Profile of Squashlad (251)

Such a shame that Craig had been given a beating the day before by a fellow wrestler that when we met he was extremely sore. That said he did give a good account for himself as we wrestled. Was hoping for a two on one beatdown with readyforit but had to think of other ways of squashing this jobber! Got him tapping in my figure 4 headlock.

We have already pencilled in a rematch and I hope he has learned his lesson not to have two wrestles in two days when we meet.

Great wrestler, safe and sane, recommended

09/04/2017 and another two on one match with me and Brit Pro Heel against Squashlad. This time Squashlad learned his lesson from last time and he was set upon by us. I managed to put my figure 4 headlock on him and made him submit. Then Brit Pro Heel added his force to the mix, they even ganged up on me (I won't forget that!). Gave him a few slaps (thanks Rob c57 for that idea) and a couple of wedgies. 3rd time can't come quick enough. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

September 2018
Thanks to Craig for coming to a group meet where it was mostly Pro guys but he held his own against each and everyone but when I got him I scissored him hard (as I know he likes it!)

06/11/2016: It was very rude of me to turn up to the little group meet at the High Barnet matroom that ShockR had kindly arranged for us in no fit state to wrestle after being destroyed by Solidman the day before, but I didn't want to cancel or rearrange as I had been wanting an opportunity to wrestle him for ages. Thankfully for me he and readyforit were very forgiving and were careful to work around my bruises and I really enjoyed our little series of matches, even if things were less intense than they could have been. And if ShockR was getting properly stuck into me things may well have been very intense, as he's a very strong guy, with big, powerful legs and arms. I saw what his bulging biceps inadvertently did to readyforit! So I am very much looking forward to a rematch with this great guy, who is safe and sane and highly recommended by me.
09/04/2017: Well the rematch with ShockR was Spoil Squashlad Day as he kindly arranged a two-on-one demolition match for me at the Walthamstow ring, with me mismatched against BRIT PRO HEEL and him. The evil heels weren't slow in showing me that taking on the two of them was a major challenge, and I got taken apart, ShockR specializing in working over my lower body with a nice range of leg and ankle locks and plenty of forearm smashes and body punches. All very safely and considerately done though: ShockR is just a total pleasure to grapple with. Round 3 therefore needs to happen sooner!

Finally got to wrestle squashlad, after wanting to wrestle him for a while. A nice guy who is as tenacious as his other opponents say he is. In fact it became a battle of who was the more stubborn, we drew on that. Great company as well as a great wrestle. I hope we wrestle sometime soon.

Had a very sweaty but at the same time very nice wrestle with Squashlad at the Seven Sisters Matroom in London. First time i booked a matroom myself. Very even match going back and forth. Squashlad has great technique and knows how to use it while wrestling. Very nice guy off the mats too!
Definitely wants to wrestle him again (and again). Hope it doesn't take too long before we meet again!!

1997 I visited Newzealand - the land of the long white cloud and enjoyed the breathtaking landscape of the two islands. Twenty years later I met a "Kiwi" in Berlin for a wrestling match. Squashlad is a nice grounded guy and he is very reliable. So it was easy to arrange a match with him. On the mat Squashlad is safe, sane and fabulous fun to wrestle with. I was impressed how strong he is. Be aware when you get into his hold, there is no escape. ;-) I highly recommend Squashlad for a sweatty grappling match. Im looking forward to meet him again for a rematch and the beer afterwards ;-))

12/06/2017: My final match in Berlin for this year was a cracker thanks to the very fine opponent that is Ringer 43. What a great guy: strong, skilled, keen, punctual, engaging and intelligent, he was very easy to arrange a match with, pushed hard for a win but didn't take himself too seriously and was really interesting to talk to between submissions, about life growing up in the DDR and everything and anything else. Ringer 43 is safe, sane and fabulous fun to grapple with and is very highly recommended. A rematch with him would be a very great pleasure and is one of many good reasons to get back to Berlin sooner rather than later.
27/05/2018: Back to Berlin and another grapple with Ringer 43, and again it was a highlight of a fabulous German 🇩🇪 holiday. He's big, strong and determined, and goes for the sub but nevertheless just wrestles for the fun of it, and time spent with him, either grappling or chatting, is an absolute pleasure. Hopefully only the second of many sweaty grapples with this top quality guy.

20/05/2018: The fantastic Einsteiger freestyle training camp in Lindow (Mark) was once the opportunity to meet some new guys as well as to catch up with some old friends, and a wrestle with hashbock during the post-training open mat sessions was one of the highlights of that this year. Freestyle is hardly the forte of either of us, but it was a useful discipline to try to put into practice what we'd been learning. I found hashbock on the mats to be a safe and considerate opponent. Nevertheless the real benefit of meeting him was off the mats as he's great company, and made a good fellow to go exploring more of Berlin and Brandenburg with, especially on a fabulous day trip out to Potsdam kindly guided for us by catchbear1 and OefightBln. Always up for a coffee or a beer, a chat or a grapple, a discussion on contemporary American politics or an impromptu Czech lesson, he's great to be around. Nevertheless we do have to hit the mats again and try some submission! Highly recommended.

25/05/2018: A trip back to Berlin was a chance to catch up with friends and wrestlers old and new, and although I spent most of my time with old comrades, I'm pleased that I managed to get some matches in against friends not yet met, otherwise I would have missed out on the smilely and hospitable force of nature that is scissorboi! Arranging a match with him was a breeze, and he kindly had me around to his amazing apartment for a grapple and a few much-needed post-match beers on a beautiful Berlin summer's day. We certainly sweated, but that wasn't solely down to the sultry conditions: this is a wrestler who likes to get stuck in, isn't remotely fazed by taking on guys bigger than himself, and doesn't even mind it a bit (sanely) rough. As he said, he's an Austrian 🇦🇹 country boy, a bit of falling out of trees toughens you up! (It apparently also gives you a superb physique, although that he attributed to his job.) Between subs and once we'd admitted that the winner was the heat, he's a chatty and cheerful guy, outgoing and funny and a kind host. Definitely a guy to wrestle again and again and I hope that I can again soon.

I had a fantastic 2-hour-match with Squashlad at the Grove Park ring yesterday. I am not much experienced in wrestling, have not performed so many match so far, and the wrestling bout I had with him is by far the best I have ever had. Our match was composed mainly by submission/grappling holds, he patiently taught me how to perform properly arm/head/hammer locks, in addition to practicing other submission holds. He has a very strong neck and he perfectly knows how to wrestle and adjust as well with a lighter opponent than him, at the end of the match I felt fulfilled and honored to having wrestled this skilled opponent.
I strongly recommend him both for experienced wrestlers and novice as well, he is surely one if the best grappler in London and everyone could learn something with him.
Always safe & sane, off the mat he is a polite man and a good listener as well, although I do not have a solid grasp of the English language.
YES, highly recommended, looking forward to wrestle with him again soon.

01/04/2016: Had a great wrestle with HHfight at the Grove Park ring and felt really privileged to be one of this fine-wrestler-in-the-making's first grapples in London. My height and weight advantage did mean that things were tricky for him, but this is not a guy to worry about that, he gets stuck in and is super keen and enthusiastic and that combined with his startling strength meant that he did get some submissions off me, particularly with his very effective headlocks. He also nicely had me on the back foot with some good punches when we mixed things up a bit with a boxer v. wrestler bout. HHfight is in great shape and with his hunger to win, once he gains a bit more technique and learns to pace himself he'll be a formidable opponent. Safe and sane on the mats, off them he's a chatty and interesting guy and therefore I'm very much looking forward to another match with him. Highly recommended.
10/05/2018: A rematch with HHfight took far too long to arrange (which was entirely my fault), but it was well worth waiting for. We met up this time at the Stockwell matroom and had a good sweaty tussle, which will hopefully this time be just a prologue to some more regular grappling. A quality opponent.

Squashlad certainly taught me a lesson.

I went into the meet with very little submission experience; just one previous meet. As the meet progressed, Squashlad gave me advice on what I should be doing, what I should be avoiding and on what I should be aiming to do.

Just what a beginner needs. But don’t be mistaken, he didn’t take it easy on me; well, not so as I noticed anyway. He took submission after submission and encouraging as he was when I did something right, he always had a counter ready. It was a truly challenging meet.

Squashlad was easy to talk to, open and engaging. He also had the fitness and strength to apply his knowledge and skills. I look forward to the day when I can prove to him that I have learnt.

08/01/2018: It was great to meet jonny innocent when he's just starting out in wrestling, because I could just about keep him under control, but once he masters a bit more technique to go with his strength, stamina and desire to win he's going to have a lot of guys flattened. He was aggressive in the best possible way from the off, is very strong (with legs like tree trunks), moves swiftly, and has a real desire not to concede any submissions to his opponent, so wrestling him was much more challenging than I'd anticipated it being with a rookie, and, more importantly, was a huge amount of fun. His speed on the mats is impressive, but he's not frenetic or failing, but controlled and safe. Between subs he is interesting and easy to talk to, enthusiastic and friendly, and came across as an all-round nice guy (with a spectacular physique). His willingness to grapple with me rather than stick to his preferred pro style says a lot about his cooperative approach to wrestling and I hope that he continues to develop an interest in submission—mainly so that I can grapple with him some more. Very highly recommended. Can't wait to see him in the Jonny Innocent trunks!
04/05/2018: Got a rematch in with the legman, and his progress was very evident. Took me ages to get a first submission off him, and it really shouldn't given how new he is to wrestling and that pro continues to be his preferred style. But he is strong, tough, determined and resilient, so I had to work hard. That did make the eventual tap that much more satisfying though! A top quality guy and an absolute pleasure to wrestle.

Had an amazing first ring experience with this strong handsome guy. Was introduced to many new things and enjoyed being generally tossed about and crushed, especially between his strong legs. He's a really nice easy going guy though and made me feel completely at ease, making sure it was safe and sane. No hesitation in meeting him again and being shown more of his skills.

25/04/2018: It's always a privilege to be someone's first opponent, and although I wasn't Funlad89's, it was his first time in a ring, so that was pretty cool. It was very easy to arrange the match with him and we had a fun few sweaty hours' grappling at Walthamstow doing some submission coaching and some heel/jobber pro play. He's a cooperative, well-named wrestler, safe and sane when wrestling and interesting and intelligent to talk to when taking a break. He's got a good baseline level of strength and I'm sure could develop in competitive wrestling if he chooses to. But even if he sticks to jobbing I would welcome more ring time with him. Highly recommended.

11/04/2018
Squashlad and I had been speaking since pretty much day 1 on MF.
What else can I say apart from that his positive, experienced and strong reputation precedes him. A super friendly ‘Kiwi’ ;)
who’s probably the most relaxed in terms of wrestling and accommodates your needs and objectives from the match, over his.
We were back and fourth in the ring and and then on the mats, actively and safely performing submissions with a tiny bit of pro thrown in for me. 👍
Although, something I better mention is my very over compensating expressive face, which became the highlight for Squash. He made me realise there’s a lot for me to learn, build on and to apply successfully and effectively having the ultimate impact on ones opponent. Highly recommended and I will be back for round 2!

11/04/2018: It was great to get a match in with JackBC while he's just starting out in wrestling as his size, strength and enthusiasm mean that he's soon going to be a real handful and too much for an old man like me! It was very easy to arrange a match with him and he turned up right on time. He's very easy to talk to: indeed if you're not really in the mood for conversation he'll happily do that for you. His height does make him a bit of a challenge to control but he's not the lanky inexperienced sort who's all flailing limbs, he's a controlled and thoughtful wrestler who is looking to improve. He was very tolerant of my preference for submission, which was therefore most of our match, but we did a little bit of pro for fun too. He's got a very expressive face—he really would be great on the radio—so it was occasionally fun to tie some painful knots in him, but he's by no means a pushover, and in a rematch he may well take his revenge. Safe, sane, fun and funny, JackBC is highly recommended.

Wrestled SquashLad early on a Sunday morning. Granted it’s not my best time of the day but the only time schedules worked. He is polite and courteous, the type of guy you feel comfortable with in your house very quickly. We chatted. Wrestled and had a lot of fun. Clearly to jobber type but get a sense that he is more than competent when he wants that kinda match. Following the wrestle we had a nice walk and talk. Great guy. Would meet again.

15/04/2018: There is something about the confidence of a guy who opens his front door to you in nothing but his underwear that tells you that you're going to have a great match. Still, if I had a physique like that I'd probably show it off too: there are ocean liners with less beam then maw1667's musclecub shoulders. So it was straight down to action in his box room, and unsurprisingly I was totally dominated—although I was hardly complaining! He doesn't just rely on his size and strength though: although I was demolished with a few nice bodyslams he's a surprisingly technical wrestler for such a powerhouse, and thinks through what he's doing to maintain control, so we had a good fun grapple. Although it was straight into the action he's a chatty and hospitable guy, always careful to ensure that his guest is having a good time, and it was very enjoyable to spend the morning with him after our match, walking his schnauzer (who's almost as cute as his dad), exploring the area, drinking too much coffee and generally putting the world to rights. Safe and sane when wrestling, friendly and interesting when not, maw1667 was a complete pleasure to meet and wrestle and I hope to get a rematch with him sooner rather than later.

09/04/2018: A good sweaty match with Motbridge11 at the Walthamstow ring was just the thing to liven up a dull Monday at the office. It was very easy to arrange a match with him and he turned up bang on time, letting us make the most of the booking, and is one of those guys whom you take an instant liking to, being all big smiles and a sense of fun. He does like jobbing, so I was in a rather unaccustomed rôle as heel, but he's not the dead fish type, he fights back and wrestles properly, and his gym regime means that he's got a good level of baseline strength and plenty of power when he needs it, so we had a good fun match, and left the ring definitely needing a mopping! (Which of course it got.) Interesting to chat to between submissions, safe and sane on the mats, this nice guy is highly recommended and a must for a rematch sooner rather than later.

I had a fun time in the ring, thanks to Squashlad. As many other guys have written, he is a really nice guy and very strong. He made an arrangement and organized the special rule match, which was really exciting to me.
Look forward to the next special match with him.

06/04/2018: I was privileged enough to be included on Magnum JP's packed fight card on his latest trip to Europe and was really pleased that I was as we had an excellent match at the Grove Park ring. The bout was very easy to arrange with him and he is a very courteous and charming guy, easy and fun to chat to despite him having to do everything in my language thanks to my embarrassingly monoglot status. In the ring I had thought that my extra height would give me an edge, and it was certainly very useful, but this was no easy match: Magnum JP is in superb shape, and the muscles aren't just for show. He shares my taste for a bit of the rough stuff, so when he got on top you certainly knew about it! Always entirely safe, sane and respectful of his opponent though. So no doubts that this is a guy whom you want a rematch with and who comes very highly recommended: but if there had been, a parting gift of a big hug, his huge warm smile and a generous present from Japan of some delicious green tea chocolates would have fixed that! How can you not like an opponent who gives you presents just for wrestling him? A must-meet if he is in your town and I hope I can wrestle him again sooner rather than later.

Met this guy today, not an ideal venue, but we had a good grapple... Strong, good technique, pleasant fella and a good match all round ;-)
Def be up for another grapple sometime so hope we get the chance!

24/03/2018: Hotel room matches are always a bit frustrating, and when you're tackling a tall, very strong guy who, like you, wants to get really stuck in, that's particularly the case, so we both knew within a few minutes of locking up that a rematch at a more appropriate venue would need to be arranged. That said, we made the best of what was available, and it was a very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday morning. The match was no bother at all to arrange, and birmingham uk fighter came as billed: a safe, sane, pleasant and intelligent guy who was interesting to chat to before the grappling began—and then a real handful. He didn't seem handicapped by his night on the tiles that he'd not that long since got back in from and his strength was very evident, getting me locked up nicely in lots of punishing holds. Subs went both ways and we had a good sweaty battle, concluded only but all too soon by his need to check out of the room. Hopefully therefore we can resume shortly somewhere more matted and spacious! Highly recommended.

Had a great tag match at grove park on the 18th December great bloke , great wrestler , and a lovely fella outside the ring

Saturday 30th June had a great 1 to 1 with Craig as I had expected I was totally outclassed. It was a hot , sweaty 2 hours at Walthomstoe
I can totally recommend Craig safe sane with a great sense of humour

03/07/2016: Had a good grapple with Back hammer at the Grove Park ring when he was down visiting London. He kindly accommodated my taste for submission rather than Britpro, but we did a bit of pro as well, which was a mistake on my part as he got me pinned! A strong but safe wrestler. Out of the ring he's a chatty and pleasant guy and easy to talk to. Highly recommended.
18/12/2016: Great to wrestle Back hammer again, this time in a tag-team match with Londonlatino, while he partnered with Ringwrestler123. Thankfully for us he'd already been wrestling all weekend, including a three-hour match that morning, so that helped us to counter some of his strength. Always a pleasure to meet as well as to wrestle, so hopefully round 3 with him will be an early fixture in 2017.

Having been chatting for a while, had a heel/jobber match with Squashlad whilst in London yesterday. He arranged the matroom and met me at Stockwell Tube.
We had 2 full hours of sweaty grappling on the mats and, if this isn’t a contradiction, he’s a hugely nice heel! That said, his favourite arm bar and chokes were applied with some force, as were headscissors from some powerful thighs (got him in mine once!); his facepins were also effective.
He’s a witty and intelligent guy, very easy to get along with and good to chat with.
We agreed to meet again, hopefully before too long (he may even get to experience more of my scissors!) and am really looking forward to it. In the meantime, a huge recommendation from me.

Great, strong grappler! This guy has a lot to offer on the mats, he's quick, agile and adopts good technique...especially in defence. He as a strong body with impressive tone. Brilliant lad and all round gent! Thanks bro anytime! Highly recommended.

May12,18: Squash and i do hard Match..First i handle him ,but after few moments he headlock me...and i let him See the ropes...Twist arms in ropes and tortured hin with kneekicks in Belly and Bodyside....lately i land on ground....pinned with his very hard painful armbar....He looks Lean but He very Strong..atlethic Body..want him again...in ringeside...Squashtime in Ring : EVER!!

7/4/18 at Pippa's, Wrestled squashlad in the ring,wow super nice guy,so strong I had no chance except to submit over and over again to this super Wrestler, had great time,thanks for wrestling me from Ripper Roger xxx,14/4/18 WOW Wrestled again, this guy is awesome,he just smiles at me knowing I will submit at any minute, when he's ready,love it

After a wrestling famine of some time it was great to meet the pleasant , enthusiastic expatriate Craig. A humid day saw us with differing styles size each other up.We both benefited from the speedo grapple and physical tune up.Squash lad was squashed and quashed enough. As he has numerous opponents in a short time I was unsure how skilled he'd be.He was unable to get much of his submission focus on me as I pinned him a few times.I well recommend him as an approachable, amiable and easy going opponent; no fuss to arrange a match alongside.
The feeling after the wrestle match was buoyant to have met a friendly off the mats focused guy and aggressive enough on them.Glad we got to meet on either side of the world, to use the body in an real and fun encounter.Thanks mate..

27/02/2018: The first match of my Kiwi holiday was a cracker and certainly did its job of blowing the cobwebs away and dealing to the 13 time zones of jetlag. Scottimike proved himself to be a huge handful and the sultry Auckland weather meant that we sweated buckets, which was just what I needed. In some ways it was a bit of a stalemate of a match as he was far too skilled in Olympic freestyle for me to get him off, with him constantly on top and in control, but not often finding a way in to turn all the dominance into a tap; but in other ways it was all him, as he was constantly on top, and certainly if we'd included pins it would've been about 100–0 to the freestyler. He's very modest about his skills though, and similarly downplays the extent to which some serious strength contributes to his effortless control of his opponent. He was always safe and sane but has an enjoyably rough edge to his wrestling that made for an excellent match. After the sweaty stuff he also proved an excellent host, taking me for coffee and a bit of a tour, and he's generally easy and interesting to chat to and very pleasant to spend time with. Very highly recommended and a must for a rematch in either hemisphere.

Wow, So two days latter I sit down to write this and I'm still sore, in a good way. That muscle ache when you know you have had a great workout.

From the outset communication was fantastic and a match was arranged with very little mucking around.

In person he is easy and fun to talk to, before, during and after the match. I was a little nervous, but he quickly put me at ease.

Wrestling wise he is strong, very strong, and can take (and enjoys) any punishment you can deal out. Skills wise he knows his tricks. After the 30 minuets we were up to 3-1 in his favor. ( Headlocks that I just had no counter for) To make things a little more interesting he agreed to remove the headlock from his menu, and thus handicapped the real battle began. The battles were intense, long and sweetly, but at all times in control and felt safe.

He loves his wrestling and it is a pleasure to spend time with him. Also his pics on here make him look a lot older than he is. Oh an do not give his legs the credit they deserve. Did I mention GREAT legs.

28/02/2018:
The Short Version
If you're looking for a short, fat, ugly opponent for an ego-boosting easy victory, I wouldn't bother with Andrae frankly.
The Long Version
You can underestimate these colonials you know. They may not get many opponents and so might be a little lacking in technique, but fuck me they're strong. I should have known from the off saying hello to Andrae, with his T-shirt and jeans struggling to contain all the bulging tanned muscle, that this was going to be hard work, but I'm cocky enough that I did still think that I'd come out on top. I was wrong about that. It took him a little while to relax into the bout, and I got a few early chokes in, but by the end, with his confidence gained, he was chucking me across the room like I was a quarter of my actual weight, and trying out effective new things on me. He got the decider with a lovely ankle lock that came out of nowhere and had me tapping instantly. But despite the victory, physique and good looks he's an unassuming and charming guy, very easy and interesting to chat to and get along with, modest about his skills and keen to ensure that you're enjoying the bout too: which I certainly did. A safe and sane nice guy, a must meet if you're in Auckland, hard work but an absolute pleasure to wrestle, he comes very highly recommended.

It was great to meet Craig.
He is very strong and I feel I was no great match for him but he was kind enough to tap a few times having got him in a few holds he had shown me. I hope I can remember them for the next time!
A really lovely man, willing to hand on his great skills and to spend time with chatting and sorting out the world.

I look forward to meeting Craig again & recommend you do too.

09/08/2017: It was a privilege to be one of Johnrpage's first opponents for a good relaxing grapple at his place in the West End. He's enthusiastic and startlingly strong, with a good intuitive grasp of things and some impressive scissors, so we had a fun tussle, and his natural fitness and strength coming from all his cycling and swimming were very evident. He's also a kind host and an intelligent and interesting guy to chat to, about all sorts of things, and although a large glass of red wine may not be a personal trainer's idea of post-match hydration, it certainly worked for me! Johnrpage is highly recommended and safe and sane and I'm looking forward to seeing his progress when we have a rematch.

I first met Squashlad at a meet in Manchester and I was initially amazed at how enthusiastic and positive he was about wrestling! He made a great opponent and jobber and can take loads of punishment while being destroyed and always wants more! He worked well with my fake kos and I was very happy to have met such a great guy as he was really fun to talk to and he lifted me out of the bad mood I had that day. An amazing guy to wrestle

10/09/2016: You've probably looked at Mike's profile and seen that he's 5' 5" and thought that he wouldn't be all that much of a challenge. You would be wrong. The lad has obviously been living at the campus gym and making eating quality food his major as he's a short, non-green Hulk, approximately as broad as he is tall. (He should definitely put up some more profile photos.) And all the muscle is not just for show. If, like me, you tell him when chatting beforehand that you're fine with him doing his favorite heel turn, and that you're fine with the rough stuff, that is what you are going to get. He's got a tough, brawling style of wrestling, clearly likes being in charge and is very strong. Being locked in one of the private matrooms at the Wrestling Factory and destroyed by the young powerhouse was quite an experience! As well as being a thug he is also, however, a really nice lad, polite, friendly and modest, and despite the roughness he's safe and sane and wrestles with consideration for his opponent. Can't wait to wrestle him again; by which time he tells me he's going to be even more hench! So maybe we will have to paint him green after all....

Met Squashlad today and found him to be a really nice guy. Can take a long and sustained work over. Would recommend.

10/02/2018: Thanks to the sponsorship of the ever-generous DaveLon martialartslad2013 came down to London from Edinburgh just for a bout v. little me! Now how's that for spoilt? Rather unsurprisingly I was no match for the heavyweight judo black belt, and am now rather battered and bruised, but martialartslad2013 is perfectly safe and sane, knows what he's doing and strictly respects whatever limits you set. His enthusiasm for combat sports is obvious and he's easy and interesting to chat to before and after a bout. Highly recommended.

easy going friendly guy; It was my first fight after a few years, so I was worried that the match would be very uneven. Squashlad is a strong, skilled and experienced fighter and i found myself all too often loosing. However, Squashlad was very helpful, patient and showed me many tricks and moves making the whole match very enjoyable.

15/01/2018: It's always a pleasure getting to wrestle guys who've made a conscious decision to really give wrestling a good go and do more of it and a match with WolfinLondon at the Stockwell matroom was no exception. His enthusiasm was infectious and it was a great way to spend a cold winter's Monday evening. He's tall and strong and in great shape so when he couples that with some more experience he will be formidable. Between subs he's interesting and easy to chat to (although I did chicken out of trying out my schoolboy German on him!) and on the mats he's safe and sane. With his packed schedule of upcoming bouts I may have to wait my turn for another crack at him but it will be well worth it! Highly recommended.

04/11/2017: Unfortunately he's a less frequent visitor to England nowadays, so it was an extremely nice surprise to see alexxwrestler turn up to the Grapevine Group meet at the High Barnet matroom—I'd thought that I'd missed my chance to take him on. You can see why he makes such an impression as soon as he takes his shirt off, and the muscles are not just for show: it was very startling tapping out so quickly to a guy so much lighter, but his strength, speed, agility and good technique meant that I had little option. Thankfully for my self respect I did manage to eventually even the score up, through rather gracelessly flattening the muscular lightweight, but make no mistake, this is a quality wrestler who will easily defeat most guys bigger than him. He's beautifully aggressive, but in a very safe way, so wrestling him is as much of a pleasure as it is a challenge. Off the mats he's charming, self effacing and easy to talk to—which makes a nice counterpoint to his demon mat presence!
Alexxwrestler deserves his fine reputation and is very highly recommended, and I hope to get a rematch with him before too long: but I do realize how long the queue is!

4 November, 2017
After a long gap I wrestled Squashlad again at a Grapevine meeting in Barnet.
Had a good fight as he was not a pushover, but eventually submitted after putting up a good resistance. Well recommended.
I am looking forward to another match soon.

04/11/2017: Despite being at several meets together in the past, it'd been years since I'd last got a grapple in with Rock Hard Pete, so it was great to have a quick tussle with him at the end of the Grapevine Group meet at the High Barnet matroom. It took a while for us jockeying for position but his size and strength meant that, once on top, the submission was only a matter of time, and it was very safely and sanely done. Off the mats Rock Hard Pete is a cheery chap, outgoing and easy to talk to. Hopefully a rematch with him will be quicker in the coming.

04/11/2017: The Grapevine Group meet at the High Barnet matroom was an excellent opportunity for several tussles with devonwrestler. This enthusiastic grappler was new to me, but not new to the mats, so I had to work hard to get anything off him, and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully he thought so too as we had several good grapples during the course of the meet. A safe and sane nice guy, he was chatty and outgoing and easy to talk to between bouts, and added greatly to making it a top quality meet. Highly recommended.

