PHOTOS:
A grip explained
A gripping experience
Fraser and the Welsh squad
Fraser goes airborne
Still good pals afterwards

 

 
And then there was one . . .
 
After 16 weeks of Commonwealth Games challenges, taking me from the local leisure centre to the Vale of Glamorgan, it was time to try my hand at arguably the most daunting of the lot.

Namely, a session with the Welsh Amateur Wrestling Squad at their training base at the Sport Wales National Centre in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
 
Now, to my generation, the term ‘wrestling’ immediately triggers childhood memories of mimicking the likes of Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior and the Undertaker.

This amateur form of the sport however, is not dramatised, is not choreographed, and is certainly not fake - and it’s a sport that is slowly rising to prominence in Wales, thanks in main to Alan and Sue Jones.
 

Alan uses his experience to good effect

 
Alan is the Welsh Amateur Wrestling Association’s Head of Performance, and has been instrumental in building a team for the Games in Glasgow.

Wife Sue meanwhile, serves as President.

“It’s been a big thing for me to get wrestling in Wales,” said Alan, who can boast more than 45 years experience in the sport.

“There is talent out there but it needs bringing out, and people from other sports don’t realise how beneficial the training can be. I’ve done sessions with rugby league teams before and I know the All Blacks have used it as well.”
 

Strong squad selected

 
Indeed, Alan readily admits that wrestling, despite its historical significance, struggles to get the exposure it deserves.

One way of rectifying that in Wales would be a successful Commonwealth Games, with the squad of Thomas Hawthorn, Craig Pilling, Damion Arzu, Oliver Cole and Sarah Connolly all harbouring hopes of returning from Scotland with a medal.

“We want them to get on the podium and with good draws there is no reason why they can’t,” added Alan.

“And that would help us build towards taking a bigger squad to Australia in 2018.”
 

Arash knows his way around wrestling . . .

 
They will be assisted by Arash Shojaei, an Iranian who has turned his hand to coaching after injury curtailed his own competitive career.

“Wrestling is a very tough sport, both physically and mentally,” he warned, as I tentatively warmed up. You have to be strong and powerful, but also quick and agile.

“All the time you are thinking and trying not to get caught. It can be a game of chess at times and you have to react to what your opponent is doing.”
 
And like Alan, he bemoaned the lack of understanding that leads outsiders to dismiss the sport.

“Wrestlers train as hard as any other athletes but that is not always recognised,” he said.

“I’d like people to realise just how hard we work and compete.”
 

. . . and welcomes the Maltese squad

 
Through gritted teeth, I asked Arash whether it was frustrating that the majority automatically associate wrestling with the WWE in America.

“That is the most annoying thing for an amateur wrestler,” he said, without hesitation.

“We are one of the oldest and most historical of sports but that gets overlooked.”

On that note, I decided against opening up a discussion on the former Iranian WWE star, The Iron Sheikh, and prepared to join the squad for what promised to be a testing 90 minutes.

We were joined by the Malta squad, who work in partnership with the Welsh, and members of the national junior squad.
 

Oli makes a good partner

 
I was to be paired with Oli Cole, who in April, won bronze in the 86-96kg category at the British Closed Wrestling Championships.

The word ‘mismatch’ sprung to mind - especially when Oli explained the squad were currently training twice a day, with sessions incorporating speed and power work, strength and conditioning, cardio, weightlifting, plyometrics, and circuits.

And sure enough, the early exercises brought a whole new meaning to the term ‘warm up.’
 

Ferocious pace and neck strains a danger

 
After dynamic stretching, I struggled through a series of technical drills, some of which exerted so much pressure on my neck that I still felt the repercussions three days later.

That brought us on to speed and power work, including a variety of short sprints and leg exercises. Noticeably, all involved, irrespective of their weight category, worked at a ferocious pace.

And it was a pace that duly exposed me when we moved on a 20-metre burst of hand springs, where my efforts to keep up provided little in the way of aesthetic grace.
 

Oli’s great at one on one

 
But despite early signs of dizziness and fatigue, I knew that business was about to pick up as Oli took me aside for a one on one tutorial.

He worked on my stance, grip, and body position, before taking me through the single leg and double leg sweep manoeuvres.

Needless to say, as things got more complex, the ease with which Oli was able to throw me around was frightening. So much so, that when a greatly amused Bill Carne asked him to hold me in a precarious position for a photograph, he nonchalantly did so!
 

Three-second pin-fall

 
But his advice was clear and insightful, especially when I attempted an ambitious ‘bear hug’ without properly interlocking my hands – a rookie mistake that Oli explained could lead to a broken thumb in a competitive bout.

