A wrestling tournament was held in Rochester on October 10, 1883 at the Corinthian
Academy.  H.M. Dufur came in first place with three falls no losses, Duncan C. Ross came in
second with five wins and 1 loss, George W. Flagg had three wins and three losses, Dennis
Gallagher had won two and lost two falls, and Marvin Thompson had won three and lost three.  
Pete Kerns lost six falls and came in last.

In Buffalo on January 27, 1891, Evan Lewis beat Hugh Leonard with three falls in 40-minutes.  
Lewis had to win the three falls in 60-minutes and was successful.  The bout was held under
catch-as-catch-can rules and Lewis won $300.  The show was staged at the Gaiety Theatre.

With a victory over James Parr, the champion of England, Tom Jenkins could claim the
championship of the world on February 14, 1902 in Buffalo, New York.  Jenkins won in
two-straight falls and over 4,000 fans were in attendance.  Two months later, on April 18, Dan
McLeod failed to throw Parr three-times in 60-minutes at the Industrial Athletic Club.  An
estimated 6,000 fans were in attendance.

A match between Farmer Burns and Col. J.H. McLaughlin was scheduled to take place in
Syracuse on May 13, 1902, arranged by Tom O'Brien.  McLaughlin still claimed the World
Collar-and-Elbow championship and reportedly moved from Buffalo to Syracuse recently.

On December 19, 1902 in Buffalo, American champion Tom Jenkins defeated Jim Parr with the
second and third falls straight after Parr opened with the fall fall win.  The show took place at
the Sixty-Fifth Regiment Armory.

Harry Brown was the promoter in Buffalo around 1903 and was responsible for bringing many
big matches to the city.  In February, he brokered an important match between Dan McLeod
and Tom Jenkins.

On July 11, 1904 at the Olympic A.C. in Buffalo, Charles "Yankee" Rogers defeated Jack
Munroe in two-straight falls.  Munroe was said to be from Butte, while Rogers was from
Worcester.

On October 17, 1904 in Buffalo, Charles "Yankee" Rogers beat Emile Maupas of Montreal in
two-straight falls.  Rogers won the first under catch rules and the second in the Greco-Roman
style.

Frank Gotch lost a handicap bout to Jim Parr in Buffalo on December 23, 1904.  He had to
beat Parr three-times in an hour, but was only able to win the first and second.  Gotch was
nearing a third victory when the time-limit was reached.

In a stunning display of wrestling skill, George Hackenschmidt beat Parr in Buffalo on May 6,
1905 with three-falls in less than 8-minutes.  Hackenschmidt, in this special handicap affair,
was given an hour to win the falls, but took it to Englishman Parr, beating him in 1:20, 2:50,
and 3:40.  Several thousand fans were in attendance.  Harry Brown of the local Olympic Club
wanted to book Hackenschmidt with Gotch, but no match could be arranged.

In Buffalo on Tuesday, January 18, 1910, Stanislaus Zbyszko b. Raoul de Rouen in
two-straight falls before an estimated 5,000 fans.  The match was heated and rough, and the
crowd voiced its displeasure at de Rouen's tactics.  de Rouen was banned from wrestling in
Chicago because of his in-ring actions.


A report out of Buffalo on February 19, 1930 stated that manager-promoter Jack Herman
wanted to bring Marin Plestina out of retirement to challenge championship claimants Dick
Shikat and Gus Sonnenberg.



In 1941, Jack Ganson ran the International Booking Office in Buffalo.



*Dan Parker reported in his January 5, 1948 column that Jack Herman sold his interests in the
Great Lakes Athletic Club in Buffalo to Pedro Martinez.  Martinez was now the partner of Ed
Don George.




On January 10, 1953, Martinez sold the Manhattan Booking Agency for $25,000 to a
combination of Joe "Toots" Mondt, Kola Kwariani, and Antonino Rocca.  He returned to
Upstate New York, where he was running Sports Activities, Inc. out of Rochester.  However,
Mondt and his partners failed to pay upwards of $19,750, then the New York corporation went
bankrupt, leaving Martinez out of thousands of dollars.  Martinez, in a letter to Sam Muchnick
in October 1953, said that the corporation had been badly mismanaged.  Many wrestlers were
also owed money for appearances, and "Official Wrestling" was not printed the month before.  
Trying to regain a voice in the situation, Martinez asked Muchnick to reinstate him with a
half-vote in the NWA, but it wasn't to be.

Martinez filed suit, and continued to fight to get his money.  It was an uphill battle he would not
win.




In Niagara Falls on February 21, 1955, Billy McDaniels was thrown from the ring by Pat
Flanagan, and his 225-pounds landed on a "blonde from St. Catharines" named Dorothy
Fairchild, who was taken to Greater Niagara General Hospital, according to the Toronto Daily
Star (2/22/55).  Fairchild, 30, was "able to sit up in bed today," according to hospital officials.




Research by Tim Hornbaker
Buffalo & Upstate New York Wrestling Territory