What a total pleasure it was to meet this highly experienced and skilled man at last on the mats, - a long overdue meeting. This guy is one of the very best here on MF. First he manages to be easily encouraging to everyone around him, dispelling any slight nervousness with relaxed, unforced, genuine charm. Secondly he is in great shape....strong and flexible too and with such abiding enthusiasm for wrestling that it is contagious to anyone who meets him. Thirdly he is one of those guys who make you feel totally safe when he is wrestling.....all that experience behind him seems to have created a man of the mats who is very comfortable to roll with. No sense of strong ego here....even when being competitive. And yes of course he is skilled and determined too, but there is a twinkle in the eyes and I can only say to everyone don’t hesitate to meet him and wrestle, whatever your level. It’s no wonder that so many have met him and written entirely positively of his many qualities here. A gentleman of the mats. Hope to meet again soon and benefit from his self-effacing expertise.

06/01/2018: After what seemed like an aeon of never quite managing to be in the same place at the same time it was fantastic to finally get to the Grapevine Group meet at the Wrestling Factory in Ancoats at the same time as the legendary davey123 and take him on. You will be entirely unsurprised to hear that he wiped the floor with me, but you know, wrestling mats can never be too clean, and it's no issue losing to a guy who's not only this well built and skilled, but also a charming, self-effacing nice guy. He's one of those total gentlemen of the mats who, when asked about your match, will describe you in such glowing terms that anyone listening would almost assume that you'd dominated him easily, rather than the rather more accurate other way around. Despite all the impressive strength he has a very controlled and technical grappling style and wrestling him is therefore very safe. Between subs, off the mats and over post-meet dinner and drinks he's easy and interesting to chat to, with wide interests and many good stories about wrestling and life. He's already very kindly invited me for a rematch along with mutual friends, and I hope that I can take him up on that very soon. Davey123 is one of this site's “must wrestles” for a reason and mat time with him is an absolute pleasure.

Had the pleasure to meet Squashlad last night after months of arranging by my fault. Heard so many great recommendations about him and none of them wrong. Such a nice guy on and off mats. We wrestled at stockwell room and the size of the room was a quarantee for sweaty wrestle. We rolled for good two hours and had quality grapple. A few good moves from Squashlad made this session very enjoyable for me. As I sweat a lots in 5min the floor was wet and slippery and we kept fighting on the ground and it was great to practice.
If you haven’t met him yet don’t wait challenge him as you won’t regret.

Ps: you will pay back for the nasty scratch next time mate lol . Can’t wait for round 2

25/01/2018: After several false starts it was brilliant to finally get to take on the powerhouse that is tasci for a little fun roll at the Stockwell matroom. He's a serious wrestler with a serious physique, and had me in plenty of trouble once in the mount, but he's also a really nice guy and this was just the relaxed post-work winter workout that we'd agreed on, so it was a lot of sweaty fun. It was particularly interesting to take on a guy who has a solid background in Olympic wrestling, and it showed in his rare preference for taking control while still standing, and I'm therefore very keen to wrestle him again at a venue with more space for throws. It will also be good to get him to use all his power and see what happens! Between subs he's chatty and easy and interesting to talk to, and all in all meeting him made for a very enjoyable evening. Safe and sane, this quality wrestler comes highly recommended and a rematch with him is a priority.

Well as many other guys have written, Squashlad is a really nice guy and was great to spend my first time inside a ring at Walthamstow and was kind to share his own wrestling experiences.

I had a fun time in the ring, Squashlad is tough and strong and knows how to move around on the canvas, to his own advantage. He executes holds very well, cranking up the pressure and have the bruises to prove it this morning. Fortunately, it wasn't fully one sided although it seemed it at times and he seemed to enjoy a rocking camel clutch, head scissor variations, being driven hard into the corner and a reverse leg lock.

Highly recommend meeting this guy for a thoroughly enjoyable time.

29/01/2018: It was great to meet this strong nice guy early on in his MeetFighters adventure for a sweaty winter warmer of a grapple at the Walthamstow ring. He's enthusiastic and unfazed by taking on more experienced guys, has some good power, especially in his legs, and is keen to upskill and try things out, so he makes for a fun opponent. Between subs and off the mats he's pleasant and easy to chat too, and has a good knowledge of classic pro wrestling. Definitely a guy to meet again soon. Safe, sane and highly recommended.

Squashlad and the Enigma have battled on two occasions, both lengthy, one each so far, big wrestler who likes to dish it as well as suffer and has made me unload in every contest.

Have battled this now heavily muscled legend of the British wrestling scene on a few very enjoyable and sweaty occasions now, and am usually shown who's boss. I think he quite likes it when I do manage to turn the tables on him though! So I'm looking forward to taking him down and pinning and punishing him for a good couple of hours again really soon. Unless, of course, he gets that killer headlock on me first, in which case the anaconda will be back in action, slowly devouring its victim. An absolute five-star recommendation for Mr Mystery....

Nov 17. What a nice guy. Met at the Barnet meet today. Our first time hitting the mats together and also the opportunity to do it more than once. Real friendly guy with some very good skill. Off the mats he's great conversation. Wish we had had longer but was glad for the time I got. 10/10

04/11/2017: I'd assumed when he emigrated that I'd missed my chance for a grapple with the legend that is Mark uk, but thankfully a trip to the Grapevine Group meet at the High Barnet matroom had a nice surprise for me in his (substantial) form. I was expecting him to be big: he is. I was expecting him to be strong: he is. I was expecting him to be skilled: he is. I was expecting him to beat me with ease: he did. So no additional surprises then. Well, except that along with all the muscle and skill you get a modest, unassuming, funny and charming guy whom you'd like to go for a pint with after the match and the meet: less expected perhaps, but very welcome. In short therefore, Mark uk is an absolute five-star bloke and an absolute five-star wrestler; safe, sane and very highly recommended, and I hope that I can somehow get lots more mat time with him soon.

I had the great pleasure of wrestling this powerful Kiwi transplant at a recent group meet in Manchester. I knew from various reports and recommendations that he was very strong and accomplished. What an understatement! He overpowered me and had me submitting almost at will. He had me thinking I should change my name to Squashedlad but I decided to maintain his modesty.He is blessed with a quick wit and ready smile, both of which he employed while making me tap innumerable times as well as later on during drinks and dinner. Highly recommended.

11/11/2017: I'd been chatting to Hardmatch for ages so it was a real treat to get this excellent guy over to England and on the mats at the Wrestling Factory in Ancoats courtesy of the little meet kindly organized for us by eastcheshireguy. Wrestling him was a lot of sweaty fun although his punishing match schedule was very evident! We hit the mats again later in the day at John's meet and this is certainly a guy you could wrestle over and over. Very safe and sane. Off the mats and over some much needed dinner and a few pints he's even more fun to spend time with, being an engaging, outgoing, generous and funny guy. Hopefully a rematch with him won't need to await me getting out to British Columbia as Hardmatch should be a wrestling regular! Highly recommended.

I had the pleasure to meet Squashlad at a group meet, and what a nice surprise! He is a very strong opponent and especially very difficult to defeat. He's patient and cunning at the same time, so he will let you waste all your energy while he will try to defend himself at the best of his possibilities and then come at you when you are by then exhausted, eventually. He's also got a strong build with impressive legs, that I would have loved to try, but unfortunately I didn't get the chance. Maybe next time! ;) My highest recommendation to this fighter!

04/11/2017: The Grapevine Group meet at High Barnet was the opportunity to meet and wrestle some great new (to me) guys, including some real powerhouses such as loco! He's a big, strong guy with a really good, aggressive-from-the-off wrestling style, and he easily and consistently got me down on the mats, pinned me under him and worked on me. Thankfully a combination of stubbornness and sweat kept me from conceding any subs (during the meet's quickfire three-minute rounds format), but there was no denying who was in charge! Loco may be aggressive, but only in a good, safe and respectful way, so I'd love to take the big strongman on again soon. Highly recommended.

08 Nov 17: Great wrestling meet with Mr Squashy at Barnet. Really genuine nice person and amazing wrestler. I've not done much before and learned so much from him. We did around 90 minutes and I was pretty exhausted by the end! Had me tapping every time, and the few times I had him in a hold he just waited until I was worn out then got me back! Must do it again soon!

07/11/2017: It's always a pleasure to wrestle an enthusiastic newcomer and hertsdog was certainly that. He's also in truly amazing shape, and his strength, good cardiovascular fitness and stamina meant that this was a much tougher match than it should have been versus someone new to wrestling: when he gets you locked up, it's hard work to break free from all that muscle. But of course that just made it all the more fun! Between subs at the High Barnet matroom on a cold November evening he was pleasant, interesting and easy to talk to and the sort of guy you'd want to invite for a pint to continue to chat to, so hopefully we will get a chance to do that one night soon when we haven't wrestled till late. Safe, sane and highly recommended.

Met squashlad today for a brief bout in a group meet. What an amazing fighter !!! A very tough and strong guy.... difficult to get the grips on him and ince you get it hard to make him submit . Excellent Figter fully recommended .

04/11/2017: It's rare that I hold off on asking guys at meets for a wrestle because, you know, nothing ventured nothing gained and all that, but with brazilwrestler86 I have to confess that it was so obvious that I'd be totally and completely outclassed that I did hold back from asking for a match when we came across each other at the Grapevine Group meet at the High Barnet matroom: the guy is seriously well built and is, well, actually Brazilian.... Eventually however, he asked me for a match, and I'm really pleased that he did as our two little grapples were a lot of fun. It's true, all the muscle and skill meant that there was only going to be one result, and I duly tapped out to avoid having my head come off in his headlock (not normally I hold I'd sub to), but I was super pleased to otherwise largely hold my own and only concede the one sub in our two little three-minute tussles. Once he has you down though, that's it: brazilwrestler86 is just immensely strong. But despite the skull-crushing power he is perfectly safe and sane, is willing to wrestle down to his opponent's level, and is a surprisingly technical wrestler for such a powerhouse. Chatting to him around our matches was similarly enjoyable as he's an interesting and intelligent guy who has done some amazing things with his life. An absolute must for a rematch—hopefully many while we have the pleasure of his company here in London—and my very highest recommendation.

We've been trying to set up a match for quite a while, but finally got the opportunity in Barnet today. We squeezed in a few 3-min rounds where he instantly started homing in on my arms and even though I've got a decent bit of flexibility he got a couple of subs from that!

Strong, fast and skilled - all you need for a good match - highly recommended!

04/11/2017: I'd been wanting to get a match in with this skilled young man for ages so it was great when the Grapevine Group meet gave me the opportunity. His training was very evident, as expected, but what I wasn't prepared for was how big and strong he's grown up to be [I vaguely remember the days when it was the muscles getting bigger, and not just the gut!] nor how crazily flexible he is. Even when pinned and safely locked up, getting a tap out of sub aqua was a huge amount of hard work, and in some of our matches I didn't manage it at all. Between rounds he's an interesting guy to talk to and he has a very pleasant, friendly and outgoing way about him that contrasts nicely to the stoney immovability that is sub aqua on the mats. A safe and sane nice guy, he's a must for a rematch, hopefully sooner rather than later, and is very highly recommended.

It was good meeting Squashlad. much stronger then he looks and had a good time wrestling. Hope to wrestle him again soon.

25/10/2017: fitnesssouth1 was my fellow Londoner at wrestleruk1's meet to welcome slpt and eventually it was our turn to show all the muscle-bound Northern guys that the soft Southerners could actually wrestle. Well I'm not sure if we achieved that, but we did have a good fun sweaty little tussle—and hopefully proximity means that we can have another go soon. Fitnesssouth1 was safe and sane and is highly recommended.

Met squashlad a very friendly guy very welcoming had a request for a grapple which sorry to say I was out of steam although fully enjoyed the short time the guy knows his business and gives as good as he gets fully enjoyed the short time hopefully have a longer time next time we meet thank you for the warm welcome ..

14/10/2017: Given that he'd come to the OWG meet to meet a particular guy and do some pro in the ring, Craig was remarkably sanguine about it all, and I only needed to bully him a little bit right at the end of the meet to get him onto the mats and doing some submission grappling with me. His huge strength held him in good stead and we had a good sweaty tussle. I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did, even without the ropes to hold us up! With luck he will come back to other Manchester meets and give me a longer match. Safe, sane and highly recommended.

14/10/2017: It was great to meet GazProFan at the OWG meet at the Wrestling Factory and get a match in with him. He kindly did subs with me despite his preference for pro, and he proved to be a strong and determined opponent. He has formidable legs and once he learns to use them to subdue and submit the other guy he will be a real force to be reckoned with. Off the mats he's a chatty, pleasant and outgoing guy and good to spend time with. Hopefully he will be back at the Manchester meets and will give me another match. Safe, sane and highly recommended.

After far too long I had the pleasure of Craig visiting me in my new home town. Unfortunately he had the pleasure of weekend rail disruption but he braved trains, coaches, riding pigs bear back and possibly swimming finally he made it to the most easterly town in the UK.
When we finally got down to it Craig had changed from a compliant jobber to being competitive and he is a strong guy. Although he claims to never go to the gym I think those muscles came from somewhere. We had a great sweaty battle and thankfully when we were both dripping Craig remembered his true vocation and let me enjoy my tiny cruel streak.
Lovely guy, lovely guest and strong wrestler. Hopefully not so long till next time.

Having spoken to Craig some time back (ok not really that long ago) when he got back in touch I really flattered him by confessing i had forgotten we had spoken. In my defence, I don't have one, thankfully he wasn't so petty as to let that stop him visiting me and what a great time I had.

While we competed to see who could be the most self-effacing about our respective bodies and discussing the mega hotties we have both met I had trouble convincing him that he is a hotty. I liked his profile photos but the reality was even better, furry chest, great strong legs and fab nips, not to mention handsome with dreamy eyes.

Most of us have little quirks on this site and fortunately Craig and I have complimentary ones, occasionally I like to just hurt someone and i always like nips, he likes being hurt and having his nips played with. Bingo! He suffered beautifully, and seemed to enjoy all I could throw at him (apart frrom the tickling ha ha). He may have said I was the worst heel he had ever met but I took this as a compliment because I think he meant that I enjoy providing pleasure and pain.

Lovely guy, great afternoon hope to repeat soon,

It's always intimidating to meet a guy who's much bigger than you, who's had more past opponents than you've had hot dinners and whose profile lists his heel's enjoyment of applying intense holds and (just some of!) the injuries that he's inflicted. And sure enough in no time at all the big heel had me pinned to his mats, bleeding and helpless, while he toyed with me and made idle comments about disposal of the body parts. But actually no, hugefan's probably the worst heel that I've ever met! His "merciless evil laugh" as he clamps on a hold is more of a sweet chuckle and he's far too nice to hurt anyone, and spent as much time giving me a very competent massage between holds as racking me in them. A strong, in shape and enthusiastic gentle giant who knows his holds, hugefan is a friendly, welcoming host who's discovered the elixir of youth, who wrestles safely and sanely and who ensures that his guests (and their nipples!) have a great time. Very highly recommended and I'm very much looking forward to the rematch!

Given that Mr 200+ opponents is a bit of a Meetfighters legend and is, you know, actually a kiwi [yum!], getting to know him at wrestleruk1's meet and being yet another lucky one to join his 200+ Men Club was amazing - if tremendously extenuating. Sadly for me he was incredibly strong and well prepared, so he did not take it easy on me at all and proceeded to thoroughly wipe John's mats with my face, while remaining a defensive little armadillo the entire time, countering every single move I threw at him and proving that muscles can be completely useless sometimes! Between bouts and over lunch my suspicions were confirmed as he turned out to be an incredible guy with a wicked sense of humour, and with him and wrestleruk1 and all the other guys at the meet it really was a truly amazing day. “If this is Wednesday this must be Mansfield” it may have been (there were a few occasions when I had no feckin idea where I was due to being knocked out), but Craig will always, ALWAYS beat ya no matter how long you try to break his defences (I honestly can't remember making him tap out??), and is always very safe and sane. So squashlad is very highly recommended, and I hope that I get to grapple with him again soon!

P.s. I swear I wasn't being lazy, I was just trying to be as funny as youuuu, ahaha! Cheers ya big slag! I mean, slug! I mean, Craig!

P.p.s. I can't stop picturing your face on a kiwi, as if you were actually a kiwi, because of the way that's phrased up there. I'm photoshopping that back in Dublin, and putting in on my upcoming blog post ahahaha!

25/10/2017: Given that Mr Video is a bit of a MeetFighters legend and is, you know, actually Brazilian [gulp] getting invited to wrestleruk1's meet to be one of the lucky guys to get to take slpt on on his English grand tour was amazing—if a bit intimidating. Thankfully for me he'd been wrestling for days by the time I got there, and generally took it pretty easy on me, so although getting up close and personal with all the muscle was quite the experience, I was stoked to only tap out to him a couple of times. Between bouts and over lunch he proved himself to be as nice and as funny a guy as he comes across, a real pleasure to spend time with, and with him and wrestleruk1 and all the other guys at the meet it was just an excellent day. “If this is Wednesday this must be Mansfield” it may have been (there were a few occasions when he didn't look like he knew where he was!) but he always makes you feel like you're the guy he wants to be wrestling, which is a rare skill, and is always safe and sane, so slpt is very highly recommended and I hope that I get to grapple with him again soon.

A great guy and serious competition. The minute we set eyes on each other I knew our match would be fun and intense, from the start we both went for it and put on a good performance.

This was an great fight and the competitiveness increased throughout each round we had over the 2 days. Don't miss the chance to get to grips with this tough, great-looking man.

Already arranging the next match and looking forward to upping our game. To be continued..............

07 & 09/10/2017: lutonwrestle was a guy I'd been wanting to try my luck against for ages, so it was great to get to meet him at ATONMAN's meets at High Barnet and at Walthamstow. His aggressive, take-no-prisoners wrestling style didn't disappoint, and we had several good hard sweaty battles that some of the guys watching seemed to enjoy almost as much as I did! A rematch is already in the planning and so hopefully I will get to take the Hertfordshire bruiser on again soon: he is highly recommended.

Thanks, Craig, for the introduction to pippas. It was a jolly good time. Glad I could help you keep warm on the mats a bit. Sorry I took away your famous side headlock with my neck restriction.

14/10/2017: It was fantastic to have this quality wrestler join us for the OWG meet at the Wrestling Factory and hopefully Guysmiley enjoyed the meet (and the socializing afterwards) as much as we enjoyed having him there. It took a bit of coaxing to get him to strip off and get out on the mats, but that may have been a bit of a ploy as it meant I perhaps took his reticence for inexperience—and wow was I wrong about that! He is super strong and getting him turned was a mission: getting him to tap was beyond me. It was a lot of fun though, and he was always safe and sane. He also joined us for dinner afterwards, and although that would undoubtedly have confirmed everything everyone's ever heard about Britain and food, he was a convivial addition to our group, funny and quick witted and a pleasure to be around. I hope that we get Guysmiley back This Side soon!

Squashlad is a real gentleman. He is also a very strong fighter. One of the strongest I met not only in this event in London but everywhere across Europe. We had several matches and in each circonstance he forced me to give up. Sometimes easily sometimes less easily. It was exciting for me wrestling him and I hope meet him again for a rematch. Thanks from me to you! Top recommended!

07 & 09/10/2017: ATONMAN's meet brought lots of great wrestlers to London, Mat74 not least among them. I was privileged to get several sweaty matches in with this tenacious, super fit and enthusiastic wrestler on both days and thoroughly enjoyed all my time with him. He's got some good grappling training, great instincts and a real desire to win, and that coupled with his superb stamina and cardiovascular fitness mean that he is hard work to contain and it's a great workout taking him on. He's always safe and sane and respectful of his opponent—even if he is usually suctioned onto him like a limpet. He joined us for dinner after the first meet and is excellent funny and intelligent company. Very highly recommended and it's great to hear that a rematch with Mat74 may not be too far away.

Have wrestled Squashlad twice now. He was an expert jobber and sold the role perfectly. He is strong, in shape; has a very high pain threshold and doesn't seem to know the expression " I submit". 😉 He took everything I gave out and easily could have taken more. He is a really nice guy and easy to talk with. I look forward to the possibility of another session with him. Definitely recommend! Excellent experience!

Fun match with the lad. He loves a good squash and I always aim to please! Would love to roll with him on a mat sometime (and find more ways to squash him). Strong and confident and can take a lot of abuse which was a pleasure to inflict–even with my polite manners! Pleasure to take him on again.
10/3/17: Excellent time with SquashLad again. Great to see him, catch up get reacquainted and a such a great wrestler just like I remembered. He has had nearly 200 matches since last time...so unfair! But so worth the wait. Great fun just like the last time. Wrestling, hanging out with a good mate in London, what could be better.

28/09/2015: Had a fun tussle with Redmond40 on his latest trip to London. He's a big strong guy who likes to dominate and he was completely effective in doing that with me as I was totally overpowered. He's completely safe and sane though and always respectful of his opponent; indeed demonstrating those excellent manners that Americans invariably have even while attempting to pull my limbs off.... Between rounds he's a chatty, engaging and witty guy whose enthusiasm for wrestling is infectious. Hopefully he'll manage a trip back to London soon and when he does we'll be meeting again somewhere with a bit more space for a longer match, which I'm very much looking forward to. So Redmond40's highly recommended!
03/10/2017: Quite possibly my longest ever wait for a rematch, but well worth it! It was great to have Redmond40 back in London for some laughs and a gossip, some swimming and chilling out, and some dinner (which he very kindly paid for) and drinks, and generally another great evening. Oh and there was some wrestling too! Which was again a lot of fun as I tried to manoeuvre my way into being able to do something despite his size and strength (and largely failing). Hopefully I'll persuade him onto some mats one day, but in the meantime I'd happily wrestle him anywhere!

What a gent, reflected in his recommendation. Squashlad knows how to wrestle, to counter well, to search out the submission. I may have been a little under the weather and sub par, but frankly that wouldn't have changed the result all that much - though I'd like to test that more thoroughly when I'm 100%! Great guy, friendly and competitive.

19/09/2017: After you've been on MeetFighters just a little while you'll realize that guys cancelling last minute (or even just not showing up at all) is all part of it. Even the best things usually have downsides and you just have to take the rough with the smooth. No doubt most times the cancellations are for legitimate reasons. But as a result I really appreciate it when guys go out of their way to wrestle me as scheduled: although sometimes, with hindsight, they probably should have postponed! So it proved with GusLondon, who turned up at the High Barnet matroom and gamely got stuck in despite really not being well enough to be there, and he has my great respect for doing so. Unfortunately it did mean that we only had a brief grapple, and his energy levels were a bit restricted, but it was enough for me to experience how strong he is, and how determined and (appropriately) aggressive, so he is a must for another go and a longer match. While catching our breath he proved to be a pleasant guy to chat to and share a joke with, and I'm sure that round 2 will be a lot of fun. Safe, sane and highly recommended.

Pleasant and easy to get along with, Good wrestle also

28/10/2017: After chatting for ages it was great to finally make it down to West Norwood for a match with COMBAT123. As expected I had no answer for his immense strength, and was overpowered and flattened early on. He's a safe and sane guy, happy to pitch things at your level, but he also clearly likes to dominate on the mats, so I was well worked over. A fantastic match in other words! After the sweaty stuff he's a very interesting guy to chat to, pleasant and outgoing and with lots of eye-popping wrestling tales, having been around the underground wrestling scene for a while. Hope I can get a rematch in with him soon. Very highly recommended.

It was good to meet Squashlad at the recent Manchester meet. He is a really friendly guy who put me at ease straight away, and I then knew it would be the sort of sporty fun match that I really like. It could easily have been a bit one-sided in his favour but he was a real gent and toned things down to make for a good bout. Hope to meet again soon.

9/9/17
Loved the latest tussle with Squashlad.He's got such a repertoire of holds and moves that I inevitably fall victim to them, but it's great fun trying to thwart his intentions and to make myself a pain in the arse as much as possible! :) Very much looking forward to the next one.

09/04/2016: After being at a couple of Manchester meets with hedloker uk now, I finally managed to get a match with him on the main mats at the OWG meet. He's not necessarily that keen on wrestling lardarses like me, which might explain why it's taken a while to be able to get a match with him, but don't think that that means that he's an easy beat for a heavier guy: quite the opposite, hedloker uk knows his stuff, and was in control throughout most of our match. It was particularly refreshing to wrestle a guy into freestyle [proper wrestling!] after a day of nothing but submission grappling. Hedloker uk is a safe wrestler on the mats and an interesting, pleasant and personable guy off them. Definitely someone to wrestle again and again and I hope that we will.
09/09/2017: John's Manchester Meet 21 provided an opportunity for another crack at hedlocker uk at the Wrestling Factory, so of course I took it! He really is superbly skilled and in superb shape and if I wasn't so much heavier than him he would completely destroy me. As it is we have some good, even, sweaty, back-and-forth battles and I have a ball doing so. Hopefully I will get a lot more mat time with him.

Update: September 2017 - I have now had the immense pleasure of meeting Squashlad a couple more times since our first match last year and I had this vague notion that, as time goes on, he would become an easier opponent to fight. How wrong could I be! In the few months since I last saw him, he has become even stronger and tougher than he was before and it took me by surprise. It goes without saying that his superb physique and attitude to the sport means Squashlad was built to wrestle.
It’s always great fun to see this guy and hang out for a few hours and worth a great deal of travel to meet!
Note to self: be tougher on him next time, he won’t break ;)

October 2016: I write this feeling battered, bruised (I hope) but totally buzzed after having an amazing afternoon of wrestling with Squashlad. What a man he is - a great guy to spend time with: enthusiastic, friendly and so easy and relaxing to talk with. What’s more he is extremely fit with an exceptional, strong physique and killer thighs that literally took my breath away - not only in the visual sense (I’m a legs man! ) but also by the fact that they left my ribcage creaking at one point.
Squashlad is a tough opponent and gives a mega workout on the mats - I won't need the gym for days now! Even when he allowed me to work him over, he was still hard to manoeuvre! But what’s great is that he can easily turn the tables - and quickly too…one minute you have him contained safely in a head lock or head scissors, the next he’s suddenly on top applying arm-bars or choke holds - whatever he likes seeing as his technical skills are brilliant. His defence is also really good too as is his ability to break down your own defence pretty well too.

It was an absolute pleasure to host Squashlad - he's totally safe, sane and reliable. I only wish I had been able to spend more time with him off the mats and take him out for dinner as I really appreciate him making the journey up from London and going through the nightmare that is the Sunday train-service.

I highly recommend this guy and I can't wait for our second match - I'd wrestle him every day - but it will be well worth waiting until the new year!