And the final part of the session proved an intriguing one, as I learnt the art of a three second pin fall.

Predictably, I was powerless to prevent my shoulders being pinned on the mat, and when I had a go at pinning Oli down, he advised me to drive my head into his chest for leverage.
I did so, and felt like I was banging my head into a steel wall.
 

Oli’s generous – and knows his stuff!

 
And noticeably, Oli used his neck to propel himself out of holds – justifying the intense work undertaken on that body part in the warm up.

“You did well,” Oli kindly told me afterwards, “it’s a tough sport, and until people take part they don’t realise just how tough.”

He’s not wrong, and my own crash course had been as educational and exhilarating as it had exhausting.
 
Indeed, I don’t exaggerate when I say the athletes I worked alongside in Sophia Gardens were amongst the fittest and most powerful I had ever come across.

And for those who still wish to dismiss the sport as irrelevant, and lazily associate it with the scripted WWE brand, I say this.

Spend 90 minutes on the mat with Oli Cole, and then come back and tell me wrestling is fake.
 

Bill Carne’s look at Fraser Watson being thrown around on a mat:

 

Fraser finds it tough going on the mat but learns a lot

 
It was perhaps appropriate that Fraser and I should have amateur wrestling as his final Commonwealth Games Challenge because in some ways it was the most physically challenging for him in terms of competition whilst from my perspective it was the only sport I knew nothing about in terms of rules, scoring and a host of other minor details.
 
To be fair to wrestling, I wasn't really looking forward to it with any relish, perhaps because I had to be up at 6am on a Saturday so we could drive up to the National Centre of Excellence in Cardiff to meet up with the Welsh Amateur Wrestling team, director of coaching Alan Jones, his wife Anne and team coach Alash Sougio.

 
Alash’s Iranian and Alan is a doughty Lancastrian

 
Alash hails from Iran, where wrestling is a national sport, and his remit is to put the one girl and four fellers who have been selected to represent Wales in this uncompromising sport through their paces, building up their strength, fitness and skills
Most of the wrestlers come from a judo or martial arts background, having been roped in by Alan Jones, aged 67 and a real character if ever there was one. He hails from Leigh, in Lancashire, and with his wife Ann drives down from their home near Machynlleth for the coaching in Cardiff.
 

Maltese mat men made welcome

 
We are not the only visitors on this sunny Saturday morning because joining Fraser for this session is the Maltese team destined for Glasgow. He joins them on the dojo and I can see he is a little apprehensive because on the way up we had discussed Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior and The Undertaker from the daft stuff on tv, and Sumo wrestlers - but these wrestlers in front of him are super-fit, supercharged athletes waiting to test his strength, durability and as yet non-existent wrestling ability!
 

Oli shows Fraser the basics . . .

 
But Fraser gets lucky because volunteering to take him through some moves is Oli Cole, a wrestler from Cardiff who is totally dedicated in his quest for a medal in Glasgow. Oli is very fit, very fast and has a vice-like grip that has Fraser gasping for air after their first 'gentle' coming together!
 
Oli's aim after the games is to become a wrestling coach and he shows what a natural flair he already has by producing a short coaching session for Fraser that was one of the best I have seen in any sport.
 
After a brief explanation of the rules and the ways a fight of two three-minute rounds can be won; either on points for throws or any signs of passivity spotted by the referee and two assistants, or for pinning the opponents' shoulders to the floor, Oli shows Fraser how to stand, grip an opponent, some attacking and defensive moves, and other details.
 

. . . and will make a superb coach!

 
His instructions are precise and always followed by putting detail into practice, even breaking a move into its component parts or taking it into slow motion to make it clear for the Boy from St Davids!
 
Oli was quick to encourage and never once hurried Fraser - and I sat eight feet away and watched him build Fraser's self confidence.

There were nice moments of humour, like when Fraser threw Oli but was turned over like a rag doll and had his shoulders pinned to the floor - or when Oli almost casually lifted Fraser above his head to show how to counter another Watson attempt at attack.
 

Doesn’t time fly when you are enjoying yourself?

 
The time literally flew and when it was time to go it was plain to see that Fraser would have stayed for hours because he had not only enjoyed the physicality but had, in Oli’s words, begun to look like a promising novice wrestler!
 
In typical fashion there were offers from Alan Jones and Oli Cole to come down and give some tuition to get a club started in our county – and I suspect one of the first who might enroll would be Fraser Watson, because he really loved his final challenge – and rounded off the Commonwealth Challenge series in some style!