (left) and Andrew Carlisle (right) in the final All Weights match

"I was out last night, I've been in Blackpool all weekend.

"I wrestle a lot better than that though."

He likes to think he'll be at the Cumberland Show, and spoke highly of his opponent Andrew of whom he advised me was a better speaker.

Eager to verify this, I spoke to Andrew, a wrestler for 35 years, who said: "It's the first event since having no season at all over the last two years, so it's good to just get back to it."

He confirmed his future appearance at the Cumberland Show.

READ MORE: Full head of steam as Hethersgill Vintage Club enjoys success