30/10/2016: A nice long sweaty grapple with Pinstride was just what I needed after a trying weekend of lost phones and rail replacement buses as he's a brilliant guy to wrestle and a fantastic host. I arrived at his a grumpy, irritable old man and left a happy, smiley and beaten up old man. Fabulous! He's got a great heel turn if you like that sort of thing [I like that sort of thing], with the most fantastic heel's wrestle-face: the look of menace lets you know exactly what's coming to you jobber boy! Just before his fist buries itself in your "abs".... Always safe and sane though. And the Hallowe'en mask of menace was all the more impressive given that he's got a face very much not made for radio. :-) Between subs he's an interesting guy to chat to, friendly and outgoing and very easy to talk with, and is a kind and thoughtful host. As a result Pinstride is very highly recommended and my only regret is a need to wait till 2017 till we get to wrestle again. But wrestle again we certainly shall!
16/09/2017: A return to Grundisburgh always makes my weekend, and this was no exception. Pinstride's a bit hard to catch nowadays, now that he's mainly a Budapester, but is well worth biding your time for, as he remains a good tough opponent, great fun to hang out with and a fabulous host. He's clearly learning a lot wrestling all the muscled guys in Hungary and working hard in the gym, so tussling with him is fantastic fun. I'll try not to monopolize his mat time when he is back in Suffolk: but no guarantees!

Been talking to his guy for abit. Was hoping to get down to London to meet him. Sadly life got in the way but lucky we both met at the Manchester meet.

Craig is a very defensive wrestler. Very strong and clearly knows what he is doing. Spent a long time trying to find a way through his defences and lucky managed to get a lucky choke on him.
Off the mats Craig is great guy to chat with. Very socialable and a great sense of humour.

Definitely want to meet up again soon. Hopefully have a one on one match for abit longer as well. Look forward to meeting up again soon mate.

09/09/2017: It was a really good surprise seeing toetotoe at John's Manchester Meet 21 at the Wrestling Factory as I'd been trying to get a match with the young powerhouse for ages. However when we got down to business it was rather less him slipping out of my clutches and rather more me failing to stay out of his, as I was flattened and easily controlled every time. It was a bit like the anonymous guy facing down the tank in Tiananmen Square, although thankfully more successful (I lived)—but also briefer! Given toetotoe's super-powerful physique you could probably have guessed that really, he's built like the Forth Bridge, but what you may not have guessed is that he's not only very strong, he's also very quick. So although through a combination of sweat and bloody mindedness I was somehow able to not concede a sub while he was in the mount for an age, when I did once get a reversal, and therefore relaxed for a moment, expecting him to take his time to regroup, that proved to be the only sub of our matches, as he was around me and clamping on a r.n.c. at a speed that a bantamweight would envy, and I was tapping instantly. Very safely and sanely done though. Off the mats he's a chatty, pleasant, outgoing and funny nice guy, a pleasure to talk to and to go for a post-meet meal and few drinks with, so toetotoe and his muscles are a five-star recommendation from me. I just hope I can get a rematch with him rather more quickly!

met at the Sept open group in Manchester. My first wrestling experience. After a couple of brief 'introductions to wrestling' on the mats from Mike & Rob there was this guy, Squashlad - didn't tell me that until later- kneeling on the mats beckoning me with his finger and a look in his eyes that said "you can't say no". Glad that I took the challenge as I really enjoyed being put through it by someone who was out for submissions (although, no doubt, he could have done it much quicker and easier). Felt very safe. This "tussle" certainly convinced me that wrestling is something I want to do and intend to try to build up my strength and technique so that he won't have to go quite so easy on me next time.

09/09/2017: John's Manchester Meet 21 at the Wrestling Factory in Ancoats seems to have a attracted some great new guys to wrestling, and none more so than the appropriately named latestarter. It was great that he accepted my invitation to a little tussle on the main mats so readily, and we had a good little back-and-forth battle where he demonstrated some good instincts and excellent balance and strength. I'm sure once he couples these fine qualities with some more technique he will be a right handful on the mats. Between subs he's a cheery and pleasant bloke and is easy and interesting to talk to. So latestarter is highly recommended by me and I hope that we get to wrestle again soon.

I had a very enjoyable wrestle with Squashlad at the Manchester meet 13-05-17.He is a strong skilled wrestler ,he was quite surprised with my suppleness and how I can use it to get out of trouble.He made my ribs click during our wrestle and I sure did know about it when I turned over in bed the following night.However a few exercises the morning after all clicked and no damage done.Squashlad is a safe,sane and friendly wrestler and I hope we can wrestle again at a future meet.

09/09/2017: John's Manchester Meet 21; I had a great wrestle Squashlad for the second time.It was a safe ,sane and competitive wrestle which I enjoyed very much.He is a great wrestler and I did use my suppleness during the wrestle to my advantage.I hope to wrestle with him again at any future meets. Highly recommended.

13/05/2017: It was excellent to get a match in with this well named and experienced wrestler on the main mats at John's meet at Pippa's. My extra bulk kept me out of trouble, but this is a guy who clearly knows his stuff, both submission and freestyle, and with his height and startling flexibility he was a real handful to keep under control. Do not relax against him, he has the ability to bring his legs up and over and hook you out of the way from practically anywhere. Safe, sane and friendly and a pleasant and interesting guy to chat to between subs too. Hope to get a rematch in with him soon.
09/09/2017: John's Manchester Meet 21 provided the opportunity for the rematch versus this quality opponent back at the Wrestling Factory, so of course I took it! As startlingly flexible as ever, it was again a huge amount of fun, and hopefully only the second of many tussles. Highly recommended.

I have had the pleasure to meet Squashlad twice once at grove park 1 to 1 and at Manchester at a group meet. A great competitive and fun gay to wrestle. Always a challenge. His skills are expanding and it always great to meet him. He is very likable guy and easy to get along with. I look forward to meeting him again and to see what new challenges come about

25/04/2017: Great to have such an easy to arrange match for a change: 48 hours later and we're throwing each other around the Grove Park ring, keeping warm on a cold April night. TigerWizard's a keen, very strong and sensibly stubborn wrestler, so we had a good tussle and he really made me work to take any subs off him, powering his way out of many attempts. Between subs he's a chatty and outgoing chap, easy to talk to and knowledgeable about our great sport. Highly recommended and hopefully a rematch will be on the cards soon.
09/09/2017: A change of venue for an unexpected but very welcome rematch against TigerWizard, this time at the Wrestling Factory in Ancoats for John's Manchester Meet 21. Again the big powerhouse used his strength to make it difficult to get anything off him, and again we had an intense sweaty battle. Hopefully only the second of many tussles.

What a gentleman! I had a blast! We rolled for several hours...I lost count, I was having such a good time. I did not want to stop. We started all nice nice, he got in his submissions, then refused to concede any easily. I had to be a little mean to him but he left me nicely bruised.

I would love to roll with him again! It was an excellent evening, mats, dinner, friends, cidre, end of summer, all good. Intelligent man, magnificent company and just kept going on the mats. It was well worth staying up past my bedtime!

13/09/2017: He claims that he struggles to find opponents in London, but I haven't a clue why, because wrestling FitForAFight is a blast! His training is very evident, as is all his time in the gym and a life of swimming and horse riding, so between the skills and the muscle I was, fairly predictably, toast, but my little “lesson” was all very safely and sanely delivered, and my height and weight advantage meant that I did manage to claw a couple of subs back and avoid a whitewash. An amused spectator in the shape of luttefrance gave the bout a bit of atmosphere and despite not really being able to do much other than defend, it was an excellent evening, very pleasantly rounded off by pizza and a few ciders and some laughs with both guys. FitForAFight is highly recommended and a must for a rematch and if I end up monopolizing his London mat time that works for me!

Craig asked me for a roll during the Meet at Pippa's on Saturday 9 September and I was glad to accept. His wrestling skills are far in advance of mine but I owe him a big thank you for his patience with me & the help he gave me. He adjusted the wrestle to my level; while he submitted me a few times he also gave me the chance to sweep him and practise a few holds on him. I'm really grateful to him; he certainly helped my confidence and my motivation to carry on with the sport. Whatever your level I would encourage you to have a roll; it wll be fun and if you are a novice like me you will have fun.

Thanks Craig

09/09/2017: John's Manchester Meet 21 at the Wrestling Factory was one of the best attended for ages, with plenty of new (to me) guys to try my luck against, and syardley was one of the keenest to accept a request for some mat time together, which is always encouraging! When down to business he was safe and sane and keen to get stuck in, with a good level of cardio and base strength making him a tricky opponent. Off the mats he's a pleasant and chatty bloke and I'm sure that he charmed all at Pippa's and will have plenty of rematches to arrange—including with me! Highly recommended.

I met Squashlad at a Manchester group meet. Agreeable guy off the mats but he was aggressive and strong when we wrestled. I found him difficult to get a submission from but he got several from me, so I was on the receiving end of the squash. Good, enjoyable wrestler and I hope we can wrestle again

09/09/2017: It was great to see plenty of new (to me) faces at John's Manchester Meet 21 at the Wrestling Factory and to have BSF accept my request for a grapple on the main mats. He's tall, strong and flexible and likes to get stuck in, so getting anything off him was a real challenge. Between subs he was an interesting and personable guy and was easy to chat to. Hopefully this will be just the first of many tussles with him. Safe, sane and highly recommended.

Very fun opponent. Much quicker than he looks and knows how to take advantage of an opening. Even back and forth sweaty match with his experience taking him through to a win. Would definitely like the chance to wrestle again.

09/09/2017: One of the best ever attended Manchester meets had many unexpected bonuses, including a chance to take on Koiboy early on in his foray into submission grappling (from real professional wrestling, boxing, and rugby), when there might just be a small possibility of getting something on him. I have to say I doubted that when it came time to lock up with him, as it was definitely a case of feeling like you've bitten off more than you can chew when you realize just how big and muscular the lad is, but thankfully for me he's such a nice, polite, unassuming young man, positively deferential to us old farts (probably mainly for fear of breaking us in half!) that I was able to take a couple of quick [well OK, quick-ish] subs off him before he realized that perhaps he might be being too nice to the flabby old guy. Once all the muscle was brought to bear on the task at hand however, I was toast, quickly tapping to a lethal pin/front choke combination, and being left in no doubt just how strong he is. All perfectly safely done though, the injuries are something that Koiboy leaves for the aftermath of his pro shows, so wrestling him was a huge amount of fun, and I hope that I get a chance to try it again soon. A five-star recommendation for this very impressive and very nice young wrestler.

I am glad that i meet this popular wrestler in UK ! I started my trip at London with a great fun submission match with Squashlad! He is very great guy, fun, strong, like play sub rough ! Have a great time with him. My jetlag that i had that day don't help me to win my match with him unfortunaly! : ) But next time.. i will win ! and i will have more energy for sure ! : ) Highly recommended for a great sub match with a great wrestler!

24/08/2017: It's always great to meet a new wrestler, but when the guy involved is a wrestling superstar, with well over 400 past opponents and a catalogue of BG East matches that guys all over the world have watched, it's both a pleasure and a bit intimidating! I need not've worried though, because although Marcwrestler is indeed a prolific wrestling superstar, who sure knows his stuff, he's also a cheery, relaxed and outgoing guy who just wants his opponent to have fun wrestling him. He was pretty jet lagged after his trans-Atlantic flight earlier in the day and his preceeding match, but he was still bouncy, freshly showered and raring to go when we met, so we had a good sweaty tussle and I was comprehensively taken apart in a wide variety of punishing holds—including some that were completely new to me. All very safely done though, and between the huge repertoire of holds, the huge muscles and the hugely entertaining Québecois English I had a great evening and it was very flattering to be included in Marcwrestler's packed holiday schedule. Very highly recommended and I hope we get him back in England before too long.

Met Craig yesterday for a submissions only match. First of all it was easy to arrange and he was punctual. He is an interesting thoughtful polite guy who is easy to chat to.
We had a female ref and as Craig got changes she commented that he looked strong. She was right-he is, as i found out to my cost. He is not only strong, he is skilled. Most of all he is safe, even though i did sustain a slight injury that halted the match early. Not Craigs fault i hasten to add. On the mats he pretty much worked me over with a series of painful submissions. Whilst Craig was hardly out of breath i was sweating profusely just to stay in the match. He was the better man and proved it afterwards by not enforcing the post match stake that we had agreed, as i was injured. This is a top recommendation for a top bloke.

31/08/2017: A match with nice guy markuk was a series of firsts for me: first match with him, first match at the Submission Room in Seven Sisters, and first match with a very professional female referee, the rather intimidating but very funny strongwoman Killpussy! He very kindly arranged everything for us and was generally just a pleasure to deal with, wrestle and chat to, even buying me a sausage pastry to replenish the lost energy on the way back to the tube! Unfortunately I dropped rather clumsily onto him at one point, and the resulting cocked rib meant that we had to finish up rather earlier than we wanted to, but even that he was super nice and forgiving about. Hopefully we can have another, injury-free go soon—with or without Killpussy's sardonic commentary on our wrestling abilities! Safe and sane and highly recommended.

Squashlad is freaking unbelievable, I had a hard time pinning him down. Strong legs and endurance (do not let his age fool ya haha) that made our time together even more fun.
I will definitely fight him again whenever he wants.
For a non-competitive, he can take a beating, there were times when I was afraid I might break something, but he handled it nicely.

Thank you for being my first opponent mate.

13/08/2017: A trip to funky Bristol and a long sweaty grapple with WrestlingChub at his were an excellent way to spend a sunny August Sunday. He's a super nice, chilled out guy, a kind host and a safe and sane opponent, so it was a real privilege to be his first MeetFighters opponent. His background in martial arts was very evident, as was all his weightlifting, as he is super strong and a real effort to shift when he gets on top and pins you down with his powerful physique, so we had a good tough tussle, and I'm very much looking forward to a rematch when he's back in England. Highly recommended.

Craig is a brilliant wrestler whose resilience under pressure is legendary Yesterday was one of the best bouts I have ever had! He is very easy on the eye and personable with a dry wit which is emblematic of his cultured intelligence. That said, a bruiser in the ring who knew how to counter attack with ease . I think he DOES look like Russell Tovey!
Cannot wait. to get back in the ring with this handsome hunk 😀😀😀

Met Craig again in August 2017. Much harder to overcome him. As strong in the ring as he is humorous and amiable off it. The going got really strenuous at various points and the sweat soaked the ring. Basically if you wanna fight with a tough guy who gives it and takes it with equal measure ....he is the fighter you got to meet. Easily my best fight! Mike West

15/06/2016: Well MIKE WEST promised/threatened that he was the big bad World of Sport heel, and so it proved in the Grove Park ring, with me not getting back to my feet once down until he was of a mind to let me. He's nice and strong and aggressive in the right way, so I was on the defensive the whole time. He also does a nice line in World of Sport verbals, but they tend to be a bit wasted on me---especially when his thighs are covering my ears (a common occurrence with him) and I can't hear jack! All very safely done though. Off the mats he metamorphoses into a different guy in his indigo suit, polite, friendly and chatty, full of stories and good to have a few post-match pints with. He does have zero footballing taste, but even that I was prepared to forgive after he said that I looked a bit like Russell Tovey [don't anyone get excited, I don't, and the poor guy clearly has some serious vision problems, but hey, compliments are always nice]. I'm sure we'll grapple again and MIKE WEST is highly recommended.
22/08/2017: A false start or two meant that a rematch with MIKE WEST was longer in coming than either of us would have liked, but we ended up back in the Grove Park ring eventually, and the bad boy bully took me apart again, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy doing so! He still doesn't seem to realize that his impressive line in World of Sport verbals are a bit wasted when he's headscissoring me and my ears are covered though. Heels eh?

15/07/2017: An after-work match with gazst at the High Barnet matroom was the perfect antidote to a dull day at work, and with the bonus of a small audience with a taste for rough matches, which always adds to things. A significant height and weight advantage meant that I thought that I'd have things easy, but gazst's no-nonsense keenness, strength, determination and evident boxing training proved that that wasn't the case, with subs going both ways, and I had no option but to tap out to his punishing headlock, while my gut took a bashing. All very safely and sanely, even considerately done though. He's in great shape, with very powerful legs, has an infectious level of enthusiasm and is easy and interesting to talk to between subs, so a rematch is a must, and gazst is highly recommended.

I met squashlad at a group match. Great meeting this guy, highly skilled wrestler certainly managed to make me submit. Enjoyed watching this guy fight the others in the group. Lovely guy great to meet him again.

08/08/2017: A1Jobberlad was my partner for a tag submission match versus NorthNotts and wrestleruk1 and was much needed in trying to contain the musclebound bullies! Thankfully it wasn't the most serious match ever held, so he and I didn't in fact get thrown out of the first-floor window; and, even better, it meant that I got to have a few grapples with him too. He's an enthusiastic and up for it wrestler, amazingly flexible and resilient, and while he clearly enjoys playing the jobber, he fights back hard to make it a good fun grapple for both guys. Between subs he's a personable, friendly and outgoing bloke, interesting to chat to (even about things other than wrestling!), and I only wish that he could've had some more time to spend with us all. Hopefully we will rectify that via a rematch soon! Safe, safe and highly recommended.

Met Craig, northnotts and A1jobberlad today for what turned out to be an excellent afternoon of wrestling. All the guys are great and I've met A1jobberlad and northnotts before (see previous recommendations) but first time for meeting squash!
I can only reiterate what everyone else has said about this guy...strong as an ox and skilled way beyond my level. The one thing I didn't pick up on in his many recommendations was how cool and laid back his attitude is...it's a bit of decoy so don't be fooled by it! Once he hits the mats he turns into a wrestling champion and outclassed me by miles....obviously I stood no chance but if you're gonna get beat might as well get beaten by the best! (That's my new motto) off the mats he's a lovely bloke and easy to chat too. He made the effort to travel up here at fairly short notice and I really appreciated it, what a lovely guy and big recommendation off me! Not sure he needs anymore recommendations though as he's inundated with wrestling and deservedly so! Oh and Craig....I still owe you a dinner!

08/08/2017: It was brilliant to be invited to wrestleruk1's little meet at his with NorthNotts and A1Jobberlad and even better to be able to get to meet and wrestle them all. A super nice guy and a kind, generous and welcoming host, he doesn't take things too seriously, which is probably just as well for me, because if he chose to apply all the muscle (and there is a lot of muscle!) I would've needed to be mopped off his mats along with all the sweat. He is stupidly strong and getting anything off him was a lot of hard (although very enjoyable!) work. It's always nice to meet a guy whose photos are an accurate reflexion of his hard work at the gym, but what a photo can't tell you is what a lovely, sweet person he is. So let me do that. Safe, sane and very highly recommended, and with some very patable canine companions, wrestleruk1's a pleasure to have met and wrestled, and I hope that I get to do so again.

Great match today with squashlad as part of a 4 way tag kind of meet. Great wrestler with brilliant technique. Got 1 sub which i was well chuffed about but he got too many from me. Definitely recommend

08/08/2017: After having once been told that he wasn't interested in wrestling lardarses like me [I'm paraphrasing] I was super pleased to be invited by NorthNotts to a little group meet with him, wrestleruk1 and A1Jobberlad and to get the chance to take him on. Thankfully for me it is true that I do have a bit of an advantage in the weight department, but that's just as well as if it'd been more even NorthNotts would have had me on toast: he's fast, very strong, determined and aggressive in just the right way—he wants to win, but doesn't take anything too seriously. As it was subs went both ways and he had me locked up and helpless many times. He has seriously strong tree trunks for legs and a great ability to get them quickly around you. One of life's natural comedians, it was difficult not to concede the advantage when he makes you laugh, and that really added to a great day wrestling him and the other guys. Safe, sane, fun and funny, he's very highly recommended and I hope I get to try my luck with him again.

6 Aug 17 Great to catch up with Squashlad for a long overdue rematch, he was looking more beefy, stronger and handsome than I remember and was on good form on the mats. Really great guy to wrestle and meet. Hope to catch up again soon.

Really enjoyed meeting and wrestling Squashlad at Pippa’s. Strong, fit, sorted lad with plenty of stamina who is safe and sane on the mats . Friendly and easy going to chat with off the mats. Looking forward to taking him on again and giving him a run for his money next time. Excellent grappler, highly recommended.

12/03/2016: Had a good grapple with secondsout on the main mats at Pippa's as part of John's meet and am looking forward to some more mat time with this strong, skilled and determined grappler. Safe, sane and courteous on the mats, he's a chatty, friendly, outgoing guy off them, so is highly recommended. I think we'd have fun wearing each other down (and out!) when we've more time for a longer match.
06/08/2017: A sweaty summer rematch with secondsout on his mats in Hove Actually was a great way to finish off an excellent Sussex weekend's wrestling and festivities. He's strong, keen and determined so is great fun to grapple and subs went both ways. A thoughtful host and an interesting guy to chat to too. Hopefully only the second of many matches.

Thoroughly enjoyable meet with Craig (squashlad) last night at Walthamstow. He is attitude-free, down to earth and has a good sense of humour. I had to be on my best defensive form to withstand the onslaught but it was all well worth the effort and I am definitely looking forward to the next time. And we had a nice couple of winding down beers in the local pub at the end. A nice way to spend a Monday night.

31/07/2017: Sometimes the guys whom you meet for a grapple aren't just nice guys, they're inspirational. Steve50a is such a wrestler. Most guys in their 20s would be delighted to have such a good physique and he is seriously strong with it. Each and every subs was a huge effort to get as he just powers out of what you try to put on him. And his effective leg laces often meant I needed to concentrate on a reversal before attack was possible. So our match at the Walthamstow ring hugely enlivened an otherwise dull Monday; as did a couple of pints and a chat about all things wrestling afterwards. Safe, sane, reliable and just the right sort of feisty, steve50a was a great pleasure to wrestle and hopefully we'll be able to grapple again soon.

Attractive and intelligent guy to wrestle. He is far better wrestler than me and made sure I knew it and made use of it putting in one painful hold after another. He is stronger and a lot more aggressive than he appears to make out on the mats so beware! Still I enjoyed the evening even though it was a walk over for him.

A nice sane guy to meet.

25/07/2017: There are some guys you've just got to get a match with, and phyta123 and I have similar tastes for what we like in a match, so it was excellent when he accepted my impatient demand for a match in short order! No waiting for the weekend nonsense here, a midweek grapple at the High Barnet matroom was the order of the day. Unfortunately my impatience meant that phyta123 was wrestling with a crook shoulder, so it couldn't be as intense a battle as we'd both've liked, but it was still a good tough tussle and he made me work enjoyably hard for everything. He's got a good solid punch, which I always struggle to counter, so he held his own despite the injury. Chilling out between subs he proved to be a chatty and pleasant guy with a wealth of wrestling tales so he is highly recommended. Safe and sane and hopefully a rematch is on the cards.

Soft spoken, clear eyes and gentleman like manners. You're in for a big surprise on the ring as he's extremely strong and can be quite ruthless. However, as he cares very much about his opponent, you'll get to decide where and how it all goes.
As a result we had a great time wrestling, each dominating from time to time, being creative and experimenting.
It was a great rainy afternoon. Hope to do it again !

29/07/2017: There is something in the theory that if a match is a breeze to arrange your opponent is going to be quality opposition. It certainly proved that way with the Gallic charm personified that is Riviera Wrestle and a horribly rainy, very unsummery London Saturday was no obstacle to a very relaxing and enjoyable grapple with him. Unfortunately he was carrying a bit of an injury to his shoulder, so we kept things playful, but despite my significant weight advantage he left me in no doubt that he knows his stuff and was startlingly strong for a guy of 65 kg. With my stomach rumbling for dinner his mouthwatering conversation about French cuisine was a tad cruel, but apart from that he was safe, sane and a delight to spend the day with. Highly recommended and I am eagerly awaiting another grapple with Riviera Wrestle.

01/07/2017: Getting to wrestle this legend of underground wrestling on his most recent trip to Europe was a bit of a dream come true, if rather a painful one! Big, strong (so strong), skilled, powerful and sadistic, if hardcore wrestling is your thing, this is the man to be getting in the ring with: the Grove Park ring in my case. (Hopefully we'll get some footage from the beatdown edited together soon and available to view by those with strong stomachs!) You will be unsurprised to know that I got totally demolished, and the mismatch in our skill levels, let alone our strength, did make a few things a bit challenging, but as well as being very well named BrutalWrestler is safe and sane, capable and willing to pitch the destruction at a level that you're comfortable with, so wrestling him is an amazing experience. If you get the opportunity to wrestle the wrecking ball, count yourself among the lucky ones and go for it. BrutalWrestler is very highly recommended: and I'm still grinning about being offered a San Francisco rematch with him! Bring it on! 👍

Met Craig at a Social gathering. Had a cracking little Wrestle with him. Fiesty , strong , great detrermination and a Good Arsenal of holds. Great Fella to wrestle and Share a laugh and a bevvie with. Top Lad.

16/07/2017: It was brilliant to finally meet Pitbull at a wrestlers' shindig in Harlaxton and to hit the mats with him. We were both rather the worse for wear by that stage, so it wasn't the longest or most technical grapple that I've ever had, and it probably wasn't very sensible—but it was a lot of fun! He's a strong and determined guy, so it was great tussling with him, and even better getting to know him over dinner, and breakfast, and drinks, and, erm, lunch, and OK, well possibly there was a lot more socializing than grappling, but hey: Pitbull is the sort of guy you want to socialize with! Highly recommended and a must for a less Redbull-fuelled rematch.

Nice Guy To Wrestle with. Even if hes older he has a Body like 10 Year younger guys. Its hard to get on top in a Fight with him. If you are on Top that doesnt mean you won. He is also very good on Defense. Cool guy on and at the Mat. Highly recommended. Would be Fun to Wrestle with him soon Again

03 & 05/06/2017: Two opportunities to wrestle Wrestlinger2009 came up during my trip to Germany, firstly at the Einsteiger freestyle training camp in Lindow (Mark) and then on RingerBln's mats in Berlin, and it was great to be able to tussle with him several times. He's tall and has a real desire to win, and may well have done that during our second set of matches had RingerBln not already knocked the stuffing out of him for me (I was late as usual). Off the mats he's an outgoing and affable guy who likes a beer and who was kind enough to provide a translation service for us lazy monoglot Anglophones. Wrestlinger2009 is safe and sane and highly recommended and I hope that we can wrestle again soon.

A strong determined and talented wrestler, and a great guy off the mats. Highly recommended

25/05/2015: After meeting him on the mats and in the ring at Pippa's in Manchester, I got the benefit of encountering mikeswuk's skills again during the submission grappling classes at the excellent International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). He was a huge help in repeating the submissions and counters that we'd had demonstrated with me and letting me try them out on him with a suitably educational level of resistance or cooperation as was needed; along with chipping in the benefit of his own extensive experience from time to time. So I'm looking forward to a further grapple with this skilled but unassuming wrestler back in England and seeing if I can remember what I've been taught. A pleasant, friendly, engaging chap off the mats too; and therefore highly recommended.
13/06/2015: Well I got some more grappling in with mikeswuk back in England, at John's meet, and was extremely pleased to take a few subs off him! [That they were subs that he'd spent a good, very patient half hour coaching me in how to achieve we will overlook for now!] A very talented wrestler and a lovely bloke, I'm looking forward to more coaching and more grappling.

