Houston, Texas: September 14, 1917 (City Auditorium) ... Clarence Eklund b. Pet Brown to capture the World Light Heavyweight Title Houston, Texas: Thursday, November 1, 1917 (City Auditorium) ... Charlie Cutler vs. Ed "Strangler" Lewis - Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow failed to go on with the match, saying that the promoter failed to make their $1,000 guarantee ... (promoter: Frankie Edwards) ... (referee: Ed W. Smith) ... ("several" thousand fans) Notes: Cutler replaced Wladek Zbyszko. Joe Coffey of Chicago was affiliated with Edwards. Edwards claimed he was double-crossed by Jack Curley, who managed Zbyszko. Pet Brown, John Berg, Leslie Mann, and Jack Coombs were in attendance. The promoter offered a refund to all fans, plus gave transportation fees to Sandow, Lewis, Cutler, and Smith. The promoter left the building early, and was found be detectives, charging him with misdemeanor swindling. Edwards claimed it wasn't his fault. He claimed the show cost him $2,000 for expenses, renting the Auditorium, promotion...etc. Cutler wanted to wrestle, and was willing to go under a winner-take-all basis. Houston, Texas: Friday, November 2, 1917 (City Auditorium) ... Pet Brown b. John Berg (2-0) Notes: Berg was from Spokane. Over the next week, Brown and Berg wrestled again in Austin, and Berg took a fall in the bout. Houston, Texas: November 30, 1917 (City Auditorium) ... Clarence Eklund b. Pet Brown (2-0) (33:00, 12:00) Notes: Brown was a former middleweight wrestler, and was now competing at 168-170. Eklund was around 172 pounds. Ralph Grant claimed to be the light heavyweight champion of North and South Dakota, and was stationed at Fort Crockett in Galveston. He was going to challenge the winner. He claimed to have wrestled Dr. Roller, John Berg, Nick Daviscourt, Oscar Wasem, George Hull, Roy Christensen, Fred Gunderson, and others. Professor H. Berneau promoted in Galveston. Brown was managed by J.M. Forwood. The match was under "catch weights," and the title was not on the line. Eklund held a 7-pound weight advantage. While in Texas, Eklund spent time fishing. Galveston, Texas: December 8, 1917 (Grand Opera House) ... Clarence Eklund vs. Ralph Grant ... (promoter: Professor Berneau) Notes: Grant was a marine. He reportedly claimed the Light Heavyweight Title of Idaho. Humble, Texas: December 20, 1917 ( ) ... Clarence Eklund b. Joe Kearnes (2-0) Notes: Many oilmen and businessmen were in attendance. Eklund was going to wrestle at Camp Logan to battle five men, and was going to have to beat all five within 90:00. This was going to occur early in 1918. Afterwards, he will return to Wyoming. Houston, Texas: Wednesday, December 26, 1917 (City Auditorium) ... Clarence Eklund b. Mike Yokel (2-0) (1:22:00, 21:00) Notes: Eklund and Yokel had never wrestled before. An former fireman named Payne trained Eklund for the bout. On Saturday, Yokel was going to Camp Logan to wrestle Bob Davis of Houston. Davis was in the Army. Pet Brown was going to wrestle Yokel on January 11, 1918 in Houston. Houston, Texas: Saturday, December 29, 1917 (Downtown Office) ... Mike Yokel b. Bob Davis (three times within 30:00) Notes: Davis held the division championship of Fort Bowie. He was going to soon wrestle the best at Camp Logan, and maybe in the future against the best of Camp MacArthur and Camp Travis. Research by Steve Yohe |
| Houston Wrestling Results - 1917 |
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