A opportunity to wrestle this legend of British underground wrestling obviously could not be passed up, and I loved every minute of our match, but grovepark4u was a very rough introduction to ring wrestling for the naïve little jobber that I was in 2014 (and in many ways still am): I was totally outclassed and comprehensively destroyed. We therefore had a very happy audience and when I'd stopped seeing stars I was a very happy lad too, although that was more because I'd lived through it. An amazing guy and a superb wrestler, he still keeps his hand in, so if like me you're lucky enough to get an opportunity to wrestle grovepark4u take it and feel privileged.

Heute zum zweiten Mal getroffen mit besserer Umgebung. Es ist schon so viel über ihn geschrieben worden :-) und er ist ein sehr netter und starker Kerl! Hatbsehr viel Spaß gemacht! Und immer ein freundliches lächeln...
Gerne wieder!!

03/04/2017: I was very flattered to be chosen by the amazing waterrescue for a match on his first trip to London since the '80s [it was acceptable in the '80s]: it helps to have friends in high places (thank you marko75!). As expected he was far too strong and far too skilled for me, and it was only his sweet nature, sympathy for my existing bruised state and a hard floor that ruled out throws that prevented me from being totally demolished. We will definitely be having a rematch as soon as that can be arranged, and the outcome on some proper mats is not in doubt; it will, however, I am sure be just as much fun as Monday's sweaty little tussle, because this is one amazing guy to spend some decent grappling time with. He's safe, sane, friendly and chatty, interesting to talk to, a great host, in superb lifeguard's shape, able to demolish most opponents but also able and willing to tone it down to your level of skill and fitness. An amazing experience to wrestle him in other words: if you get the chance to, take it! I will be doing so—only maybe with reinforcements next time!
17/06/2017: Well, I got my rematch with waterrescue, and with reinforcements in the shape of marko75 and toxic, but I was still toast on the Hildesheim mats—but what a lot of fun. He's comically out of my league skillwise, but doesn't seem bothered about having to wrestle down to others' level in order to have a good fun match—and so we did. An absolutely lovely guy and an absolute pleasure to wrestle. I am looking forward to round 3 very much. Expect to sweat. Expect to laugh. Expect to lose.

Thanks to marko75 I had the luck to meet squashlad on the last day of his trip to Germany. On the mat he is very strong and skilled with an impressive variety of moves and holds. Unsurprisingly he was clearly superior to me and I had to submit more than one time. But at least I was able to cause him some problems especially by using my long legs :) Fighting him was just a great experience and a lot of fun. Above all squashlad is such a friendly and likable guy to talk to and spend a great time with. I'm impatiently looking forward to meet him again.

17/06/2017: Toxic made for a very welcome addition to a great little meet kindly organized for me by marko75 and waterrescue at Hildesheim. He's tall, strong and keen and a pleasure to wrestle and once he learns how to apply his strength, particularly his impressive legs, lots of guys will be getting worked over. At Hildesheim though, his inexperience combined with the formidable prospects that are waterrescue and marko75 meant that he was largely in a defensive mood, which in turn meant that I could take a few subs off him; although I suspect that he was largely letting me, as he seemed to quite enjoy my chokes! Off the mats he was similarly a pleasure to spend time with, being warm and funny and easy to talk to, and he provided an invaluable translation service for this lazy Anglophone, and a fascinating walking tour of Hildesheim and a delicious dinner in a seafood restaurant with him and marko75 was the perfect finale to a great day. Toxic is safe, sane and highly recommended and I can't wait to get back on the mats with him.

a super fight afternoon. you realize the experience significantly. super lever. much power. sexy body with a lot of power. I can recommend it, the endurance is impressive. sorry, I still have much English practice. 😁 testing these fighters! you are always welcome in Hannover.
Greeting Marko

Ein super Kampfnachmittag. Man merkt die Erfahrung deutlich. Super Hebel, viel Kraft. Sexy Körper mit viel Power. Ich kann ihn nur empfehlen, die Ausdauer ist beeindruckend. Sorry, ich muss noch viel Englisch üben. 😁 Testet diesen Kämpfer! Wir sehen uns wieder auf der Matte Kleiner.

Gruß Marko

17.06.2017
Nach einem Jahr ein neues Treffen. Er ist stark und kennt viele Aufgabegriffe. Es macht sehr viel Spaß mit ihm zu kämpfen. Ich hoffe wir sehen uns bald wieder. Dein sympatisches Lächeln ist großartig. Auf der Matte ist er ein gefährlicher Gegner. Ich wünsche mir noch viele Runden!

After one year a new meeting. He is strong and knows many tasks.
It's a lot of fun to fight with him. I hope we'll see you again soon.
Your sympathetic smile is great. On the mat, he is a dangerous opponent. I wish you many more laps!

20/05/2016: A chance for a match against marko75 was a key factor in picking staying on in Germany for my holidays after the Lindow training camp and, happily for me, he didn't disappoint.  Wow what a great wrestler and a great guy!  Strong, experienced, skillful, quick, aggressive in the best possible way, he's such a delight to wrestle.  He quickly summed up my level of wrestling ability and happily but subtly wrestled down to it, with, as a result, us both getting subs off each other in a fantastic sweaty grapple;  but he could clearly have made mincemeat of me if he'd wanted to.  He does a job that's far too valuable to society to take him away from, but in a parallel universe there's a marko75 who's a pro wrestler, because he's a genius at a heel turn, with the perfect Bad Boy made-for-television face of menace before he cranks on that hold or punches your gut:  you sure know what's coming!  And it's marko75 who personally put the grunt in “the grunt 'n' groan game”.  In short, a bout with this guy is the sort of thing that makes you think that wrestling really is the most fun that you can have with (some) clothes on.  And it obviously works for him, because he appears to have discovered the fountain of youth....  Off the mats the Bad Boy's lacking the evil glint in the eye but replaces it with warmth, good humor, a quick wit and kind hospitality, taking me for dinner and some good local Pilsner and an interesting walking tour of central Hanover.  An absolutely cracking evening and I can't wait for a repeat.  (It would be hard to think how to top it so a repeat is the most that I can ask for!)  Very highly recommended:  wrestling this bloke is an opportunity not to be missed, so take it if you can and feel privileged.
17/06/2017: Well I got my repeat of a match with marko75 and somehow it was even better than last year. Possibly because he very kindly organized a little meet for me with equally nice guys waterrescue and toxic in Hildesheim, which was just brilliant; but possibly because he's just the most fantastic guy to spend time with: “everyone's favorite DDR bear” 🐾 is a superb wrestler (way out of my league here), one of life's natural comedians, and warm, kind, generous and interesting to chat to—even through the often comical medium of Google Translate! (Oh, and he's unbelievably hot. I'm just saying....)

Squashlad is honestly one of the nicest people I have ever met! He's very easy-going, reliable, funny and skilled :) Therefore, the fight was as great and intense as I expected! The "old lazy daddy" is strong, especially considering the fact that he doesn't do any other sport. However, his wrestling experiences are very obvious, his moveset is big and he is determined to show that. The fact that we were quite even in terms of strength made the fight even better :) It went back and forth, we both dominated each other and tested our limits which are very high for both of us. In the end we did a final "Best of 3" to determine a winner. After a very sweaty and hard match, I was finally able to defeat him! ;) However we are both winners obviously because we finally had the chance to meet us! Considering our great time, our next meeting will follow very soon :)

16/06/2017: I'm never sure whether wrestling guys when I could quite literally be their father is a good idea. I mean 22? I can't even remember 22. If you beat them, I feel like a bully, and if they beat you, well it just feels like time to retire. In this case with young quadi1 I somehow managed the rather unenviable trick of feeling like a bully, having spent most of the time on top of him pulling his limbs off and (inadvertently) making him bleed and (having failed to transition quickly from give-and-take to competitive) losing to him in our best-of-three decider—way to go huh? He seemed to like being worked over but when he wants to win he's startlingly quick for a heavyweight and has a determination, stubbornness and strength that serves him well, along with some good technique and a nice taste for the rough stuff. And although his repertoire is as yet not that great, that's no problem if, like me, you fail repeatedly to avoid what he does know—in particular his rear naked choke, which I knew was coming and still ended up tapping out to several times. Aside from the grappling, quadi1 is great company, being easy and interesting to talk to, and he makes for an excellent tour guide to historic Hanover. He is safe and sane and with his determination and hard work in the gym he has the makings of an excellent wrestler. And I don't just say that because he can already beat me! So I'm looking forward to the rematch with the talented roughhousing youngster.

Squashlad is a very pleasant person, very ruthless with his great weakness - lack of English knowledge; THANK YOU! In addition, Squashlad is a perfect fighter because he is fighting tirelessly. Obendrein Squashlad tries to connect the wrestling with grappling, causing others to fail. I was impressed by Squashlad and can only put me in the row - see recommendations of the others!

05/06/2017: RingerBln was kind enough to have me and Wrestlinger2009 around to his fine home mat set up in Berlin to practice the freestyle techniques that we'd in theory just learnt at the freestyle training camp in Lindow (Mark) before my pea brain returned to grappling for the rest of the year. However I was so totally outclassed by RingerBln that it was solely an opportunity to practice my defence (now hugely better than my attack, for just this reason!). He's tall, very strong, skilled and aggressive in the best possible way, so I was toast. Even (inadvertently) chucking in the odd choke from grappling helped me only for the blink of an eye. My only saving grace was that Wrestlinger2009 didn't fare much better! Thankfully off the mats this pinning machine turns into a gentle giant and is a gracious host, and it was great to spend some cool-down time with him over a few beers in his excellent favorite local bar. Highly recommended and I look forward to wrestling RingerBln again—probably this time next year!

18/05/2016: A great tussle in a sultry Chemnitz with the big powerhouse that is raufer76. I was totally overpowered and outclassed here, but that doesn't matter when you're having a great sweaty battle with such a cool guy. He was kind enough to give me a couple of subs to a couple of chokeholds, but that was just to be nice, he was in complete control, working me over in a startling variety of well executed holds and showing me who was boss. Brilliant fun! He's skilled, safe and sane and a really decent bloke. I particularly appreciated all his hard work to do things in English (his third language) for me, and going out for pizza afterwards to replenish the calories made for a really enjoyable end to the Saxonian leg of my holiday. Raufer76 is very highly recommended and we will definitely be grappling again: and hopefully soon!
14/06/2017: Well it was over a year later, but the rematch with the Saxon powerhouse was well worth the wait. He was still all over me, Chemnitz was still as sweaty, the space to wrestle was still as small, and four hours still flew by too fast. He is just fabulous fun to grapple with! Till next year then....

13-16/05/2016: It was great to meet and train with horti at the fantastic 16th International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). What a lovely guy! Immensely strong with an amazing physique, he is nevertheless a wrestler who wants to improve technically and was keen to put into practice what we were being taught at the training camp, so it was a surprisingly gentle experience tussling with the big guy (although a super-competitive bout with him may be a different matter!). Between training sessions he was a really interesting guy to chat to, super-friendly, witty and engaging, and he speaks better English than I do! I hope to meet and wrestle him again soon, in Brandenburg or in London, and he is very highly recommended by me.
09/06/2017: The rematch finally came in the shape of a grapple in horti's beautiful garden in Dresden which was a new experience for this grass-stained wrestler! As ever there was little I could do once he got on top but it was an awful lot of fun trying. Off the grass he proved to be a superb co-host and we had a very entertaining couple of evenings with them in amazing Dresden. The ultimate in sane grass bear wrestling: and what more could you ask for? 🐾

10/06/2017: I had the pleasure of meeting and wrestling kleiner kerl at the little group meet kindly organized for me at OefightBln's matroom in Berlin by catchbear1 and OefightBln along with xxlbear and goergilein. He proved to be startlingly strong and swift and it took a lot of work and sweat to subdue him. (And, if I'm being honest, by “subdue him” I mean more “lie on top of him” than wow anyone with my technique.) We had several little grapples during the meet and all were a pleasure and I'd welcome an opportunity to wrestle this safe and sane nice guy again.

10/06/2017: I had the pleasure of meeting and wrestling xxlbear at the little group meet kindly organized for me at OefightBln's matroom in Berlin by catchbear1 and OefightBln along with kleiner kerl and goergilein. He proved to be a strong and determined wrestler and was on top of me and in control for most of our little match. I would very much have liked a longer grapple with him so I hope that we get to wrestle again soon. Safe, sane and highly recommended.

10/06/2017: During my stay in amazing Berlin catchbear1 was kind enough to organize a little group meet for me at OefightBln's matroom, so I was able to meet them both along with kleiner kerl, xxlbear and goergilein. He also took a lead in translating for me so that this lazy Anglophone was able to chat with everyone. I soon found out that a very gentle introduction to the wrestling of coffee and cake doesn't mean that I'm not going to get mangled on the mats! I was a little worried about wrestling a guy with such very impressive triple bypass scars, especially when one had very recently been redone, but catchbear1 is clearly one of those guys whom very little will slow down. A super nice, welcoming and friendly guy off the mats and a competent and committed wrestler on them, catchbear1 was safe and sane and is highly recommended.

I also met Squashlad after the wrestling camp in Lindow in 2017. After other short meetings during the week, he was also able to wrestle with me. Although only a short time, but it was a lot of fun. He is a very good wrestler and grappler and has an excellent stamina. And he is strong.
It was a great pleasure for me to meet him. I hope for more bouts with more time. Squashlad is also a very nice guy next to the mat. Highly Recommended. With nearly 200 former opponents not really unusual.
(I hope my english was not so terrible :-))

10/06/2017: OefightBln very kindly hosted a little group meet for me at his Berlin home, meaning that I was able to meet catchbear1, kleiner kerl, xxlbear and goergilein as well as his good self. I suspect the delicious coffee and cake before our matches were a not-so-subtle attempt to slow me down, but who can complain when your opponent's hosting skills are this good? And OefightBln proved to be not just a nice guy off the mats, but on them too, as he used skill and technique to pin me rather than relying on his strength. It wasn't the longest grapple ever, but it was good fun, and I look forward to doing it again. Highly recommended and particular thanks for translating for me so that I could talk with everyone who'd kindly come along.

Ich habe Squashlad beim Ringertreffen 2016 in Lindow getroffen, dort in der Anfängergruppe. Feiner Kerl, engagierter, rücksichtsvoller Trainingspartner.

13–16/05/2016: It was a pleasure to meet, train with and wrestle BenAlHürxe at the 16th International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). He's a big guy, strong with it, and has been training for many months at the Berlin club, so only just still qualified for our beginners' group, and was therefore a real (but very enjoyable) challenge to wrestle. He's very safe though, and prefers to concentrate on using good technique, especially what we'd just been taught, rather than his size to get and keep control and get the pin, so wrestling him was beneficial to my own improvement during the training camp, as well as a lot of fun. Off the mats he's an extremely friendly, welcoming, funny and helpful guy, kindly doing some translating for us monoglot Anglophones where needed, and making us visitors to Brandenburg feel very well looked after. I'd love to wrestle him again whenever the opportunity presents itself and he is very highly recommended.
05/06/2017: It was the briefest of reunion wrestles with this big sweetheart of a guy, right at the very, very end of the 2017 Einsteiger freestyle training camp, which was a real shame, but it was an absolute pleasure as ever. BenAlHürxe is one of those guys you want to wrestle every day, not once a year!

05/06/2017: A little wrestle with patlutte right at the very end of the excellent Einsteiger freestyle training camp in Lindow (Mark) was the final lesson that the camp had to teach me, as he skillfully demonstrated the virtues of speed, good technique, conserving energy and taking the opportunities that your opponent presents you with in a superbly efficient manner, as I was gently but repeatedly pinned by a guy 13 kg lighter than me. And very modestly done, in that winning French accent! Until next year then, when perhaps I shall be a better pupil....

04/06/2017: After chatting to him before the camp, I finally managed to corner the powerhouse that is Judo Bear for a little wrestle during the last open mat session at the superb Einsteiger freestyle training camp in Lindow (Mark) that he was there for and was so pleased that he didn't get away! He's super strong, but doesn't rely on his size and strength, but tries to use good technique to turn and pin his opponent, and his strong background in judo and other combat sports was very evident. Unfortunately his need to get away on the Monday meant that there was no opportunity for a second tussle with him, but I am sure that we will wrestle again, because this is the type of quality wrestler whom you want to spend hours on the mats with. Safe and sane and yet another of those lovely friendly guys who did everything in English for me, lazy Anglophone that I am, Judo Bear is highly recommended.

02–05/06/2017: It was fantastic to have berber as a regular training partner at the excellent Einsteiger freestyle training camp in Lindow (Mark) as he's experienced, enthusiastic, super strong and patient, meaning that I got to really drill all the holds, throws and reversals that we were taught. However it also meant that in our little tussles during the open mat sessions he wiped the floor with me (but that was cool, I'd sweated on them so much by then that they needed wiping). Despite the language barrier we really hit it off and had a good giggle together when our coach remained sternly unimpressed by our efforts. A safe and sane nice guy, he well deserves his Einsteiger nickname, and I look forward to training with him and wrestling him again next year.

03/06/2017: I was really pleased that OddJobb agreed to accept my invitation to the Einsteiger freestyle training camp in Lindow (Mark) and to try out freestyle there. It probably isn't his preferred style it transpires, but good on him for giving it a good go and for training so hard on the day, and best of all it meant that we finally got to have a little wrestle during the open mat sessions of training. He's effective at using his weight, doesn't give up easily and has a real desire to win. Perhaps more importantly, he's great to have a beer with after training! I really appreciated OddJobb coming all that way just for the day and doing everything with me in English (given that I'm too lazy to have learnt any German), and I hope that we can meet again soon to try some submission grappling as well.

November 2016
Ahh, Squashlad... Where do I begin?? It's difficult to find the words to express just how highly I think of this man...
After writing xxxx number of messages, we finally had the chance to meet at Pippas. Long overdue..
Firstly, Squashlad and I hit it off so well. We quickly established a solid relationship, which only continued to thrive and flourish over the next few months from the moment we made contact. Safe to say, my expectations to finally meeting him were high!
Having met Squashlad, I'm happy to tell you he exceeded my expectations (if possible)! He's got a lovely voice, a winning smile, he is friendly, genuine, good looking (his pictures definitely does not do him justice).. Basically a man you'd really, really want to meet.
We'd been discussing back and forth who was gonna beat who.. Winding each other up, and boy, were we competitive!
He clearly has a lot of skill, and is very strong. He is quick, and his background in freestyle helps his balance. Impossible to budge off! His 150+ past opponents aren't just for show; theres clearly a lot of skill to this guy.
He was also very conciderate, and 100% safe.. My neck injury, (which I won't be carrying next time around - I'm in for a real beating) he made sure not to touch.

I don't know what else to say.. Squashlad has well over a 100 recommendations, and I'm glad to confirm he deserves every single one of them. He truly is a remarkable man, which I can't wait to get on the mats with again.
Liten setning på norsk, etter ønske.. Fantastisk humor - Liker vikinger.. Fikk ikke oppfylt sitt ønske om #dannythevikingpretzel, ettersom jeg vant ganske overlegent. Neida. Joda.. Anbefales varmt!!
My absolute highest recommendations!

12/11/2016: So you've probably been chatting to young GrappleViking. Let's face it, most of us have. And if you haven't met him yet, you may wonder what about this remarkable young man is actually genuine. Well, after having chatted to him for ages, I was delighted to see him come to England to go to John's Manchester Meet at Pippa's, and to meet and wrestle him there. And having done so, I can confirm that he is every bit as charming, polite, friendly, courteous, intelligent, enthusiastic, witty, outgoing, confident, modest and cheeky as he seems. What may not be obvious from chatting to him though, disguised as it is by his modesty and his respectful attitude to us old people, is that he is, firstly, very good, demolishing guys much bigger than himself with ease; and, secondly, that he is very competitive: the lad just loves to win. And he usually does. I felt very relieved to only concede two submissions to him in our little 20-minute grapple: it could so easily have been many more if he'd been less tired (it being the end of the meet) and hadn't been carrying a neck injury. And it will be many more, because GrappleViking is clearly just going to get better and better. He's already far better than the likes of schmucks like me after just three previous matches and two grappling lessons: a year from now he is going to be unstoppable. So wrestle him now while you still have a prayer! But losing to a lad this talented, let alone this nice, is no shame; indeed it was almost a pleasure seeing the quiet (but respectful) satisfaction that he took in dispatching me and most of us other experienced but hopeless old gits! In summary, this is a very genuine, very talented, and very nice young man, whom no one's going to begrudge the trail of destruction that he's just started unleashing on MeetFighters World. He's safe and sane and the cheeky youngster comes with my very highest recommendation. (Oh, and yes, he really is that handsome too!)

Wrestling with squashlad was excellent. His defence was extremely strong and difficult to get past. This coupled with his ability to twist his body out of holds made it difficult to get a submission from him. He also had plenty of stamina and experience which made him a formidable opponent.

He was also safe and friendly and I enjoyed my time with him.

22/05/2017: There's something about a match being super easy to arrange that lets you know that you're going to have a quality opponent and a good time. And so it proved with atwrestlefun. No sweat arranging the match: but plenty during it, at the Walthamstow ring, on the hottest day of the year so far. Don't be taken in by his retiring demeanour and quiet tones, this is a startlingly strong young guy who is getting stuck into his BJJ training and has a real desire to win and to dominate his opponent. Once he couples his height and muscle with some more experience and gives a freer rein to his killer instinct he'll be making toast out of fat old men like me. Shy and trash talking is a slightly odd combination, but it was really nice when he relaxed with me sufficiently to taunt me a little on my inability to get the hammerlock on him that I wanted. Safe and sane, even deferential really, wrestle him now before the young muscleman starts cleaning up on the MeetFighters mats.

A very confident wrestler with great style and control. I accepted that I would not win and just enjoyed the pleasure of the fight with this elegant fighter. I thoroughly recommend you fight him: you will enjoy the experience, whatever the outocome.

13/05/2017: It was great to get a grapple in with this outgoing and enthusiastic wrestler on the main mats at John's meet at Pippa's. He's strong and makes you work hard to take anything off him, so it was a lot of fun. He's safe and sane on the mats and pleasant to talk to off them. I was pleased to find that I'll be meeting him again soon, at the freestyle training camp in Brandenburg, so for once a rematch should be only a little while to wait for—good stuff!

13/05/2017: It was a really nice surprise to see baerhd over for John's meet at Pippa's and brilliant to get to tussle with the big powerhouse on the main mats. It's very difficult to get anywhere against his strength—but an awful lot of fun trying! Safe and sane and a super nice guy off the mats too. I hope we see him back in Manchester before too long!

I met sqashlad in Manchester he is a very nice guy and very strong
he is very respectful of any limits. He knows many holds and is a great
guy to chat too.I am looking forward to our next match.I have no hesitation
in recommending him to anyone who would like to take him on
cheers Tony

13/05/2017: I was pleased to be able to arrange a match with geordie for John's meet at Pippa's, and got to tussle with him on the main mats. Do not underestimate him: he is properly strong and knows how to attack and defend. Getting him to submit was a lot of hard work and his favoring one arm only seems to have made that arm bulge with muscle! Geordie is safe and sane and a very nice chatty and outgoing guy, so I hope to get to grapple with him again soon.

14/05/17
Had the real pleasure of locking up again with this star of the UK mat world! Don't be fooled by the "I'm only a jobber" routine! There's real skill and determination in this grappler's repertoire! A superb few hours wrestling! The perfect opponent!
12.10.15
Another great session today! Watch out for the legs! Hes a cyclist...get caught in the head scissors and you know it! He's got some sneaky fighting back moves, too. Always a pleasure to wrestle and excellent chat off the mats. Continues to be an A1* opponent!
18.04.15
Dont be mislead! The so called squashlad is fast learning good aggressive tactics! Hes strong and resilient. We had several good sessions today, making me definitely want more! Whats this about rule breaking? Who? Me?!! Great guy off the mats too.
This is one first rate jobber! He can certainly take his punishment! Easy to fix a meet; safe, sane and reliable. Tough on mats, he delivers exactly what his profile says. Intelligent and good conversation off the mats, too. For a "newbie", he's a natural, I reckon....born for the mats! I had a great, fun evening...just hope he comes back for more! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

24/10/2014: It's pretty intimidating taking on a guy who outweighs you by 32 lbs and has had 222 past opponents just here on Meetfighters alone! And yes, all that strength and experience certainly told, with him getting multiple submissions out of me from a wide arsenal of holds and techniques. But wrestling dadwrestle was a great, if punishing, experience - he's a true gentleman, welcoming and hospitable, and plays safe and respects limits, with an excellent spacious set up for wrestling. Don't let his age fool you! You'd never guess it and the man is still in great shape, with a lot of strength. Although he prefers competitive matches dadwrestle can certainly punish jobbers. Highly recommended and this jobber will be back for more.
18/04/2015: A rematch with dadwrestle, competitive this time, at a small group meet in Hackney. As strong as ever, he had me controlled and submitting most of the time, but he seemed almost paternally proud when he found that his protégé had developed something resembling a defence and could even (very occasionally) get the odd sub himself. Dadwrestle's a lovely man, thankfully far above such base things as cheating in tag matches. Wrestle him and learn....
12/10/2015: For my swansong at dadwrestle's great home set before he's reduced to joining us plebs at the matrooms and it was as good fun a grapple as ever. I think he's quietly pleased with how I'm coming along, but that didn't stop him working me over yet again. Which is how it should be.
14/05/2017: He'll tell you he's retiring soon. He won't. He'll tell you he's past it. He isn't. Ow....

I had my longest match to date with Squashlad. He has loads of stamina and just kept coming back for more. He made me work hard for my subs. He is modest about his skills and is better than he thinks. Great company off the mats too and I'm glad we had time for a beer later. Will the rematch be even longer???

27/09/2015: Had a fantastic match with this strong, experienced, seriously in-shape wrestler at his excellent home set up. I learnt a huge amount from his calm and disciplined approach to his grappling as despite spending perhaps the majority of the time on top, Crushhhh was virtually always in control and he'd quietly bide his time, get the reversal and then the submission. He's hugely strong and particularly effective in getting submissions from crushing holds like headlocks (which I'm normally able to hold out in), so is well named, and is clearly serious about his gym work and his sport, but is nevertheless a very technical and skilled wrestler who knows his holds, using his strength only when he needs to. He's also a generous host and an engaging, interesting and funny guy who's great to spend some time with off the mats so he comes very highly recommended. A rematch is most definitely on the cards!
22/04/2017: Well that was a rematch that took an awfully long time to arrange, and I'm not sure why, but good things come to those who wait, and it was certainly just as much fun as round 1—even if much briefer, as we had other important things to get on to, like the fabulous lasagne that he'd cooked for us and a trip to his five-star beer lover's local! I am still scoreless against the muscle, but at least spent more of this match on top, although to no avail. Crushhhh is a superb host, a super guy and a great wrestler: what more could you want?

10/10/2015: Had a good grapple with RedJim at the OWG meet at Pippa's. He's a strong and determined guy and when he cranks a hold on you know about it. Very safe and sane though, so he's highly recommended. Hope to get to wrestle him again.
17/04/2017: A rematch was a long time coming so I was very flattered that RedJim made a pretty epic journey to the Walthamstow ring just to chuck me around again (well, OK, and to have a few pints). He's a fearless chap and gets stuck into heavier lumps like me no problem. Good fun, and a nice guy to spend time with out of the ring as well.

Met Squashlad at the Manchester meet and had a good wrestle with him. Fun and sociable guy both on and off the mats. If you get the chance to meet up with him he's well worth the effort.

01/04/2017: It was great to get an April Fool's Day grapple in with wrestlelock at the Grapevine Group meet at Pippa's. His BJJ training was clearly evident (and he was kind enough to show me a few things, even if most of them did go over my head!) and we had a good sweaty tussle. Thankfully a bit of extra height and quite a lot of extra bulk (ahem) kept me out of trouble, but he's a competitive wrestle and I'm looking forward to another go at him soon. Safe, sane, friendly and polite, wrestlelock is highly recommended.

we met at a group meet and had an all to brief match, he looks great and really loves to be a jobber, and take a bit of a bashing, all safe and sane tho! looking forward to the next time. 1/04/17 finally met again for another enjoyable match, but blimey it's harder work now! not sure if it's me feeling my age or him getting stronger , but anyway still great fun, very much recommended.

01/11/2014: Had a quick bout against this enthusiastic and experienced guy and really enjoyed it. Welcoming, friendly, safe and accommodating, he's in great shape and knows his stuff. Looking forward to a longer rematch! Highly recommended.
01/04/2017: A new personal best for waiting for a rematch; but oldscrapperderby is worth the wait. Had a really enjoyable tussle with him at the Grapevine Group meet at Pippa's: he's still the business! Safe and sane, in amazing shape and knows how to take charge in a match. Hopefully future rematches will come around much more quickly....

Craig was in jobber mode for our match and it was good for me to channel my inner heel, something I don't often get the chance to do. I enjoyed putting him in various holds and keeping him on the edge of submission, teasing him. The smile on his face and the moans of pleasure mixed with pain told me how much he was enjoying the match. Of course, as it was our first match I only introduced him to a few of the holds in my arsenal. I'm looking forward to our next time. Highly recommended.

10/10/2015: I'm not quite sure given all the meets that we've been to in common why it's taken so long for me to have a proper grapple with matworker---probably because he's usually busy being the host with the most I suppose---but at the OWG meet, freed from his admin duties, we fixed that. He'd let me into the secret of his one weakness earlier in the day, but it did me no good and I was on the receiving end of matworker's excellent heeling skills, a wide variety of submission holds and pro moves. All very safely done though---this is a very considerate and careful wrestler and he's therefore highly recommended. There'll be much less time before the rematch.
01/04/2017: Just a bit of an update to let y'all know that that wasn't a one-off, and that Dave has subsequently taken another break or two from his superb hosting of meets to educate me in how to wrestle, and shown me who's boss again. He is an inventive but safe heel and enjoys taking charge, which makes for a good match. Here's to many more meets!

Great meet with Craig. Don't let the profile name fool you He's a tough competitive wrestler. He's strong and has one of the highest pain thresholds I've met. It took a lot to put him away - but glad I turned it round and did. Recommended

28/03/2017: It was excellent to get a match in with Jayboy at the Walthamstow ring thanks to the kind match-sponsoring efforts of DaveLon, whose generous offer of a winner's purse does get some quality opponents stepping into the ring with me! It does, however, also mean that I get some opponents who're very keen to make me quit, and Jayboy duly smashed his way to a well earnt victory. (You can see some of the aftermath in my photos if that's your sort of thing!) He's a tough guy in superb shape. He is, however, also completely safe and sane and respected my limits. And I was very pleased to make him work hard for his victory; an armlock and a choke even having me ahead for a period. Jayboy's very highly recommended if you like rough matches, and I can't wait for another go at the big bruiser. Thanks Jayboy—and thanks DaveLon!

I enjoyed wrestling squsahlad and also look forward to wrestling him again. A great guy and a great wrestler. Good control (very safe and sane wrestler) and also easy to arrange meeting him. Highly recommended.

13/02/2017: It's always a bit of a challenge taking on a guy who's trained in both freestyle and BJJ and is a real outdoors man, hiking, search and rescue, you name it, so I was pleased to hold my own against KiwiWrestler when he kindly hosted a match for me at his. We mainly did submission grappling but he did some coaching for me in freestyle as well as grappling, which will be really useful in the run up to the Brandenburg freestyle training camp. Don't be fooled by his low-key demeanor, KiwiWrestler knows his stuff, and unleashes his get-in-quick attack once you're on the mats, but he's completely safe and sane, and what is obvious from the off is that he's a thoroughly nice guy: he's a good host and an interesting bloke to chat to between subs. I look forward to taking up his offer of a post-match beer the next time that we get to meet and grapple, which hopefully will be sooner rather than later. Highly recommended.

it was a pleasure meeting up with Squashlad and having a wrestle with him. Despite already packing his schedule full with wrestling matches, he was still extremely enthusiastic during our wrestle. Although at the end I got the better of him, he certainly gave a good fight. I'd love to have another wrestle with him, I'm sure he won't go easy on me next time.

25/02/2017: I was really pleased that wannabetank came along to the little meet that cyclone74 kindly organized so that I could meet and wrestle as many Sydney wrestlers as possible during my all-too-brief stopover as he's a great guy and a great wrestler. Initially he was a little diffident to the fat old man he was facing, but once he'd overcome that he was feisty and aggressive in the best possible way, and had me tapping all over the place, including to his seriously strong scissors: huge thighs and scissor submissions are obviously the Sydney way! He definitely had the advantage in terms of speed and fitness (ah, youth!) and it was only some extra height and a bit more experience that kept me in the game against the young muscleman. Off the mats and between subs he was a polite and friendly chap, easy to talk to, and I only wish that I could've summoned up the energy to have a longer, harder match with him. But there will be a rematch. (By which time wannabetank will probably just be tank!) A very high recommendation from me for this safe and sane nice guy. (But beware of his legs....)

I had a fun tag team match and definitely sure made me work. An easy going guy off the mats with great conversations. Highly recommend this guy if you want a friendly tussle

25/02/2017: It was great to have this super feisty young wrestler make the time to come and wrestle the old fat blokes at the little meet that cyclone74 very kindly organized during my all-too-brief layover in Sydney. I'd been warned that wolfpack was fast and strong and seen that he has a bit of a penchant for inflicting some pain and the warnings were not wrong! Coupled with the youthful virtues of speed and fitness he was a real handful and I felt very pleased to have got him to tap at all, but not until after he'd got me to submit, including in his scissors, which is not a hold that I normally bother much to try avoiding, because I never need to tap out in scissors—except here in Sydney, where it seems to be the (painful) local speciality. (Might have something to do with all the guys having legs like tree trunks....) He was kind enough to avoid punching as his preferred style runs more towards MMA than straight submission grappling, which is just as well otherwise I'd have been toast. He is, in other words, entirely safe and sane, despite his liking for torturing an opponent a bit. In the [frequent—the old man was shagged!] breaks in our little meet, wolfpack proved to be an intelligent and interesting guy to chat to and so, coupled with his impressive grappling skills, he's very highly recommended and I hope to get to tussle with him again when I'm back in beautiful Sydney.

This guy was great to meet, what a tag team. Not only was he a great wrestler but a very nice guy. The match before the tag was a great pleasure, one to remember. If you don't meet him it's your loss.
Plus a awesome scissors to end the night

25/02/2017: After chatting for ages it was great to finally get to Sydney and meet and hit the mats with the wrestling machine that is cyclone74. He went out of his way to arrange a really good meet for me so that I could wrestle as many Sydney guys as possible in the short time that I was in town, which I hugely appreciated. It was a scissorfest of a meet and scissoring is obviously what Sydney wrestlers excel at as I've tapped out in guys' scissors more often in the last four days than I have in the last four years. And cyclone74 is the undisputed scissor master! (Which, when you see his massive muscular legs, isn't that much of a surprise.) But don't think of him as a one-trick pony, I actually tapped to him more often in his headlocks and neck cranks than I did in his scissors—he's an extremely strong tank of a guy and once he's got you locked up tapping out is really only a matter of time. (The time being, for one particularly one-sided sub, about six seconds!) His BJJ training really shows. Between subs and off the mats he's a very friendly and personable guy and easy to talk to. Cyclone74 is very highly recommended, is a safe and sane if rather painful wrestle and is a must for a rematch, when I will almost certainly not get my revenge!

Thanks for the compliment Squashlad, I would never claim to be a bodybuilder… Simply a fighter who likes to look good. If I knew he thought so highly of my physique I may have been a little more kind with him on the mats… which I’m sure he would have absolutely hated, because this guy likes it rough, real and brutal!
We wrestled for over 3 hours in a non-air conditioned room which left us (and the mattress) soaked in sweat and totally dehydrated. During this time Squashlad took every form of abuse known to wrestling and at quite a high intensity…. yet he was the one who wanted to keep going 3 hours later when I unfortunately had to leave.
Squashlad is probably not the most accurate name for this fighter as he certainly does not just lay there and allow you to squash him (thank God!) In fact he fights back with all the determination and strength of some of the most competitive submission fighters I’ve met.
If you are looking for an opponent who enjoys a rough, brutal but sane match, coming at you with all he’s got, then you must meet this man.
Looking forward to meeting again… highly recommended!

There's a bit of an urban myth (usually spouted by guys who don't do any weights at all) that bodybuilders' muscles are just for show. Well in the case of ruffnhard at least, I can vouch for that not being the case—he's super strong and easily overpowered me every time. It was a little like trying to wrestle a bulldozer into submission, and with the same result. I did, however, get two subs off him, by rather unfairly targeting an old injury of his, but hey, I had to avoid a total whitewash! (And we shall just ignore the 20 times that number that he took off me.) But the huge muscles aren't all that's in his arsenal, as he knows and can execute a good range of submission holds and punches hard and accurately. And it's not just the physique that you can take at face value, his profile name is what-you-see-is-what-you-get too. He's a safe and sane guy, able and willing to pitch things for his opponent's level and tastes, but if like me you're up for doing his favored rough and hard style of match, ruffnhard is what you're going to get, and it will hurt. I am, as a result, thoroughly battered and bruised: it was a cracking match in other words! Can't wait to get back to beautiful Sydney and hit the mats with the muscle again. Ruffnhard is a top bloke, an excellent wrestler, super tough, super nice and very highly recommended.

Experienced guy + over 160 Previous Opponents + Submission Grappler (him) vs Unfit + Pro-Mission Jobber (me) . . . you can guess the outcome ! ! !
I was tapping out left, right & centre. But then he slowed it down a bit, and still had fun getting me to tap out in prolonged holds, proving his dominance over me. Great fun. And yes I even got a few taps from him, though I'm sure he LET me. :-).
Experienced, well-travelled, fun guy . . . I hope he comes back to Sydney soon ! ! !

22/02/2017: Was great to have rob c57 for my first grapple in sunny Sydney as he's strong, determined and really good to spend time with. His size and strength meant that I was just defending when he was on top, and chances to counterattack were frustratingly few as he knows how to use his weight effectively. He does prefer jobbing but was kind enough to do submission with me and made me work for everything—which was tricky when you're not used to the New South Welsh climate! Between subs and off the mats rob c57's an interesting, modest and engaging guy, and a few drinks and dinner afterwards were a very pleasant way to end a great day with him. Highly recommended, safe and sane and I'm looking forward to a rematch with him soon.

23/02/2017: Well when a 23-year-old professional swimming instructor has the profile name Jobberpunisher, what can you do but give your inner jobber a day out to play? And so I did, and Jobberpunisher did not disappoint: this is one cocky, confident and skilled young lightweight who can easily take charge in a match and inflict as much pain as you're up for trying out. He's very strong for such a lean guy and has a large repertoire of holds that he executes swiftly and competently, often combining them with smashes and punches for extra effect. His scissors are quite startlingly strong and he has a bit of a thing for nerve holds and pinches, which can be very painful. Always safely and sanely done though: Jobberpunisher is a real pleasure to wrestle. Highly recommended and I hope to get another squash match in with him soon. Just make sure you offer to get his parking charge for him though, or he really might turn green and bust out of his shirt!

Had a great match with Squashed. Very keen wrestler with great technique, fit and aggressive. We had a very intense, long session. Great sweaty brawl and work out. Squashad has way more skill than me but my weight advantage helped a couple of times at least. Very nice guy also, and good to share a couple of beers after the match and talk. Hope to meet up again.

12/02/2017: It was great to get outdoorsdad as my first opponent on my Kiwi holiday as he's big and strong and doesn't quit. When he's on top of you he's very hard to shift, and when you're on top of him he makes you work for the submission, having a good feisty attitude and a real desire to win, which made for a really enjoyable match. He's also a kind and gracious host and is interesting to chat to and to share a few post-match beers with; and it turns out that we have really quite a startling amount in common! Outdoorsdad is safe and sane and comes very highly recommended and is a must for a rematch when I'm back in the tropical paradise that is Wellington.

There's little I can say to add to previous comments already made about Craig, except to re-enforce how true they are. Despite being outclassed in strength and weight Craig was a pleasure to scrap with. Friendly, handsome, safe and sane. Incredibly, even frustratingly, resilient, as others have attested, it certainly was a challenge I won't forget. Whilst we both enjoy a rough match, I felt completely comfortable with him and I had heaps of fun. I'd love to have another crack when I have picked up a few more tricks! Highly recommended, a great match.

15/02/2017: After a bit of a mess arranging things at the start of my Kiwi holiday (which was entirely my fault), it was great to get to wrestle the very accurately named scrappingmatt in New Plymouth just before heading off to New South Wales. I did feel like a bit of a bully when I weigh half as much again as he does, but scrappingmatt's one of those get-stuck-in blokes who isn't at all fazed by taking on a much heavier opponent, in fact I think he quite likes having more to bash! As his profile name implies, he likes a good scrap and including plenty of gut punching, and I got plenty of the scrappingmatt attitude, and I had to resort to just squashing the feisty lad a few times to get a breather and give my “abs” a rest. But despite the high-speed, brawling wrestling style he's very safe and sane and is careful of his opponent's welfare. He's also interesting and easy to chat to between subs (and probably would be before a match too, if you could stop him whipping his shirt off and getting straight down to the gut bashing!). Highly recommended and I'm hoping to get a rematch with him sooner rather than later when he's over in the northern hemisphere: so look out for him there Europe-based guys!

First of all it I want to state that squashlad is a very nice friendly guy. Totally genuine. The kind of guy that you can't help but like immediately.
But having said that my intention was to quickly wear this guy down with punishment and make him quit. The first day we wrestled it was only a short match but I could see that wearing this guy down was not going to be easy. I did everything I could to him but no matter what I did he put up enough resistance to make my job difficult.
The next day we met for a much longer match which would last 2 hours. I was certain I would be able to destroy him in far less time and make him want to quit. No way. No matter how rough I was on him or how much I worked him over he just kept coming back for more. You cannot frustrate him or break his will to keep wrestling. He just gets back on his feet and is ready to keep going.
What I learned after 2 hours of wrestling was that he was prepared to keep going for much longer. He won't quit. I think I was getting more exhausted than what he was. Perhaps that is what his plan was.
Great guy. If you have the endurance to last a long time in a submission wrestling he will give you a long match. You might make him submit but don't count on him quitting. He will keep coming back at you. Doesn't back down.
Definitely recommend squashlad.

21/01/2017: So it took over a year to get another chance to get back in the ring with the Canadian superstar, but good things come to those who wait.... Painful things also come to those who wait! Don't get me wrong, subwrestler2 is a totally safe and sane guy, with the skills to pitch his attack in a way that will work for his opponent, but be warned, if you ask for a rough match, that is what you're going to get. Ouch.... Fabulous fun. Can't wait to do it again! The most skilled wrestler I've had the privilege to be destroyed by. Don't miss a chance to wrestle him.
09–10/01/2016: A small series of matches with the force of nature that is subwrestler2 in the ring and on the mats at Pippa's. I would say that we were operating in different competitions, let alone leagues, but even that seems comically inadequate. The only times that I wasn't defending were when I was struggling back to my feet for yet another arse-kicking. But even that was a privilege! Because this is one super-skilled wrestler, with the strength, fitness, technique and aggression to go with it, so I feel very lucky to have got several hours of his time. He'll go as hard as you want, and is very capable of doing so, but the great thing about a guy this skilled is that he's capable of dishing it out without injuring, so despite it being really quite a painful experience taking him on, it was also a totally safe one. And he was kind enough to say that I was quite tough (which is certainly more polite than the more accurate “a bit crap”)—although I think that just indicates that I got through the two hours of our final match without expiring....
An absolute five-star grappling experience and an absolute five-star bloke; if you can get a match with him, do. Hope I get to meet him again. (Just not in a dark alley!)

I met the charming and unflappable SL for an intro to GP. If you read his comments following our meet you'll learn that whilst the meet itself was fun, the lack of heat at the venue somewhat curtailed our planned GP. Nevertheless, he's a handsome, friendly, smart chap who endured the cold mats like a trooper. Clearly a competent wrestler too for those of you into that. Plus, he turned up on time and looked like his pics :-)

03/01/2017: It was great to start the New Year off trying something new, with an introduction to gut punching from pshawfocus, an experienced practitioner. He expertly led me through the various ways that guys can be worked over, tailoring it to my main interest in providing more variety in my attack and more resilience in my defence in submission wrestling, and I was surprised at the variety of ways that a stomach can be effectively attacked! He was very skilled at judging the intensity that this novice could deal with, was completely safe and sane and my GUTP101 class was very enjoyable. Unfortunately I hadn't chosen our classroom very well and it was just too cold at the beginning of January for a long session so I didn't have time to reciprocate and I'm not sure that my teacher got a lot out of the session, but that may have been a good thing as you'd likely need a much better punch than mine to make any progress against his very impressive abs! Hopefully we can do a longer and more mutually beneficial (and warmer!) session sometime soon. Pshawfocus is very highly recommended to anyone interested in gut punching.

Really nice guy very good stamina hope to meet again. this guy good at defending himself aswell well worth the meet and definitely up for a longer session

12/11/2016: Just a quick wrestle with leicswrestle at the end of a tiring but very enjoyable meet at Pippa's. I had no answer for his immense strength but it was a huge amount of fun trying! Even being bodyslammed into the mat by 270 lbs of muscle was a lot of fun (and very safely and considerately done). Would love a longer match with this hard-to-catch nice guy: so get one if you can!

I wrestled Craig yesterday and had a great time. He's quite fast and skilled and kept me busy as I was continually thinking what to do next.

It was good to meet him and a pleasure to wrestle. I hope it is the first of many matches.

1/10/2016 and a long awaited round two. A sleeker Craig gave me a run for my money and, after looking at the earlier recommendation, it is clear how his skills have improved. It was a good even match but when I got the advantage I found it very hard to get through his defences. It will always be a pleasure to wrestle him so round 3 can't come quick enough.

12/11/2016 - Round 3 and a whitewash for Craig. Ha ha, what can I say? I was tired! It was still an excellent match though.

09/04/2016: Very pleased that Tynesider came down to the OWG meet as it meant that I got to tussle with him! Not that it did me any good as he wiped the floor with me in Pippa's ring. Strong, swift, skilled and aggressive in the right way, he's too good for me but an absolute pleasure to wrestle. Safe and sane on the mats, off them he's a friendly, chatty and likeable guy. Hopefully this was just the first of many matches with him. Highly recommended.
01/10/2016: Round 2 with Tynesider back at Pippa's, this time at the Grapevine Group meet, and I was comprehensively beaten by this strong, swift, skilled wrestler. This time I did, however, get a couple of subs off him in my turn, which was very motivating. Although I suspect that if I got to the stage of threatening to win, Tynesider could up his game without too much trouble! Off the mats nothing had changed though: he's still a friendly, modest and laid back bloke whom you want to wrestle. So do!

Met Squashlad at the end of the Manchester meet 12.11.2016 for a short 10 min session at his request ouch!(only joking).I am grateful for someone so experienced to take on ths beginner.Cheers mate.Joe

12/11/2016: It was great to be able to entice the well named Steeleyes onto the main mats at the end of John's Manchester Meet at Pippa's. He didn't seem to mind too much my bullying habit of lying on him to make getting a submission off him easier (it was a long meet and I was tired!) and off the mats he was a pleasure to chat to, being friendly and interesting. Highly recommended and I look forward to wrestling him again soon.

Craig and I wrestled the other night....He is an easy going affable guy who knows every counter defense you can think of..... I just had to wait it out so I could apply one brutal hold after another ! Which he loves, btw. Had a terrific time. Next match will be in a ring. We had a nice long chat and gossip, too! You a heel? send a msg to Squash.....

08/11/2016: Was great to get a quick match in with this fine wrestler during the London leg of his holiday. As with most of our American cousins, he's very experienced, and is in fantastic gym-going shape, so he made short work of me, applying plenty of painful holds and showing me who's boss. All very safely done though, and great fun. Between subs he was a very friendly and pleasant guy, interesting and easy to talk to and compare past opponents with. I could have happily wrestled him for hours and I hope that our rematch can be in a ring so that we can do more. Highly recommended, so get a match with him when he's in your city!

Met Squashed for the first time in a three way bout with ShockR.
Wrestling him one on one he proved a strong, resilient and knowledgable wrestler. Fighting him was as hard as it was enjoyable. He was at a disadvantage having come worse off in a fight the day before and aching a lot. So I'm looking forward for a rematch when he's fully fit.

06/11/2016: After never seeming to manage to be at the same meet at the same time, it was brilliant to finally get a chance to wrestle readyforit at a little group meet that ShockR kindly arranged for us at the High Barnet matroom. And wow, I knew this guy would be good, but wrestling him really was a great demonstration of the importance of developing your skills as despite outweighing him by approximately the national debt he had me in all sorts of trouble and took loads of submissions off me, whereas I needed to lazily lie on top of him and knock all the air out of him for a few minutes before even attempting any of my clumsy subs. And his skills match his physique, which would disabuse anyone of the notion that perfectly flat abs are something that only those in their 20s and 30s can have: seriously impressive all round. On top of that, readyforit's a warm, funny, friendly and interesting guy who's a real pleasure to spend time with. So it was disappointing that my rude lack of punctuality limited our grappling time, but hopefully this great wrestler will give me another go on the mats. Highly recommended.

I have wrestled in matches that DaveLon has organized for us, and can happily vouch for him being a genuine, down-to-earth bloke who is generous with his time in arranging matches for guys whom he'd like to see wrestle and who makes for a good audience for those matches. He's also genuine in his enthusiasm for putting up stakes for guys for whom that might be an appropriate motivator! Interesting guy to chat to as well, about wrestling and life outside wrestling [¿Que?], so drop him a line if you want to wrestle the sorts of guys on his profile.
05/11/2016: Make that extremely generous. There's no way I'd get matches with some of the amazing guys that DaveLon sponsors without his intervention. Thanks mate!

My fight against Squashlad was memorable for two reasons. Besides the magnificent and enjoyable two-hour brawl we had, it was my debut fighting in a ring and my first time at Grove Park. It is everything a wrestling man could dream of – an old-school type ring where you are in a confined space with no escape. The only thing to do is go forward and fight!

Squashlad manages to combine being a true gentleman on the one hand – and a tough, ruthless fighter on the other. He is perfectly built for wrestling, solid and hard, so you literally have no weak spots to go for. He is very good at defending, patiently moving from a defensive to an attacking position. His most feared weapon must be his choke.

We wrestled for two hours without stop, so drenched in sweat it seemed it was also dripping off the walls at one point. The reason I enjoyed the fight so much was because this guy was like a brick wall – I threw everything I had at him, but he just sucked it all up and ended up on top. In the final fifteen minutes, he really drew up the “heavy brigade” to show me what he was capable of. He also knows how to throw a man against the ropes and use the corner posts.

Do not miss a chance to have an incredible workout with this very fit bloke and consummate wrestler. He combines being a highly skilled submission fighter and a natural brawler. Oh, and a really top guy outside the ring. Highly recommended.

27/10/2016: I guess if I've battled Alexander the Great that sort of makes me Darius III. Or at least Spitamenes. Whatever, it was great to grapple the Great at the Alexandria Eschate that is Grove Park. He's just starting out blazing his trail of destruction and conquest, so I survived this battle, but not without expending a lot of energy and sweating buckets in the unseasonably warm temperatures characteristic of the Achaemenid Empire. And he did too with his Alexander-like approach to doing everything at 100 miles an hour! It was a real pleasure to wrestle a guy with such a passion for wrestling and such a desire to win. He was very tolerant of my lazy habit of just taking a quick choke when presented with one, showed some good moves, especially when engaging his legs (which I never do) and was always safe and sane. (Till he loots and burns down your capital at least.) Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to much more mat time with him as he goes about conquering the wrestling world.

So the wait is over and getting to squash the squaslad was well worth waiting for! He told me to go for it, so when a cheeky kiwi gives you an offer like that, how can you refuse? I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hot, sweaty hours pinning him and making him tap at every opportunity... However, don't be deceived that he'll take it lying down (although that's how it ended up most of the time).... His defense is annoyingly tight to conquer and getting the holds aren't as easy as you'd expect.... It makes an interesting challenge! Overall, Squashlad is a great guy, fun sense of humour and cheeky... Perfect combination! Nice guy to have a beer and food with after, with some interesting tales about life! Definitely looking forward to round two where I promise to make him pay for his comments about my lack of heel ability..... Bring it on!!!!

09/10/2016: After a bit of trying it was great to finally get to grips with Fitzy1983 at the Grove Park ring for a sweaty Sunday afternoon's grappling. Mutual friends had told him about my liking for wrestling superheavyweights and my dislike of guys taking it too easy on me, and there is now 266 wrecking-ball lbs of the young powerhouse, so it's fair to say that I was toast from the off, but I was pleased to make him work hard for his submissions and to have him compliment me on my defence. I even took a cheeky choke off him myself at one stage! (Although I did then rather pay for that.... It happens if you take on ex-national-rep-level judokas!) A fairly painful and one-sided experience then, wrestling Fitzy1983, but a completely safe one, and one I can't wait to repeat. Off the mats he's a great guy to spend some time with, funny and personable and really easy to talk to. And you can't fault a guy who buys you dinner straight after beating you up! Hopefully this was just the first of many grapples with this top wrestler, who is very highly recommended.

A good strong opponent, difficult to pin down and even harder to get to submit, will be back for more!

08/10/2016: Had a quick grapple with marmoi at the end of the OWG meet at Pippa's and really enjoyed it. His height, strength and (sane and safe) aggression were too much for me to avoid giving him the takedown, but I was pleased not to concede any subs to the big guy. Looking forward to a longer bout with him when we're both fresher! Highly recommended.

I met Squashlad at the Grapevine meet in Manchester and found him to be fun, fit, funny, bright, a tough wrestler, appropriate, sane and safe.
He is an Antipodean wrestler but I am NOT going to tell you whether he has Aussie or Kiwi origins. Take a guess :)
Great guy and I am REALLY looking forward to us wrestling again in 2 weeks time.
100% recommendation.

01/10/2016: Had a good brief but sweaty tussle with the big powerhouse at the Grapevine Group meet at Pippa's and really enjoyed it. Subs both ways and a fun chilled but hard-fought bout. Notcom doesn't just rely on his size and strength, he's got skill and good technique as well and wrestles with care for his opponent. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to more mat time with him.

Had a very enjoyable grapple with Craig at pippas, he's very laid back in his approach to wrestling, and with what seemed like very little effort on his behalf I was pinned on the mat and no idea how.
Very nice guy on and off the mat, would definitely recommend and wrestle again.
1/10
Round 2 with one of the friendliest, laid back guys that you are likely to come across on the mats and off. I was more relaxed this time round and was holding my own for a while until he got me in the most painful choke hold of my life, still with a smile on his face.
Next time I'm getting a sub!!
Can't recommend Craig enough, highly skilled, strong and a top bloke all round.

02/07/2016: You know when you're wrestling a beginner, super nice guy, maybe a bit nervous, match with him has been good fun but not overly challenging, you're idly thinking that maybe you should take it a bit easier on him, don't want to scare him off wrestling or anything, your guard drops a bit ... and then he clamps on this expert grapevine, your eyes almost pop out of your head, and you're struggling not to tap? Well, that's me. Schoolboy.... But enough about me: Glasgow1971 is one top lad. He is a genuine beginner, but he's clearly one of those lucky guys for whom wrestling comes naturally. Couple that with some serious strength and he's going to be a formidable prospect for many of us very soon. Do not let him grapevine your leg! Off the mats he's a friendly, charming, modest and laid back guy, the sort whom it's almost as enjoyable to chat to as grapple with. Hopefully I'll get to wrestle him again soon and he is very highly recommended.
01/10/2016: Well I did get to wrestle him again, back at Pippa's, and what a transformation in three months! Glasgow1971 has grown hugely in confidence and is well on the way to being a formidable opponent: feisty and strong and with a real desire to win. He's still a friendly and laid back bloke though, so hopefully this was only the second of many matches.

Had a very good hard match with Squashlad. He is strong with a lot of ability and skills. Well worth meeting him. I certainly would !

30/09/2016: It was great to finally get a good hard match in with small gladiator at the Grove Park ring. Given my height and weight advantage I should have been all over him, but he's a very experienced guy and skilled at biding his time when needed and then attacking explosively when the opportunity presents itself, so getting anything out of him was a lot of hard work. Taking him down to the mats, in particular, really had me sweating. It'd be great to grapple with him again and he is highly recommended---especially if you like your wrestling rough!

had a great couple of hours in the ring with Squashlad. Measured, paced, the match was the very definition of controlled aggression. Quite closely fought. He was safe, sane, competitive and put up a real challenge. I wholeheartedly recommend Squashlad and I'm really looking forward to hooking up with him again soon.
Round 2 - excellent cardio fitness level, strength and determination in this guy. You can tell he's had a few matches now - the experience stands him in good stead and he's a real challenge. Very safe and controlled with it of course. My recommendation still stands from before and I suspect we'll meet up again real soon.

24/03/2016: Really enjoyed this match up with matchup at the Grove Park ring. He totally kicked my arse but I don't mind that when you're up against such a "complete package" wrestler: matchup's strong, skilled, fit, experienced in grappling and other martial arts and aggressive in a very good way---a real desire to win combined with the physique and skills to achieve that. However he's also completely safe, can string a sentence together between (the many) subs that he takes off you and is just a really nice and interesting bloke to spend some time with. An absolute five-star recommendation from me and I can't wait to get back in the ring with matchup.
18/09/2016: Got my rematch with matchup back at Grove Park; and got my arse kicked again. But probably even more enjoyably than in round 1. He's way out of my league but it's really good fun making him work for his subs when things have got sweaty and getting an adequate grip has become a challenge. It is, however, probably not possible to wind this super-chilled bloke up. Although just how destroyed I'd get if he did lose his rag and properly punch me is not to be contemplated! But he's very skilled at pitching the rough stuff just right for his opponent's level and tastes, so absolutely this is a safe and sane guy. Wrestle him, probably be humbled, but enjoy! I certainly did; and hope to get a third crack at him.

Accidentally removed my recommendation for New Zealand's finest, sorry about that bud!
Really nice friendly & reliable. Not to mention a strong fit and very skilled opponent.
Like most people from the southern hemisphere he has a cheery happy go lucky personality.
We have wrestled several time at the Pippas meets & once in public at The Eagle.
If your visiting London do put him on your to do list as he won't let you down & you are assured a good scrap in the bargain

08/11/2014: Big, strong, friendly, experienced guy, great fun to wrestle. Looking forward to more. Highly recommended.
04/07/2015: Great to finally get a proper match in with Tanker after an enjoyable but very brief taster last year. And as it was in the ring at Pippa's as part of the Grapevine meet he was able to show off his pro skills and his mean heel persona, working me on the ropes and throwing this middleweight around a bit. Which obviously I loved! It is just a pro persona though, he's a nice guy really, wrestles very safely and sanely and is accommodating of those of us whose wrestling tastes run rather to submission, letting me try my best on him in some ground work---but to no avail! Looking forward to a longer round 3.
14/11/2015: Back in the ring at Pippa's with Tanker at John's meet. It's such a ball to wrestle this guy, he's super strong and knows how to give a middleweight lad like me a good working over on the ropes and on the canvas. Completely safe and just for fun though, he's a totally lovely friendly bloke and it's great to be getting some regular ring time with him.

After talking for a while beforehand, I met with Squashlad on 17th Sept. Really great guy. Very enjoyable match, & some good submission holds. Thoroughly recommended. Looking forward to meeting him again.

17/09/2016: After a pre-meet earlier in the year for a couple of pints it was great to actually get to tussle with brighton man in the Grove Park ring. Once he hit his stride he made some good use of his weight, the inner heel in him came out and he got some nice submissions, particularly with some effective arm stretches. I'm probably not his ideally compliant jobber, but he was happy to work to my tastes for the competitive and it was a good fun sweaty grapple so I'm looking forward to a longer rematch (as well as the opportunity for a few post-match refreshments!). This safe, sane nice guy is highly recommended.

I really enjoyed my wrestle with Squashlad, and I will take up the offer to go down to London. too wrestle him. Nice person on and off the matts. Well worth meeting him and have a good wrestle Paul. https://www.facebook.com/Pauls-Voyage-Accross-Canada-June-2016-183049468763306/

10/09/2016: Had a good tussle with wrestlingnovice at John's meet in Ancoats and really enjoyed it. He's a very strong guy and good on his feet, with a nice tight headlock, and once he couples that with some more technique and some more ground skills he'll be a formidable wrestler. Between subs he's an interesting guy to chat to, well travelled and knowledgeable, and is generally a friendly and pleasant outgoing guy. Looking forward to round 2 with him either back at the Wrestling Factory or here in London.

Met Squashlad at Pippa's for an epic and sweaty battle. Forty minutes and just one submission - to him! A strong and skilled wrestler. Highly recommended.

02/01/2016: I do feel a little guilty that Pinforce and I hogged one of the rooms at Pippa's for two sessions in a row during the Grapevine Group meet but we had to get a submission in there somehow! I suspect that he probably gave it to me in the end just to get out of there, but heh, I'm taking it! Because getting a submission off this guy is something to be proud of---he's really skilled, really strong and really, really determined. It was like having a limpet suctioned on to me, or the alien baby from Alien attached, as I lay there pinned and helpless most of the match, struggling in vain to get free. If Pinforce was closer to my height and fat weight I'd have been complete toast. [Saved by the belly again!] Needless to say, I had a ball wrestling this guy and want to do it again soon. Safe, sane and very highly recommended.
10/09/2016: Finally got a rematch in with Pinforce (the Aliens match!) back at the excellent Wrestling Factory and this time I was wary enough not to let him get on top as I've seen the movies and know that, in a private matroom, no one can hear you scream.... Not that it did me any good, as I got precisely no submissions off this ridiculously strong and very skilled guy, despite essentially lying on top of him for 20 minutes. It'd take me much longer than that to break through his defences, as round 1 proved. Such a pleasure to grapple with, we need to ensure that the Alien 3 round happens sooner!

Met for a private match in Barnet for a couple of hours. Was very comfortable and relaxed and felt very much at ease. An incredibly resilient opponent, resisting everything I tried to perform to the point that I became absolutely exhausted. I never managed to achieve a submission in the end despite efforts. It became very hot and sweaty in the room, to the point of almost leaving a puddle in one corner that seemed to become a favourite location for us to end up. Highly recommend meeting, you'll have a good time with this fella. Will definitely meet again.

04/09/2016: A great feisty Sunday afternoon grapple with Forester at the High Barnet matroom was the perfect finale to the summer silly season before real life resumes! He's a strong, solid, trained lad who clearly thinks a lot about his wrestling and wants to win, so he was quite a handful, particularly with his youthful explosiveness and speed. My little bit of extra height meant that I got probably a majority of the takedowns, but that was almost pointless as he has a superb reversal, flipping me off and taking the dominant position with ease. He's aggressive in a very good way and relentless in pushing for a submission, so we had a good sweaty match. Between submissions he's a very easy guy to talk to, chatty and engaging and friendly, so all around he's very highly recommended. Hope to wrestle him again soon.

Had a great wrestle with Squashlad, who despite train cancellations, made his way to meet me in Norwich. He's certainly more technical than me and got a number of submissions. He's a strong, but safe wrestler.
After giving him several submissions, I needed a break so persuaded him into the oilpool. My mistake - he's the only guy i've met who has got more competitive in oil, getting a couple more subs to add to his score. I managed to get one back at least!
A fab guy off the mats and hope we can get the rematch soon.

03/09/2016: A subs and oil grapple with Hardgrip at his excellent set up at his beautiful Norfolk home was a great antidote to the start of autumn, leaving me relaxed but invigorated! On his (9 m2) mats he's a competitive but safe and sane wrestler, keen to get his takedowns but taking good care of his opponent. He'd have got more submissions off me with more of a killer instinct (the cuddle submission was not successful!), but don't underestimate him, he has some surprises up his sleeve and a strong scissors. Off the mats he's a superb host, making me a lovely lunch and dinner and running me to and from the station, and a very interesting guy to chat to, about wrestling and about life. I'm very much looking forward to our rematch and he is highly recommended.

An absolute pleasure to wrestle with! Sincere, charming, put up a good battle which left me infuriated for a good while and also has a good sense of humour, thus making him a good reason to meet up again. You're back on my fightcard, Squashlad!

31/08/2016: Great to finally get a grapple in with FitScot on one of his trips to London. He's very well named, in great shape, fit, strong and trained in a wide variety of combat sports, so he was all over me from the off and emerged an easy victor. But that's all good, as he was happy to do some skill sharing and show me a few things about how to counterattack rather than just defending all the time, and he was sporting enough to vary things and not repeat any submissions once he'd achieved a couple of taps out of me with each one. Which, given the python-like efficiency with which his strong forearms repeatedly forced their way between my chin and chest and the neatness of his rear chokes, was just as well for me! Very safe and sane, interesting to chat to and an all-round nice guy, FitScot's a certainty for a rematch even if the result is a bit foregone. Very highly recommended.

Good fun battle. Hightly recommended

12/08/2016: My first pro match I think demonstrated why I should stick to submission, as there are two-year-olds with more sophisticated acting skills than me, but it was a lot of sweaty fun and Brisbane Wrestler proved to be an extremely patient and accommodating coach, running me through things repeatedly to ensure that I understood everything OK and working well with my low skill level. It was great to work with a guy who's experienced enough to have done paid shows and I recommend him to anyone interested in improving their pro skills. Off the mats he's a similarly nice guy, and a pleasure to spend time and have a few pints with.

Squashlad is a very friendly and polite guy. He is strong and has much experience because of the big number of his opponents.
He has a very good defense especially for his arms, it was nearly impossible to get a armlock. I think he has to improve a little bit his attack skills.
Offside the mats I had a very good conversation with him.
He has my best recommendation!

25/05/2016: An extremely sweaty, extremely one-sided but extremely good fun match with Noby at his great home matroom in Cologne taught me just how much I've still got to learn about grappling. Firstly, yes, his profile photos are an accurate reflexion of the shape that he's in. Secondly, a current annoying groin injury aside, he does train at a submission grappling club at least a couple of times a week. And thirdly, he does rather like being in charge on the mats.... So to say that I had two-fifths of one-eighth of a snowball in hell's chance of getting a submission here would be hugely and inaccurately talking myself up. Even getting past his guard seemed like an enormous achievement, and even that only really happened when he got a bit bored and stopped defending. Thankfully for me, along with the serious skills, experience and physique and weakness for a bit of domination (particularly of my "abs") goes an extremely nice guy, who wrestles very safely and sanely and who always takes the pressure off when you tap (some of it anyway!). Noby's also a kind and welcoming host and an interesting guy to chat to, again (as with everyone on my German holiday) graciously doing things in my language given that I'm too lazy to have learnt his. Very highly recommended and I'm looking forward to seeing him again in the United Kingdom, where I'm sure that he'll wreak wrestling havoc! Let your abs be warned....

Met Spuashlad for a grapple at the grove park ring, was bit nervous and shy but hes a cool down to earth guy and was easy to chat with, down to the wrestling very good and strong guy, in better shape then he thinks, was a pretty even match overall think he edged it then decided to do a best of 3 and somehow i snagged it 2-1 very enjoyable meet (writing this the next day as body aching lol sign of a good work out) Safe and Sane guy highly Recommend

03/07/2016: I was really pleased that Greenwich accepted my invitation to a grapple at the Grove Park ring (nice and close for both of us South-East London lads), but wasn't expecting it to be too tough given that he's only just starting out. Then he shows up and I remember rapidly that his profile says that he's 6' 2". And that's evidently an understatement. Let's just say that he wouldn't struggle for a job as an extra in The Bill.... But no, we get to the ring and get cracking and he's very much not going for the kill---in fact he's almost deferential to the old man! I was right, this'll be an easy afternoon, I get to enjoy the very pleasant company of this nice personable lad, have a little grapple, all will be very relaxing. And indeed the first half dozen subs are all mine, and I'm almost feeling like a bit of a bully, choking him repeatedly. Ah, ever-naïve me! He gets those very long (and very solid) thighs around me, and squeezes, and that's a tap to SE10, lest my lunch decorate the canvas. With a bit of a victory under his belt he gets some confidence and things even up a bit. Subs go both ways.... Then he casually mentions that he's an ex semi-pro footballer. (Which would explain the impressive physique.) A few more subs both ways, but now mainly to Greenwich. Oh, and he was in the army for a bit too.... And a few more subs for him. And I'm on my knees sweating buckets and he's standing there quietly having a sip of water.... OK, let's just say that he ended up the victor, superior youthful stamina and cardio coupled with some serious strength helping him to prevail despite his gentle nature meaning that he seldom went in for the kill. So a lesson learnt for me in not underestimating people just because they're too nice to rip my head off from first lock up! And Greenwich really is a lovely bloke, it was great spending the afternoon with this humble, friendly nice guy, and I hope that I get to wrestle him again. (If you do though, be warned, don't let him get those legs around you!) Very highly recommended.

He's a friendly, polite guy with plenty to say for himself. On the mat, I was easily outclassed but he gave me plenty of opportunities to have a go, before my inevitable defeat. Thanks for a good session, mate.

02/07/2016: It was great to see Sam London at the Grapevine Group meet at Pippa's and I was really pleased that he agreed to give me a wrestle despite my weight advantage. Unfortunately for him it was towards the end of the meet, and I was getting a bit knackered (old age is a terrible thing!), so I did my usual unsporting trick with lighter guys of essentially just lying on top of them. I'm not proud of myself! But Sam London didn't take this lying down (so to speak), he got stuck in and demonstrated his skills and his evident freestyle wrestling background, and he was swift, agile and determined. If we had a freestyle match (which would be great), I think we'd have a very interesting tussle. A pleasant, outgoing guy off the mats too. Hope to wrestle him again, perhaps back in London. Highly recommended.

Was good to meet this competent and modest wrestler - he was a handful to grapple! Great fun

10/05/2015: Had a great subs grapple with corkey on the main mats at Pippa's as part of John's meet. Was fab to tussle with such an experienced wrestler and very satisfying to get a few subs off him towards the end of a brilliant but very tiring meet! Corkey wrestles safely and sanely, knows his stuff, and is a very engaging bloke to chat to off the mats too. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.
02/07/2016: Well that may be a new personal worst for waiting for a rematch, but eventually I did get a second tussle in with corkey, back at Pippa's. He showed me that round 1 was just a fluke by putting me in my place and getting me to submit repeatedly. Whereas in my turn getting past his excellent defence was a real challenge: he's immensely strong. Needless to say this made for a really fun grapple! And so was the ready and friendly chat off the mats. So hopefully round 3 with this great and experienced wrestler will arrive much sooner.

11th June 2016
Met Craig again in the Manchester group meet. Yes I had to refuse his invitations a couple of times in the meet, because he was a skillful wrestler and I needed to be fully charged before our match, or I would not last 10 seconds on the mat with him. LOL After his German Austria wrestling trip, he was certainly better than the first time we met. I tried hard to restrict his movement and not to tap too early so as to have more body contact time with him. :P Thank you for the intense but fun bout. Looking forward to wrestling you again in the July meet. Sun x

12th March 2016
Finally met this great and experience wrestler after more than a year of online messaging. He went easy on me, and kindly acted as a dummy letting me practice some submission holds in the middle of the match. Unfortunately I had to leave early so no time for a rougher fight, yet sure it's only our first of many other bouts. Thanks Craig for the easy session, yet no need to worry about your weight as I wrestled lots of beefy guys before and you are light compare to them. LOL See you again in the near future ;) xx

12/03/2016: I finally got to the same meet as v vv v, at John's meet at Pippa's, and so was finally able to get a match in with him. I did my best not to take unfair advantage of my additional bulk; but did nevertheless spend a bit of time just lying on top of him! But you don't need to take it too easy on him, he's remarkably strong, especially his powerful legs, and with a bit more finesse in where he's applying that power he'll have bigger guys in a lot of trouble, let alone guys his size. Safe and sane on the mats, off them he's charming, chatty, polite and friendly and a pleasure to be around. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to more mat time with him.
11/06/2016: A rematch with v vv v at the OWG meet was even better than the first; even if it did take me a fair bit to persuade him! He's really very good for a guy his size, hard to submit and limpet-like in his attack. If he was the same size as me he'd win easily. Off the mats he remains a pleasure to be around, the cheery, friendly light of a cheery, friendly meet! Hopefully this was only the second of many grapples.

I met with Squashlad yesterday. Clearly I was quite surprised to see his towering height and impressive physique. He has a pleasant persona that made me think I don't think I can take him down in a submission fight.

Guess I was right. He is hard to be put in holds. My size doesn't help, my wrestling skills were a bit rusty, yes that didn't help either. I am happy that I was able get him into good submission holds, some scissor holds, head locks, arm bars and leg locks. He will give as good as he gets. He prefers to job. However can be very good heel.

Had a great time, wrestling Craig, he has a very pleasant and good attitude to submission wrestling, on and off the mats. I would wrestle him if I get back on the mats for sure. I so agree with what others have said about him in his recommendations. Highly recommended from me!

Update on 09th June 2016:
Wrestling Squashlad (Craig) is wonderful experience. He is tough, proportionately built and well skilled. He has good size advantage over me. But when we wrestle we don't let that deter our wrestling experience, go at each other as good opponents like to wrestle, quite sweaty, competitive and good holds. He is a definite contender for submission matches, I can confirm that. I will meet him again and again for sure for more good matches and highly recommend him to others.

22/02/2016: Had a great grapple with subwrestleozravi at the Stockwell matroom. He's an incredibly strong guy and keen and well trained, and if he was my size I'd have been utterly destroyed! However a combination of my completely unfair weight advantage, completely unfair habit of just lying on top of smaller guys and a tiny bit of current technique rustiness on his part evened things up (thankfully for me), so we had a superb grapple with both of us taking control at various points. His submissions are devastating though, it's hard to believe how much power such a small guy can put out, particularly with crushing and choking holds. Great stuff! Between submissions and at other times he's a friendly, affable guy with a ready laugh and an eagerness to ensure that you're enjoying the match as much as he is. Safe, sane, good fun and (if he stays wrestling) a must for a rematch, so he's very highly recommended.
09/06/2016: It's a real pity from my perspective that subwrestleozravi's off to Texas, as that will obviously make our matches much less frequent, but it was great to get a grapple in with him at Stockwell on his last evening in London. Again he was startlingly strong for such a small guy, knocking the stuffing out of me with his bearhugs and scissors. He will be much missed, but I'm sure that we'll wrestle again.

28-29/05/2016: It's a little bizarre when you've wrestled for hours at someone's excellent home matroom, in Lincolnshire, and enjoyed a very pleasant lunch with him there, to have to go to Vienna to actually get to wrestle him, but so it proved with Lincoln Lad. But he was worth the wait and the Viennese wrestle proved as good fun as the Lincolnshire lunch. Or possibly, in Vienna I was Lincoln Lad's lunch.... A Viennese whirl was definitely involved anyway. And I was toast. No, actually the big guy was remarkably gentle with me, probably sensing that there were plenty of other guys available there to give me a rough time of it, and although I got precisely nowhere against him it was a huge amount of fun trying. So hopefully the next time that I'm in his home county I'll be as flat as it is. Safe, sane, good fun, a gentle giant and a gentleman, Lincoln Lad is very highly recommended.

Great guy, really tries hard on the mats and was undaunted by the big weight advantage I had, good technique and great spirit and determination, highly recommended and a good sense of humour, look forward to meeting again.

18/10/2015: Had a brief but very enjoyable grapple with Physical at the "Meet the Italians" meet at Pippa's. It didn't need to be brief, we had the matroom for as long as needed, it's just that taking six submissions off me didn't take him very long. Physical's a seriously big and seriously strong guy, and therefore you could easily get the wrong impression about him; what impressed me most about him was how technical he was, despite his claims to the contrary. He's very controlled and respectful of his opponents and is super safe, so you don't need to worry about the size advantage, just get stuck in there and enjoy a great grapple. A totally lovely guy off the mats too, and therefore one to meet again and very highly recommended.
11/06/2016: A rematch with Physical in the ring at Pippa's as part of the OWG meet was again great fun. He obviously has to tone it down a huge amount wrestling schmucks like me, in order to avoid your head coming off and rolling out of the ring and under the seats, but he doesn't seem to mind that, and fills the gaps in the action as you struggle and struggle and sweat and fail to get anywhere against him with a gentle-voiced wry commentary on your chances (or lack of them). Even more difficult to attempt anything on him when you're laughing! One of life's gentlemen, both in and out of the ring.

11/06/2016: Got a quick grapple in with gedlutte1 at the OWG meet at Pippa's. Unfortunately because of a leg injury he wasn't able to roll with me very long, so I was particularly grateful that he made the effort to play, and the ease with which he got me to submit was therefore all the more impressive. Strong guy! Safe and sane too, and nice to chat to off the mats as well: outgoing, friendly and personable. Highly recommended and I hope to get a longer grapple in with him soon.

I was very happy about to know "Squashlad". He's a nice guy and it's great fun to fighten with him. He is very stubborn and does not give up. I knew almost no which handles shall I start, so he gives up. It also makes a lot of fun to annoy him during the fights a bit, for example, patting his cheeks and so on 😜
I hope it soon meet again, so that we can continue to fight. I'm going to learn English diligently.
Men challenges him, he's a great opponent.

Ich habe mich sehr darüber gefreut "Squashlad" kennen zu lernen. Er ist ein netter Kerl und es macht grossen Spass mit ihm zu fighten. Er ist sehr hartnäckig und gibt nicht auf. Ich wusste fast nicht, welche Griffe ich noch ansetzen soll, damit er auf gibt. Es macht auch grossen Spass ihn während des Fights ein bisschen zu ärgern, zum Beispiel die Backen tätscheln und so weiter 😜
Ich hoffe ihn bald wieder zu treffen, damit wir weiter kämpfen können. Ich werde jetzt auch fleissig englisch lernen.
Männer fordert ihn heraus, er ist ein toller Gegner.

28-29/05/2016: It was great to meet this superb wrestler at our little group meet in beautiful Vienna. He's tall, strong, skilled and experienced and made short work of me, but over a nice long sweaty session. He's definitely got a heel streak if he can sense that you don't mind that (I don't mind that!) so I was worked over a bit, but it was all very safely done and a lot of fun. He's very strong and I doubt that my ribs would hold out very long if he was applying more power with his impressive legs or formidable bearhugs, but thankfully for me he's just as happy getting you helpless in a good old-fashioned schoolboy pin and giving your cheeks a bit of a squeeze: almost gentle really! Off the mats he's a nice guy to have a pint or two with and it's only a pity that he couldn't have spent longer with us all that weekend. In short, despite my laziness in having learnt no German, I had a ball meeting and wrestling tomsport and I can't wait to do it again soon. Very highly recommended.

An enjoyable bout at the Manchester meet, he is strong and in good shape. Quite evenly matched so looking forward to round 2. Nice friendly guy off the mats so no problem to recommend.

18/10/2015: Had a great, hard-fought but friendly grapple with the well-named hardfitsub at the "Meet the Italians" meet at Pippa's. I felt that we were pretty evenly matched, and that made for a really good sweaty tussle, with neither of us wanting to give an inch. Great fun in other words! So I hope that we get to do it again soon. A pleasant and sorted guy off the mats, safe and sane on them, he's very highly recommended.
28-29/05/2016: Well I finally got my rematch with hardfitsub in, of all places to wrestle a fellow Londoner, Vienna. He's still well named, he's still safe, sane, sorted and pleasant, but erm, something's changed, because this time around he kicked my butt. Just hope that it's not an indication that I'm getting worse rather than better! It was, however, still a pleasure, as he's great fun to wrestle and great company when out exploring Vienna and Viennese restaurants and cafés, so I hope that it'll be much less time before we get to tussle again.

Craig is a great jobber. Fit and resilient and man who enjoys his role. A pleasure to wrestle after such a long wait. Great company off the mats and a good guest. Well worth meeting this wrestler.

03/04/2016: Well this set a new personal best [or worst] for the length of time between first talking to someone on MeetFighters and actually getting to grapple with them, and even then it was just an appetiser of borets's full range of heeling skills, but on Sunday in the beautiful sunshine of the Lincolnshire countryside I did finally get to hit the mats with him. A lot's happened in the previous 18 months and I'm not the complete jobber that I once was. I even quite like kicking a bit of butt now and again. However, on the mats with borets that's always going to be a bit academic, as I'd be being worked over whether I wanted to or not.... Big, strong, skilled and mean, apart from the Welsh dragon budgie smugglers, borets is certainly the heel par excellence. When we have a rematch and he's outsourcing fewer of the heeling duties of the day to Rutland, I strongly suspect that I am really going to know about it the following day. But the big guy has the skills and the nous to do his job completely safely, so while a match with him couldn't exactly be described as a relaxing experience, it is at least a care-free one. Off the mats, between him and Lincoln Lad I had the perfect hosts, kind, generous, attentive and very funny. It was sort of the definition of mixing pleasure and pain really. So a repeat will hopefully be far quicker to get arranged than round 1. This quality wrestler comes very highly recommended by me.
28-29/05/2016: Well indeed the rematch did come around pretty quickly, thanks to a slightly random though very enjoyable trip to Vienna for us all, but owing to an injured foot it was still really just another brief taster of borets's heeling skills. I still got mangled though....

His writing style in recommendation is definitely better than his mat skills. However, are we not all children who like to play - thanks for the mat toy ;-) *lol*

28-29/05/2016: Occasionally this MeetFighters lark gives you the chance to wrestle a guy who really knows what he's doing, and a holiday to Vienna gave me a quick last-minute go versus tapout as the other guys were packing up the mats around us. The first submission was pretty quick, the second and third so fast I barely had time to laugh at my own predicament. But at least we didn't interrupt the mat clearing! He's a well-named wrestler tapout. Because I did. Very swiftly. But he's sane and very safe though, so take him on and enjoy. Both on and off the mats he's mister smiles, and the cheery attitude to life makes him a pleasure to chat to off them (I had no time or breath for pleasantries on!). Very highly recommended.

Cool, calm and collected. Tough competitor with lots of stamina. Can definitely add another good recommendation to his long list. Great match, thank you for travelling down.

04/06/2016: You know when you've got a guy's non-dominant hand in a nice hammerlock with both of your hands and he brings his arm back down and back around in front of him as easily as if he was completing a stretch, almost as though you weren't there, that you're not going to get anywhere. And indeed, I didn't. But flipkick07 isn't just startlingly strong, he's also got some nice technique, and prefers to use that to get his (many, many) submissions rather than just brute force. Couple that with the fact that he's seemingly happy to wrestle down to others' level, and is a very nice guy, and I had a great afternoon's very sweaty grappling with him at his superb home gym despite it being a considerable mismatch in terms of strength and skill. Flipkick07's safe and sane, a good host, personable and outgoing and easy and interesting to chat to, and is therefore very highly recommended. Hope to get to wrestle him again.

Ein guter, auch technisch versierter Gegner. Ihn zu Boden zu ringen, war mir zwar dank meinem Gewichtsvorteil auch immer mal wieder möglich, aber dann hatte ich keine Chancen den Kampf zu Ende zu bringen. Er versteht etwas von Submission, wenn Du ihn mit beiden Schultern auf dem Rücken hast, weiss er sich schnell zu befreien. Squashlad bringst Du nicht einfach so in den Schwitzkasten, Du kannst auch nicht seinen Kopf wegdrücken oder einen Arm verbiegen, er lässt sich so nicht zur Aufgabe zwingen. Neben der Matte ist er ein interessanter, intelligenter und allzeit fröhlicher Gesprächspartner. Ich freue mich auf eine Revanche.

28-29/05/2016: Beautiful, sunny, imperial Vienna was a fabulous setting to meet and wrestle this great guy. We had a couple of good long sweaty tussles and musclefan's Olympic wrestling background showed through clearly, with him convincingly and repeatedly taking me down. Once locked up, however, we were a bit more evenly matched, battling each other to some fairly exhausting but enjoyable stalemates despite the helpful in-match submission coaching both of us got from the more experienced guys there. He's very strong and without the injury to his knee I think that he would have been a clearer victor. Off the mats he's a friendly and cheerful guy, good to chat to in a whole range of languages (ah, the polyglot Swiss!) and a pleasure to spend time with, so he's highly recommended and I hope to wrestle him again.

28-29/05/2016: Was great to meet and wrestle LukasHuber on my holiday in beautiful Vienna. He's way too strong and skilled for me (he's the sort of guy who makes you realize that there are guys who wrestle, like me, and then there are wrestlers, like him), but he's very safe and has nothing to prove, so I had a really good time getting my butt kicked by this modest but skilled grappler. Off the mats he's a very friendly, pleasant and chatty guy, happy to do things in English for us ever-lazy Anglophones, and a real pleasure to be around. Hope to wrestle him again. Very highly recommended.

Finally I had the opportunity to wrestle Craig. He is strong and skilled but my height and weight advantage did mean that things were tricky for him.
He learned new moves at the wrestling camp in Berlin last month, so you have to watch his action at all times.
Safe and sane, off the mats he is a polite and educated man and a good listener, always up for a nice conversation.
An absolute five-star recommendation from me. Hope to see you again soon, mate.

28-29/05/2016: After meeting Michael in Manchester but missing out on a grapple with him it was great to finally get to wrestle him back in his part of the world: beautiful, sunny Vienna. Fairly unsurprisingly I got precisely nowhere against him in our little grapples, and I think another (very gentle) bodyslam from him may have been the end of me, but it was a huge amount of sweaty fun and he's aware of his strength, so it was all safely done. Off the mats it was fantastic to have him as our tour guide to Vienna, as wow is there a lot to see and we barely scratched the surface. He's a lovely, interesting, gentle and genteel man, a formidable wrestler, an excellent host and guide and a good friend. I'm very much looking forward to seeing him again soon and he is very highly recommended.

You kinda expect a guy with the name "Squashlad" to be a pushover......NO WAY....he fights damn hard and can take a lot. He is also like the Duracell bunny so be warned if stamina is an issue for you. A very nice guy off the mats and someone I would meet again without hesitation!

28-29/05/2016: After meeting him in Manchester but not managing to get a match with him it was a very nice surprise to encounter Celticmuscle again in Vienna and finally get some mat time with him. Not all that much mat time with him mind, as it didn't exactly take him long to get three subs off me (and that's where the lack of surprise comes in), but what we did have time for was a lot of fun. He was obviously having to tone it down a lot wrestling me (otherwise my head would have come off and rolled away across the mats) but he's skilled enough that that didn't feel patronizing, and probably that's also in part due to the speed with which he grapples, which is impressive in such a big guy. Off the mats he's similarly a pleasure to spend some time with, not doing anything to detract from the deserved Irish reputation for the gift of the gab and a liking for a refreshing post-match beverage, and hurray for that! One of life's gentlemen, a definite meet again and very highly recommended.

This match wasn't actually meant to happen - but I'm still glad it did in some way!
Squashlad proved to be a great guest! - He came by for some late night beers, even though he has actually been travelling all day already. We had a few beers and a great chat and to finish things off - a fun little wrestle!

At the time, my injured knee hindered my movement quite a bit - so I actually had to be quite cautious how I move. Nevertheless, he held out in every situation. Squashlad is a tough, strong and most of all resilient fighter on the mats! I will definitely enjoy taking him on a second time - this time, with a completely healthy leg!
Off the mats, he is a very friendly and personable man - I'd highly recommend him to anybody who hasn't had the chance to meet him yet! - and urge the people who already did, to do so again!

27/05/2016: Well with his injured knee we weren't supposed to be wrestling, just meeting up at last during my holiday to beautiful Vienna, and chatting and having a few beers; but, you know, these things happen! And I'm pleased that they did, because it was great fun having a quick sweaty tussle with the young powerhouse. With his injury restricting his movement and my greater experience I managed not to concede any submissions, but his size and strength meant that he was on top most of the time. A rematch with a fully fit pndfighter should therefore be interesting---especially when he can make use of his impressive legs! When we were actually chatting rather than grappling he's a very friendly, personable and interesting guy and a kind, reliable and generous host. Safe and sane and a must to meet again, he is highly recommended.

Leider hatte es bisher in London nicht zu einem Kaempfchen geklappt, aber waehrend seines Deutschland/Oesterreichurlaubs sollte es nun endlich zu einem kommen. Der Kampftag war schliesslich da und Craig wartete am Bahnhof dass er von mir abgeholt wurde. Schon auf der Fahrt hatten wir ueber unsere Kampfvorstellungen gesprochen. Zu hause nahmen wir noch einen kurzen Drink zu uns bevor wir dann in meinen Ringkampfraum gingen und uns fuer den Fight fertig machten. Recht schnell lagen wir auf den Matten und vertieften uns in einen Kampf. Nach einigen Minuten konnte ich Craig auch richtig -wie gewollt- in die Mangel nehmen. So war der Kampf stellenweisew auch recht heftig. Wir beide haben uns seher gut " geschlagen"!
Es war wirklich ein guter Kampf zwischen zwei sehr netten und sympatischen Maennern. Als Kampfpartner kann man Craig nur weiterempfehlen!

23/05/2016: After missing him when he was on holiday in London Lederringer kindly fitted me into his packed schedule and had me around to his lovely home near Aschaffenburg during my holiday in Germany and I'm very pleased that he did. We had a quick but sweaty and intense battle and his experience swiftly showed through, as I was effectively dominated from the off, with a nice bit of (safe and fun) roughhousing thrown in. Even when I did occasionally manage to get a reversal and gain a dominant position it didn't last long as he reversed it in his turn and locked me up again. A wrestler whose skill belies his size in other words. Off the mats he's an interesting and funny guy to chat to and a kind host. I'm very much looking forward to wrestling him again either in Bavaria or in London. Highly recommended.

24/05/2016: A good sweaty tussle in Frankfort with the mound of muscle that is ulx1. I wasn't able to take many submissions off him, he's just too strong, and has a good defence; equally when he's on top of you it'd take someone a lot stronger and/or more skilled than me to be able to escape, so I spent a lot of the match defending myself. Despite (or perhaps because of) his strength though, he's very safe, almost gentle, so if you live through his initial bearhug you'll be fine! Between grapples he's an interesting and cheery guy to chat to about a whole range of things, including useful workout advice, and he's a pleasure to spend time with. Ulx1's highly recommended and I'm looking forward to grappling with him again, in London or when I'm back in Hesse.

22/05/2016: A really good tussle with this experienced heavyweight was a highlight of my holiday in Germany. We had a pretty even battle, and I was pleased to take some subs from the big guy through my usual armbars and chokes, but I was on the defensive in the main as he made effective use of his size and strength to lock me up tight and pin me with some nice neck cranks. All great fun, all safely done and all very sweaty on a glorious sunny Frankfort summer's afternoon. But I didn't just have the pleasure of his company on the mats, but also on a truly fascinating guided tour of Frankfort expertly, effortlessly and instantly constructed around what I'd already seen on previous tours, my interests in history and architecture, the commonalities in our jobs; and the need for some cooling river breezes! It was a real pleasure to wrestle and spend the day with this charming, cultured, funny and really likeable guy and I hope to get lots more matches in with him. Very highly recommended.

Was a pleasure for me to meet to Squashlad at wrestling camp Lindow, after chat about it... He exceeded my expectations, both on and off the mat... he is strong on, and a great guy off the mat. Hope to meet you again next year and have more time for wrestling together ;-)))
Totally recommended.

13-16/05/2016: After chatting here on MeetFighters it was great to finally meet, train with and wrestle madridluchador at the excellent 16th International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). He's an enthusiastic and passionate guy, keen to improve and perfect his technique, which made training with him an absolute pleasure, and he held his own in our open-mat bouts despite my extra bulk. Off the mats he's a very friendly, cheerful and outgoing guy, interesting to talk to and good fun to have a Schwarzbier with. Hopefully our paths will cross again before the 17th training camp. Very highly recommended.

It was a spontanous meeting with Squashlad but definitely worth ! He asked me for the match on his trip through Germany so we had a really cool fight. He is strong and talented and we had a lof of fun. I tried not to be too weak and I could at least surprise him a couple of times too. After the match I showed him the city of Frankfurt and we had a great time on that sunny evening. I can definitely recommend him ! Cheers

21/05/2016: A great sweaty grapple with FrankfurtTraveller in his beautiful sultry city. He does have a special affinity for ankle locks and other leg work, but was by no means the one-trick pony that I might have been anticipating, with some good speed and instincts and a mean headlock. I was really pleased that he made the time to wrestle me with such little notice when he was heading to Hamburg the next day, and he did so with grace and style, not only giving me a great sweat-soaked wrestle but also a really interesting tour of inner-city Frankfurt; with a welcome stop at the street market for Bratwurst and Apfelwein! A really interesting and charming guy, I hope we can wrestle again soon. Safe and sane and highly recommended.

I met Squashlad at the International Wrestling Camp Berlin. He is really strong and has a great attitude for wrestling. It was not only a pleasure to coach him but also to wrestle with him because he does not give easily and made me really work to defend.

Also off the mat he is a very nice, friendly and laid back guy, so I am looking forward to meet him again!

13-16/05/2016: "Wrestler Berlin" is quite a modest name for a supercoach. You want four days of very high quality freestyle wrestling coaching delivered in an engaging and fun way to a large group of wrestlers of varied experience, weight class, age and language? No problem. You want that delivered in both German and English? Sure. How about in French? Pas de problème. In Italian? Certo. How about doing that with a cheery smile throughout each and every session, even when asked "So what was that 'crossface' thing again?" for the twentieth time? A pleasure apparently. How about doing that while running a 4-day all-day residential event for 55 people? No bother. Wow.... So you'd think that the open-mat sessions would then be an opportunity to just sit down for a bit, but no, if you want a wrestle he'll be on the mats coaching you while taking you down, giving you handy tips while pinning you, pointing out where you went wrong while disposing of your attempts to take control without breaking a sweat. OK, but if he's this talented, he must at least be a bit of a tosser? Well no actually, he's just as nice a guy when he is finally relaxing, just as happy to share a beer and a laugh with newcomers and the shy as he is with his longstanding friends from the previous 15 training camps. As well as being a very impressive wrestler and coach, Wrestler Berlin is one of life's nice guys and is very highly recommended. Thanks heaps.
short version: You have to admire a guy who can make funny smutty jokes in his third language while in a headlock!

25/05/2015: Had a grapple with andreawrestling in one of the open mat sessions at the fantastic International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). His wariness of my extra bulk (not unreasonable given that he'd been able to observe my lazy habit of just lying on top of smaller guys while trying to work out how to turn them over) meant that I was largely able to hold my own against him, but the skill advantage lay with him and he was obviously among the most talented guys in our beginners'/early intermediate class at the camp and is going to be a formidable wrestler (especially as he joined as enthusiastically in the submission grappling classes as the freestyle ones). A really nice, friendly, sociable guy and I hope our wrestling paths cross onto the same mat again.
13-16/05/2016: A trip to Manchester for us both in the interim, but on the mats it took the Lindow training camp to come around again before I got another couple of wrestles in with andreawrestling. As with last year he remained among the most naturally talented and strong guys in our class and in both of our open-mat bouts was able to take me down, despite my height advantage, and (with a bit of in-match coaching!) to get the pin both times. A lovely friendly personable guy off the mats too. Very highly recommended.

I have met squashlad at the 16th international wrestling camp near Berlin. We were having some training sessions together and it was great fun to be on the mat with him. He was patient with me starting off at wrestling, and we both had a good time throwing and pinning each other. His list of past opponents is remarkable and you will definitely find him a great guy to be with in a fight or with a beer, so highly recommended, A+

13-16/05/2016: It was a great pleasure to be Dicamolla's first MeetFighters past opponent, especially as there's now quite a queue.... I met, trained with and wrestled him at the fantastic 16th International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark) and he was a fine training buddy and huge fun to wrestle. Anything that he initially lacked in technique was made up for by his enthusiasm and commitment and his skills improved rapidly (even Superman can learn new tricks). King of the Mats in at least one respect, I am sure that he will continue to improve at a rate of knots and put on that extra 10 kg of muscle and will probably wipe the floor with me next year (although hopefully we'll see him in London before then). Off the mats the Foxcatcher's a very cheery, pleasant, funny and outgoing guy and very helpful in translating for us lazy Anglophones on the odd occasion that it was needed. Very highly recommended and I'm very much looking forward to more mat time with him.

Today on 14th May at open-Mat in the 16th international Ringer Camp Lindow.
I had a wonderful, dynamic and intense grapple with Squashlad. It made hugely fun. He is a very good fighter and he represents a cosmopolitan position. I like that :-)
Squashlad has my full recommendation. With great pleasure again.

13-16/05/2016: After chatting with him in advance I got to meet, train with and wrestle Ereignis at the 16th International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). He's an extremely strong, fast and determined wrestler and brings his submission grappling background to his matches to throw in some surprises for you along with the raw power. All very safely done though. Although we both thoroughly enjoyed our freestyle training and little bouts during the training camp, it would be interesting to meet him again for a submission grappling match. Off the mats he's a very friendly, pleasant and outgoing guy who made the effort to engage me and share a joke or two with me despite my laziness in learning no German, which I greatly appreciated. Highly recommended.

He came, he saw, he tapped and begged a lot. Really nice guy, able to take a good battering and well worth working over if you get the chance. I look forward to a subs match with him some time too.

28/04/2016: After many periods of chatting over a couple of years, it was great to finally get in the ring with jgrappler at Grove Park and give my quiescent jobber a chance to take centre stage again in a two-on-one bout with him and matmanuk. Lil' me vs 428 lbs of masked heel muscle! Brilliant fun; and, as you would expect, the very definition of one-sided. Luckily for me jgrappler and his evil pal are, while cheating, merciless, double-teaming heel thugs, also both sane and skilled guys, respectful of my limits and careful of everyone's safety, and the big masked bullies took it pretty easy on me at first. However, it gets hot in the ring, and eventually the heels' masks came off, and then obviously things got really ugly.... ;-p A great fun way to spend an afternoon, especially when I should have been at work, and thanks to the lads for indulging me. Jgrappler's a definite meet again, either for some more two-on-one or tag-team pro, or for some singles competition. Highly recommended.

I'm afraid this won't be up to the length or quality of essay that squashlad's written for me, but suffice to say he is a really nice down to earth and sane guy without pretensions and is learning a lot. It was a pleasure wrestling with him and giving him some informal coaching and tips. He was learning fast and certainly made me work to defend. Will be very happy to meet with him again, and am looking forward to seeing him at the Berlin training camp next week!

29/04/2016: I'd met grappleruk at a few meets before, including at the excellent freestyle training camp in Brandenburg last year, but not given a recommendation for him previously on the basis that I'd only ever been coached by him or used him as a training dummy when being coached by others: we'd never properly wrestled before. Which may give you some idea of the yawning gulf in skill involved here. [Well, to be honest, in skill, talent, experience, fitness, speed, strength and stamina, but heh: I'm definitely heavier.] So it was great to get a few playful wrestles in with grappleruk when I met up with him, mikeswuk and blackwrestleruk at the High Barnet matroom to refresh our sadly neglected freestyle techniques before heading back to Lindow for the 2016 training camp at Pentecost. I did my best to apply some of what I'd been (re-)taught when wrestling him, and he's the sort of super-nice guy to wrestle down to your level in such a subtle way that you almost think that you might just be getting somewhere.... But nah! He's always got something extra available to reverse things when he wants to. And then another five gears to use.... And this is doing freestyle, when he's very much a submission grappler. An education to wrestle as well as a great coach, he's also a pleasure to spend time with, being modest about his talents and a generally friendly, chatty, interesting and witty bloke. Very highly recommended for both freestyle and submission and a must for wrestling again. Which, in Germany in a fortnight, I'm sure that we will.

After chatting for a while was really looking forward to taking on this guy. I wasn't disappointed. It was great to wrestle him. I enjoyed our many bouts and hope we will have many in the future. Hopefully one where I get a tap ;) Seriously though, thanks for the bouts.

30/04/2016
After having a few short bouts at Pippas at a group meet, this was one guy that I knew I wanted to wrestle again and for longer.
Some people are just worth enduring rail replacement buses to go and wrestle ;)
Had all types of matches, competitive, give and take and the like. Enjoyed every one. Was aware that he was very good, and I nearly gave as good as I got in the competitive. (Don't lead with your head)
But it was a really great afternoon, felt comfortable even as he drew a meaner and more ruthless part out of me, think I only said sorry a couple of times as my eyes had an evil glint ;)

I would happily meet again and again. And so should you reading this. Great to chat with and great company off the mats too. A real wrestling buddy.

03/10/2015: Had a couple of good grapples with hephaestion2014 at the Grapevine Group meet at Pippa's. With a bit more confidence and aggression he could have had me in trouble as he's a strong, thoughtful and relentless wrestler with some good instincts. He's also a keen, safe and sane guy. He was a pleasure to wrestle and to chat to off the mats and I'm therefore very much looking forward to tussling with him again. Highly recommended.
30/04/2016: Finally a longer one-on-one meet with hephaestion2014 at the High Barnet matroom and it was great to be facing off against his improved heavyweight build and a new ruthlessness in his attack. We had a good sweaty session (having forgotten to turn Andy's heaters off straight away!) doing some competitive subs, some give-and-take and some jobber beatdowns where I was well flattened and choked hard but always safely. Off the mats however he remains the same friendly, personable and outgoing guy and it was great to be able to spend some time with him before and after the meet. Looking forward to round three.

I had a really enjoyable time with Squashlad. He is a strong, skilled and flexible wrestler who doesn't give easily. He is quite a bit heavier than me but with a bit of speed and deviousness I managed to get a few subs out of him, but it wasn't easy! He is a great guy to host and interesting to spend time with and I would have no hesitation wrestling him again. He certainly knows how to bring out both sides of my character 😉

21/04/2016: It's a great way to spend a pleasant spring evening, wrestling the well-named leanmuscles at his funky zone 1 home. He's fast, friendly, charming and in great shape, and possessed of a mean headlock, great reflexes, some good technique---and an impressive sixpack. Most of the time my additional 20+ lbs kept me out of trouble or got me the reversal after his swift takedowns [saved by the belly again!], but he took plenty of well executed submissions off me in his turn. He's adaptable too, with both a bit of a jobber and a bit of a heel in him, and he can be creatively mean when he's in charge and on top. All very safely and sanely done though. Leanmuscles is also a generous and welcoming host and an interesting guy to chat to: we talked after the match even longer than we'd been wrestling. As a result, I very much hope that we can wrestle again soon and he's very highly recommended by me.

I had a wonderful afternoon with Squashlad at Grove Park! It was a long time coming, but well worth the wait! It was a truly exceptional match. Squashlad is fit and strong, and far more skilled than he gives himself credit for. He has an impressive defense, and keeps his cool at all times. We worked up an awesome sweat, and pretty much wrestled non-stop for three hours. Enjoyed teaching him a few moves, he proved to be a quick study. And he is a tough man, well able to handle a hard wrestle. Throughout the encounter, he was inviting me to up the aggression, which I did bit by bit, and thoroughly enjoyed his ability to absorb it.

Afterwords, I thouroughly enjoyed our conversation, and found his manner to be both funny and engaging, and very easy to be with. A sincere man in all respects.

Squashlad has an absolute and inspiring passion for wrestling, and to be a better wrestler. It was a true pleasure to connect with him and share that mutual passion with each other. Eagerly awaiting ... and planning ... our rematch!

19/04/2016: A great meet with the legendary LeithSubProGrappler at the Grove Park ring that had it all (from my perspective at least!). Some fun sweaty tussling on the canvas and on the ropes; some high quality coaching generously and perceptively offered; some give-and-take wrestling perfectly pitched at my (beginner's) level; and a nice (if far too short) dose of some good old-fashioned jobber bullying! All very safely, even courteously, done, and usually with a huge grin on his face. It's not often that the enthusiastic but unskilled like me get the chance to wrestle a guy who's been described (by those who should know) as "probably the best wrestler on MeetFighters in the UK"; nor yet a guy so dedicated to his wrestling that his back tattoo is that of the Californian wrestling club that he founded and was lead coach for; but sometimes, on a glorious late spring day when you should be at work---you get lucky. No, LeithSubProGrappler's not exactly a Leith native, you won't get his accent in an Irvine Welsh novel, but everything else about him is exactly as you'd expect from his profile and recommendations: big, strong, experienced, skilled, pretty much impossible for anyone on this side of the Atlantic to beat; and also an amazingly nice guy with it. If you get the chance to wrestle him, take it! I certainly will be on every occasion that presents itself. Very highly recommended.

13/04/2015: Way out of my league here, but when a match is this much fun, who cares? I just hope well-named wrestle fun enjoyed it half as much as I did! [There was a point during a lengthy ground bearhug when I suspect he may have caught 40 winks!] Given his willingness to wrestle down to others' level, effortless ability to stay on top, emphasis on close contact to keep control and great musclebear physique, wrestling wrestle fun is a little like being wrapped up in a warm, snuggly duvet. (And for that sort of length of time....) Admittedly, very much a winterweight duvet, that could double as ships' ballast, and one that's like a particularly bad Stephen King horror story, that's somehow come to life and is trying to smother you and pull your head off, but a warm, snuggly duvet nonetheless! He was kind enough to give me a bit of coaching to try to up my game, and even to let me "take" a couple of subs off him when attempting to put the advice into practice, but his fit of the giggles when I tried a wristlock on him killed off any pretence that I was ever actually competitive!
Top bloke, excellent wrestler, safe, sane, reliable, fun, very accommodating of those less skilled, if you get the chance to hit the mats with him take it and feel privileged! Very highly recommended.
20/04/2016: Over a year later, with one or two missed opportunities, I finally got a rematch in with wrestle fun, back at the High Barnet matroom. I've improved a lot in that year, but that was as nothing when you're up against a guy this strong (and with some solid technique) as the takedowns remained effortless and I was as pinned and powerless as ever. I'd forgotten his little evil chuckle when he's got you as helpless as an insect on an entomologist's pin, but it belies his completely sweet nature and genuine concern for you to have as good a time as him. Hopefully round 3 will take far less time for us to organize as this is a guy whom you want to wrestle over and over.

Was fortunate to wrestle Craig at a recent wrestling meet at pippas. Was well impressed he's energetic in good shape and will give you a good work out. He is also very calm when he wrestles and this will put him in good stead as he gets better and better. Highly recommended.
31/03/2016: Well we had a longer wrestle at Barnet and all I can say it's a sheer delight to wrestle a lad who loves wrestling as much as I do. 3 hours seem to just disappear quickly while I toiled trying to subdue the lad. Skilled and resistant and fun to wrestle I challenge anyone to wrestle the fella and not have a great wrestle. Afterwards good company and a well deserved pint - perfect evening . I'm certain we will wrestle again.

18/10/2015: Had a quick grapple with Perseus at the "Meet the Italians" meet at Pippa's and was totally outclassed. Hate to think how much more one sided it would have been if he was less tired and hungover! But he's completely safe and sane and even attempted to get a few basic grappling concepts through my thick skull, so it was a lot of fun, and I'd be very keen for a longer grapple with this fine wrestler. Very highly recommended.
31/03/2016: Well I got my longer grapple with Perseus with a one-on-one at the High Barnet matroom and it was a blast! Unsurprisingly I again didn't get anywhere against this skilled powerhouse, but I did have a lot of fun trying and I think he enjoyed flattening me and working me over. He was also kind enough to give me a few pointers to try to help me to improve. Perseus's as interesting and entertaining a guy off the mats as he is on them, and makes for great company, and he gets my extra seal of approval as the sort of proper wrestler who likes to rehydrate with a pint! Hopefully this was only the second of many future grapples with him.

Craig is one of the really good guys on this site – smart, funny, fit, reliable, and a blast to wrestle and dominate. If he'd let me, I'd take him home to meet my Mom – that's the kind of top quality guy he is, as much off the mat as on. The match was great, but getting to meet and know this guy was even better. I really look forward to more matches with him, and I will be jealous of anyone who has he privilege of wrestling him in the meantime! It just doesn't get any better than this.

14/04/2016: After 19 great months on MeetFighters I'm not so much the total jobber anymore. However sometimes, especially on a lovely warm late spring afternoon, versus a guy who's a natural heel and in the mood for it, a jobber I shall be. And when that opponent is MeetFighters' most experienced operator by a country mile, the legendary DenverWrestler, then actually I don't have massive amounts of choice. The man is what you might call experienced! But also very skilled and in superb shape. Which made for a good fun match as I got comprehensively worked over; particularly with some very effective scissors---not a hold that I'd normally sub to. And all very safely and considerately done. Between subs DenverWrestler's a super-interesting guy to chat to, and a very friendly and personable guy. Definitely a wrestler to meet again, either back at the Grove Park ring; or, who knows, maybe one day at his home set up back in Colorado. Very highly recommended.

No sooner had I arrived at group event but Squashlad was over, making me feel welcome and had me out on the mats wrestling. Another one of these strong wrestlers that puts up a great fight and is stubborn to tap. He has a lovely bubbly personality that was evident all day, and he was still smiling and jovial when we had another wrestle later in the day. Interestingly we were each others 110th opponent, but he has had that many matches much faster than I, which really shows his passion for wrestling! Really looking forward to a much longer session with him. Top recommendation

09/04/2016: Although fitguy2 is in superb shape, he is only 152 lbs, and therefore there is somewhat of a risk of underestimating him. Thankfully I didn't as I had been warned, and you be warned too: this guy is good. I had a great couple of matches with him at the OWG meet at Pippa's and had my arse comprehensively kicked. Taking me down didn't seem to present too much difficulty for him, and once he was on top the matches were totally one sided. I made him sweat for the submissions that he took off me, but that's about all I could do: I was otherwise completely pinned and locked up and the submissions were only ever a matter of time. All very safely done though. Off the mats fitguy2's a personable and pleasant bloke, interesting to talk to and good company. Very highly recommended by me and I can't wait for the rematch: when he's said that he's not going to take it so easy on me! Wow....

Had a brief wrestle with Squash lad, and we're meant to be only upper body due to my groin injury, but the lean, mean wrestling machine got my adrenaline up to full power in minutes of our mat time. His skill and his applied pins and subs come at you and he had me struggling to get to him on an attack. This man has some good strength too and I can't wait to get more mat time with this genuine decent fella.

09/04/2016: You would think, after a good fun but tiring afternoon's continuous wrestling at the OWG meet at Pippa's, that a gentle little roll around on the mats with a guy of 5' 4", brand new to wrestling, carrying a groin strain and only wanting a little low-key upper body grapple would be just the ticket for chilling out and getting some breath back. And you would be right: it would be. Except of course if that guy happens to be Grapplerlad. Because Grapplerlad just doesn't do gentle little rolls around, injury or no. This is a guy who wants to win! And he might be pocket-sized, but it's a pocket battleship. There's some serious muscle on him and when it's flexed around your throat, wow do you know it! This is a wrestler you want to take on now---while he's still injured, let alone when he's 100% and fully trained up, because he's learning lightening fast and when he is fully good to go the Admiral Graf Spee here is going to be blowing guys twice his size out of the water, let alone ponderous schmucks like me. Off the mats he's a laugh a minute, a super-friendly and personable lad that you'd have to try really hard not to like. Very highly recommended and I can't wait for a longer go at him.

I had chatted with Sqashlad a bit late last year and finally got to meet him yesterday.

squashlad is a very good wrestler and certainly made me work for each sub :). Really enjoyed meeting him and the only disappointment was that we didn't get a longer wrestle or a second wrestle.

Definitely a good guy to meet and wrestle. I am looking forward to it for sure!!

Cheers

Al

09/01/2016: Don't believe Mr "Oh, I haven't wrestled for ages; Oh No, I don't want to wrestle on the main mats, not in public"---thankfully, I didn't, and was wary---but I still had my arse handed to me on a plate! This is a skilled, wirey, committed and talented wrestler. He is, however, also a very chilled, nice, modest and sweet guy, so heh, there are worse things than losing badly to a talented wrestler. My only regret is not more mat time with him (so that it could advance from 0-3!), so he is very highly recommended and the rematch is eagerly awaited....
03/04/2016: Well the eagerly awaited rematch did happen, courtesy of the hospitality of borets and Lincoln Lad, and the subs tally did advance from 0-3! Significantly so.... Wow this guy is good. He's just a wrestling machine when he's of a mind to be and totally wiped the floor with me. He gets submissions off me with holds that no one else ever has and every hold is precision engineered to hurt like f*ck and get that tap. Thankfully with Rutland along with the Terminator you also get a totally sweet and lovely chilled out guy who wants you to enjoy the match as much as him and who's the perfect host. You just want to spend a lot of time with this great bloke even when he's dislocating your jaw, let alone when he's pouring you another drink or being an excellent tour guide to Kesteven. There will therefore definitely be a round three! Very highly recommended.

I met Craig at short notice on Sunday, very easy to arrange, and was amazed how far he was willing to travel for a meet ..
Once again a thoroughly decent friendly chap to meet, quickly put any nerves I had at ease ..
Despite my slight weight advantage this fighter has vast experience, with his resilience in any attack I tried causing me immence frustration !!
He is a very calm wrestler and if he was in any discomfort during my largely futile attempts to get him to tap out , it certainly didn't show !! He calmly lets you wear yourself down , and then springs his very effective counter attack.. I quickly learned they were very succesful tactics .
Really great wrestle, really nice fella, thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an evening, thanks Craig .. Until the re match !! T 😁

20/03/2016: Bucksboy was kind enough to accept my last-minute request for a match and turned what would have been a dull Sunday afternoon into a fantastic day's grappling at his superb home set up. I'm really pleased to have wrestled him while he's just starting out because his farm-boy strength took this flabby office worker down nearly every time and I was constantly defending: once he's got a bit of technique behind him to continue with his attack he'll wipe the floor with me! He's already mastered distributing his weight and riding out my puny counterattacks, and any submissions that I did take off him came solely from him being the one to risk something and make the match: really good wrestling instincts in other words. Bucksboy is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Off the mats he's a very kind, generous and attentive host and a very interesting guy to chat to. Safe, sane, friendly and fun, I'm very much hoping for more matches with him.

Craig and I had two tussles at the Manchester group meet today. Once he had forgiven me for mistaking his accent we wrestled in submission style with me getting lucky and beating him 2 to 1. He is strong and has good defence, technique and stamina. Once he learns how to use his legs more, I think he will want revenge for the punishment that I gave to his legs. Let's do it all again buddy!

09/01/2016: Great time wrestling this skilled guy at a meet at Pippa's. Strong and experienced, I made the novice mistake of paying attention to his profile name---and therefore gave him two subs to armbars! He is not a one-trick pony. He is, however, a great lad and I can't wait to wrestle him again. Safe, sane and very highly recommended.
12/03/2016: Got a rematch in with Leglocklover at John's meet at Pippa's and, knowing how strong and skilled he is, I was duly wary this time! And was therefore successful in not giving him any subs. Which is progress! Having said that, I didn't exactly come close to taking any off him either.... Ah well: good close matches are my favorites, so hopefully that was just the second of many tussles with Leglocklover.

I put on my tour guide hat to show him round Winchester a bit before we hit the mats for a competitive submission wrestle. Wrestling wise, his defensive skills are very good and he's pretty stubborn too, so it was difficult to get him to submit. Safe and sane, and I had a great match against him that I will definitely be repeating. Nice guy off the mats too - wrestle him if you get the opportunity!

15/11/2015: A great, very sweaty match with SurreyGuy at his fab home set up in, er, Hampshire. An excellent host, he kindly took me for a really interesting walking tour of beautiful Winchester before our match, and for a Sunday roast and a few pints at his lovely local afterwards, and was just generally a lovely welcoming guy who clearly likes to look after his guests. Unfortunately for me his generosity doesn't extend to giving me any submissions, but he does wrestle safely and sanely and was kind enough to point out a few things that might potentially get me a submission if he wasn't quite so strong and stubborn! A great day that we'll definitely want to repeat.
05-06/03/2016: Finally got a rematch in with SurreyGuy at his matroom and was pleased to have improved enough to take a couple of submissions off him with my usual tedious armbars; but he still took many more off me! Far too strong for me really, but he is such good fun to grapple. Plenty hadn't changed in the last four months though, as he remains a superb and generous host, a good cook, and great fun to chat to over a few convivial ales. Hopefully just the second of many tussles with him!

25/02/2016: Had a short but intense and fun grapple with northern monkey at Kit at the Eagle. He's too big and strong for me to get very far against him but I managed to defend well enough that he had to work hard for the submission, eventually getting me to tap with an ankle lock, and hopefully that made for an entertaining match for the guys at Kit. Northern monkey wrestles intensely and swiftly and is keen to get the win, especially when there are people watching, but very creditably doesn't take unfair advantage of his size, preferring to get the submission through well executed holds and throws, and wrestles safely and sanely, so I'm looking forward to a rematch with him.

I met Squashlad for a quick fight at KIT Club at the Eagle London - despite the short match it was clear he had lot of experience under his belt - don't underestimate his strength based on his weight because you'll be quite surprised. I was quite impressed by his energy on the mats which makes me think he is very well used to very long sessions. He is extremely friendly guy and an absolute pleasure to meet him. I will definitely meet him again for a longer session anytime soon!

25/02/2016: Had a quick grapple with Duomatrix at Kit at the Eagle (which he organizes) and really enjoyed it. He's fast and determined, which made him very hard to get to grips with to take down, and is very strong. His photos don't lie---there are guys in shape, there are guys in great shape, and then there are the guys like Duomatrix in the sort of shape that would just be seriously impressive, but for whom other, shorter words come to mind when that's what you're about to hit the mats with! Thankfully for me my extra height together with his desire not to scare the rest of the guys at Kit off from joining in the fun meant that it wasn't a total beating and (subs-wise at least) we came out evens. Off the mats he's a friendly, affable, outgoing and good natured guy and a thoughtful host. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to more mat time with him.

What a great afternoon of wrestling.I met Craig for the first time at hackney matroom.from the moment I met him at hackney downs station I knew I was going to enjoy this wrestling match with him.we had a good 3 hours session and we were both soaking with sweat.we both were wrestling fairly strong but safe and Craig is very strong like myself so it was a very interesting bout.he is a real gent on and off the mats.looking forward to the rematch soon . 14.02.16 what a very hot rematch.it was great to meet craig again after too long a gap.im very pleased with myself that i did manage to keep him in a few good headlocks for a long time.craig is always a delight to wrestle.he is good at holding you down when he is on top of you.the room at the travel lodge was big enough to call it the fairfield halls.you could see the fairfield halls from the hotel window on the 10th floor.some good world of sport bouts were from the fairfield halls.we olso had a nice red wine break which was olso very nice.then another wrestle before we finished.craig was hot in yellow trunks.looking forward to bout 3.

08/03/2015: Had a sweaty promission match with big World of Sport Britpro fan wrestlingstar. He's a strong, stubborn, feisty and in-shape wrestler so I was really pleased to be able to get a few subs off him---but he sure made me work for them! A nice and reliable bloke who wrestles safely and sanely. Really into his pro gear and scene so he was able to show me a few things from the Britpro world and good to chat to while having a much needed breather. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to round 2. Seconds away!
13/02/2016: After an abortive attempt at a rematch at Hackney, wrestlingstar and I finally got another battle in, this time in the shadow of World of Sport wrestling central at the Fairfield Halls! In the meantime I'd forgotten how strong he is but a few tests of strength and arm wrestles soon had me remembering, as did his effective side headlocks. On the mats though my extra bulk came into its own and I managed to keep him pinned while my goldfish brain attempted to recall some different submissions. So between our various strengths we had some good tussles and another very enjoyable afternoon. Ding ding!

A thoroughly enjoyable battle royal with this strong and resilent wrestler who just kept coming back for more! Although there was quite a weight difference between us, Craig used his weight carefully throughout the match and demonstrated strength skill and stamina which took all of my efforts to overcome. Admittedly i had to use the odd dirty tactic to gain the upper hand! Could have carried on for hours and if we had done i'm sure the match would have ended in a different way which gives me an incentive to plan a rematch asap! Highly recommmended if you want a good wrestle with a worthwhile opponent and a nice guy to boot.

19/01/2016: Great long-awaited grapple with skinfightboi at the Grove Park ring, kindly organized for us by DaveLon. Skinfightboi's not the sort to worry about giving up 24 kg to a lardarse like me, and lived up to his undertaking to get stuck in and take the bigger guy down. The extra bulk did keep me out of a lot of trouble, and indeed got me the first two subs, but once skinfightboi got warmed into his stride (on the coldest night of the year!) I had no answer for his superior technique, stamina and aggression. He does like to fight rough, but only strictly to the limits that you've agreed, and is super safe. Off the mats he's a polite, personable, interesting and chatty guy and it would have been great to spend some more time with him post match. Which we will do after the rematch, because there will definitely be one! Very highly recommended.

Craig make the effort to come at my home for a weekend. Thanks for that. He is a great wresler. He know how to play for fun. Strong guy even if he can learn little more some technic. HeI really enjoyes wrestle and its great to see that. We pass very good time on mat with craig

outside the mat, a great guy. We pass good time to discuss. Happy to meet him again next time.

15-17/01/2016: Had a very instructive series of matches with AD idf at his great home set up when he kindly hosted me in Île-de-France for the weekend. Hopelessly out of my league, I was constantly on the defensive, and it was only a question of whether the sub would be obtained from me quickly. [The other options being "very quickly" and "immediately"!] But that didn't matter as much as it might have, as he's a patient coach, and willingly showed me what I was doing wrong and how to try to improve, so we had plenty of fun grappling. And the skill and coaching was all the more impressive as he's self taught and was operating in a foreign language all weekend, as I'm too lazy to have learnt any French. Off the mats, he's an interesting and witty guy, a kind, generous and attentive host, and a pleasure to spend time with. Very highly recommended and I hope that we can repeat a great wrestling weekend soon.

This man is one of bests man and call him friend he very nice men and would have match with him at drop of hat and you should be doing same.

29/09/2014: Had a good sweaty squashing from this big solid bloke and thoroughly enjoyed it. A friendly hospitable guy who respects your limits and plays safe but puts jobbers like me through it. Really tough when he's sitting on your diaphragm and toying with you or barring your face. Some nice pec punching too. Looking forward to more!
01/01/2016: fitman321 was the first guy I wrestled upon joining MeetFighters so to finally catch up with him on the mats after 15 months was a real nostalgia trip---and I mean that in a good way! He's been hitting the gym since 2014 and the extra 25 lbs of muscle meant that I still got pretty roughed up, even if I have perhaps now graduated from my jobber phase! But all good fun and safely done. And a much shorter period to come before the rematch this time round!

Met Squashlad on 19th September. To be honest I was not entirely sure what to expect as I have suffered quite a few let downs over the past year when visiting London - but this was most certainly not one of them. I was greeted at the station by a genuinely friendly interesting handsome chap - even though he is a town planner :-) Wrestling wise he was a feisty opponent and often the only way to quell him was with a claw to the neck :-). Had a fantastic fantastic time wrestling - the time flew (so many submissions, so little time!) hehehe and I am really looking forward to hopefully wrestling him on a regular basis. In my experience it is rare to find a reliable opponent who you click with in the ring as well as out of it. Squashlad ticks both boxes. Would I recommend him? Definately as long as it means I do not have to wait too long for a rematch!!

19/09/2015: Had a great Saturday morning match with ukgrappler at the Grove Park ring. He's a big, strong, experienced guy and well suited to playing the heel, so it was pretty one sided, but also great fun, and he was kind enough to compliment me on it being quite hard work to take those (many) submissions off me, and if that's as close as I get to being competitive against him---oh well, it's better than nothing! Ukgrappler's got the mean streak (and the mask) that you need to be a convincing heel, but is completely safe and sane and respectful of my desire to keep the majority of my limbs attached; he's also a chatty, funny, personable guy, so grab any opportunity that you get to wrestle him---he's very highly recommended.
02/01/2016: Rematch with ukgrappler at the Grove Park ring. I knew my place this time so he was able to show off an even wider range of heeling skills, tying me in all sorts of knots that would earn a Boy Scout a badge, as well as the usual nerve holds, claws and abundant supplies of bad acting and fake sympathy at my suffering. Fabulous guy---love wrestling him!

Had an excellent couple of rounds with Craig on the mats at Pippas Wrestling Factory for 'Johns meet' earlier today.
Craig is strong and a super fit lad and managed to match him up until I met the canvass, then the tides turned and got me twice to submit.
Really enjoyed our meet today mate, hope we can do it all again soon either again at Pippa's or see if I can get to London.

14/03/2015: Had a subs wrestle with beginnerboy on the mats at John's meet and found out that his username's rapidly getting outdated. A strong, determined and feisty lad, aggressive in a good way, he's up for matches and made me work hard to take some subs off him. A force to be reckoned with in the making, so wrestle him now! Highly recommended and I hope to get to wrestle him again.
02/01/2016: Finally managed to get a rematch in with beginnerboy at Pippa's and it was good to be able to see how much we've both advanced over the last year. My extra bulk kept the subs at bay but he spent a large part of a longish match on top and was much harder to take down than previously. He's strong and relentless when pushing for a submission. Hopefully only the second of many grapples.

Met at group meet at pippas great guy good match. Will deffo meet him again if the chance arises

10/05/2015: Had a great subs grapple with dermott wigan1 at John's meet and paid the price for tackling his experience! He's got a rough, brawling wrestling style but is perfectly sane and safe and respects your limits. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.
02/01/2016: After missing out a few times on a rematch, I finally got an all-too-brief one in with dermott wigan1 at the Grapevine Group meet at Pippa's. I've improved a lot since we last met, but he's improved more! He's added some good technical skills to his brawling and I was totally controlled and repeatedly forced to tap. A lovely friendly guy off the mats too, so the next rematch will be sooner.

Had the pleasure of taking on Squashlad at a recent group meet at pippas. Really good and skilled wrestler with a good threshold for pain. He's a great guy to wrestle and damn good looking too! I'm ready for a rematch when you are boy!

14/11/2015: Had a good fun grapple with Manic Mike at John's meet at Pippa's. His size makes the big pro-trained lad a good challenge. Off the mats and between rounds he's a friendly and outgoing guy. Highly recommended and there will be a rematch.

30/12/2015: Well Twister81 was one of the first guys whom I asked for a match on joining MeetFighters way back in September 2014 and I finally got to wrestle him with only a few hours to go before it's 2016. He is what you might call the definition of hard to get. But I'm pleased that my limpet-like persistence paid off, because it was great fun wrestling the big strong lad. I thought I'd probably bitten off more than I could chew when our match started with him effortlessly bearhugging me way off the ground and then battering me into the canvas with a 251-lb follow up bodyslam, but thankfully my stubbornness got me out of trouble, and then eventually a first sub. But if he continues training hard and matches his strength, keenness and very fine instincts with a bigger repertoire of holds and throws he'll be a fearsome opponent. Although we will both have to stop laughing so much to be able to get to that degree of wrestling seriousness, because this was a fun match with a lovely friendly lad; and one that I'm very keen to repeat soon. Highly recommended.

28/12/2015: Had an instructive and fun if all-too-brief grapple with well-named StrongGrapplerLondon at the Grove Park ring. He's a stocky, strong guy who's serious about his wrestling and trains hard in BJJ and other disciplines to allow him to dominate in matches, and he certainly did that in ours. He's a friendly, affable bloke though, and was happy to do some coaching for me, with clear instructions and much patience and constructive feedback. And all very safe and sane so he's a must for a longer rematch and I highly recommend him.

had some good fights with sqaushlad today. I did get some subs off him, but he's only been wrestling for a few months and he's shaping up really well. has all the right instincts, and a stubborn refusal to tap unless he's forced. very happy to fight him again as think he's going to develop in leaps and bounds! catch him before he gest too good ;)

A year on and another, fuller, session with squashlad. To begin with we were pretty even, but he's a fit young Kiwi with a lot more endurance than me. By end he'd worn me down and I was putty in his hands. Oh the horror.... ;)

17/01/2015: Had a few bouts against Tyger at large and small group meets and enjoyed wrestling the feisty Welshman. Didn't manage to take any submissions off him, he's strong, stubborn and experienced, but was pleased to make him work hard to take a few off me. A sorted and sane guy who wrestles safely and is good to chat to. Highly recommended.
06/12/2015: Nearly a year later, I finally got Tyger in a rematch and haven't laughed this much in ages. Really good fun. I've improved a bit over the last year, so was able to take some subs off him this time around, especially as he got tired, which was very pleasing, but he was still taking plenty off me through his excellent combination of skill, strength and feistyness and he regularly had me pinned and helpless. There was a fair amount of cheating going on all round too! And he does a lovely line in World of Sport banter and commentary. A must for a third round.

It was great to meet squashlad, he kindly organised the matroom (ouch it was early on a Sunday!!)and met me for a coffee beforehand.
Suitably caffeinated we had a good 3.5hr roll including subs and give& take. For someone who's only been wrestling for such a short while he has picked up a lot - that's because he's serious about the sport and has had an impressive number of matches in a year or so. In fact he was off to another match after meeting me, I went for lunch!! Recommended

08/11/2015: A sweaty grapple with finest at Hackney made for a great, if early, start to my Sunday. I was totally outclassed in every respect here---experience, skill, height, strength, stamina, cardiovascular fitness, you name it---so it was pretty one sided, but finest is a totally lovely and very modest guy, seemingly very happy to wrestle down to others' level, so that didn't matter as much as it might've. He was kind enough to do some good quality submission coaching for me, carefully and accurately analyzing where I'm up to, but also worked me over for a bit for some variety and that was a heap of fun and safely and sanely done. All this while he's carrying an ankle injury and therefore largely wrestling without engaging his amazing legs, so if I get a rematch and he's back scissoring opponents, this might (somehow) get even more one sided! A five-star wrestler and bloke to spend some time with, he's very highly recommended.

I had some fun with squashlad before the knee and bad back were triggered and I lost the will to heel!! Lovely, fun guy and strong enough to put up a good fight if he ever wanted to. He's fun to wrestle and I'd get a kick out of watching someone else heel him and finish off my job(ber).

Round 2: squashlad is fitter and sexier than ever, and very happy to be dominated on the mats. It was fun to be with someone who enjoyed every hold, tight squeeze and tweak. Next time: a slugfest, brawling NHB competition yes?!

08/04/2015: Had a playful squash match with well-named wrestling4fun at his excellent home set up and got to enjoy his arsenal of holds to work guys over in. He's solid, muscular and strong, particularly in applying scissor holds, and is very experienced, good at reversals and at manoeuvring his opponent into a submission position and taking the opportunities presented by all of my many mistakes. He's far too nice a guy to be much of a heel though and has a very sweet laugh that does away with any pretence of evil heel menace! Safe and sane and an excellent host, he's really only concerned that you have a great time. Which I did, so I'm very much hoping that I get a rematch with the pocket powerhouse!
08/11/2015: Well seven months later I did get my rematch with wrestling4fun and in the meantime he'd sorted out his knee and was therefore able to show me who's boss! A solid and powerful guy, he's able to throw guys around and dominate them in an array of holds, but only for fun, and our rematch made for a great relaxing end to the weekend. Hopefully the next match will be sooner.

What a great troupe is this wrestler! Very motivated and eager to wrestle as much as he can and even more eager to improve whatever aspects he could of his wrestling game! Very active and instinct savvy fit for wrestling along with the best attitude and demeanor to go with it!. mannish a quick roll as he said, but found ourselves confined to the limitations presented to wrestler who want to go at it but In a hotel room environment. Looking forward to wrestling this mate at the proper place, I am certain it's going to be one hell of a match. And a most gracious buddy off the mats as well for certain. Highly recommended!

01/11/2015: Had a quick grapple with Ricotewrestler in London at the end of his English tour, and then a tutorial in a half dozen or so BJJ holds that he thought would be most useful for me (at my novice level). A very skilled guy, he matches that with considerable strength and torque (as I was taught to say), so it was never going to be a competitive meet; it was, however, a huge amount of fun. Off the mats he's a warm, funny, chatty and interesting guy, so I'm looking forward to his return trip (or meeting him again when I'm in the Americas). Safe and sane and highly recommended, Ricotewrestler is a must meet if you're serious about your grappling.

12/07/15 - Wrestled Craig on Sunday July 12th and I would recommend him if you want a good workout on the mats. He is a great wrestle and is very determined and makes you work hard for any submission.
Squashlad he is not, Craig change your alias!!
25/10/15 - Had a rematch today with Squashlad and enjoyed every minute, this guy doesn't like to give and he's got that dogged determination to escape any hold he's in, so don't let your guard down or it will be you getting worked over.
Looking forward to bout number three.

12/07/2015: Met this powerhouse wrestler at a small group meet at the Grove Park ring. With his size, strength and experience he was clearly having to take it a bit easy on me, but I was pleased to make him work a bit harder than he might have thought that he was going to have to, even taking a cheeky sub off him at one stage (I'll ignore all those that went the other way!). A very friendly and funny guy and a safe and sane wrestler, matmanuk was kind enough to give me some pointers in submission and then some coaching in the sadly neglected (in the UK) field of Olympic wrestling, which he's very experienced in. Looking forward to lots more mat time with this great bloke.
25/10/2015: Finally got to grips with the big unit again for a rematch and if anything it was even more fun than last time. Matmanuk's way too strong and good for me, but I do enjoy making him work really hard to get his takedowns and his submissions. Like he says, it's much more enjoyable than the gym. A top bloke off the mats too, reliable, interesting and funny, so I'm hoping not to have to wait so long for round 3.

18/10/15 - Going along to the Italian Meet with the notion I'd just observe was disillusioned! With so many great guys to wrestle, including this chap, the inevitable happened very quickly. He's strong and determined but having restricted myself that day, never mind not having wrestled the day before, I had a slight advantage this time. Looking forward to a longer session next time on an even footing!
10/5/15 - Good to meet squashlad after chatting for a while. Good guy to get on the mats with and strongly resists holds. He's also very good a spreading himself to avoid flipping. Safe and sane throughout. Sadly didn't get our hoped for round 2. Good to chat to off the mats too. Definitely a guy worth meeting.

10/05/2015: Got a match with eastcheshireguy at John's meet after what felt like an age of waiting and had a great grapple with him. I was, however, a bit wary of him as he's got the serious physique of a guy who's serious about the gym and indeed he's properly strong; and as a result I was very defensive. Which is, in hindsight, a big mistake as all the subs in our match went one way and he's only going to get significantly better as he gets more experience, so that was the match to throw myself into a good offense! But when you're wrestling a guy as friendly and sociable as this, there's a lot more to it than winning and losing. A great guy who's going to be a great wrestler, eastcheshireguy wrestles safely and sanely, is a top lad both on and off the mats and comes very highly recommended.
18/10/2015: Finally got a quick rematch in with eastcheshireguy at the "Meet the Italians" meet at Pippa's. Or at least I would have if he'd been wrestling. Which he wasn't. At all. No sir! Theoretically, if we had have been wrestling, I might have been moved to observe that the ease with which he took a sub off me means that he's getting a lot better a lot faster than I am. But thankfully we weren't. So he isn't....
Absolute star of a bloke.

17-18.10.2015 - SQUASHLAD is a very good fighter that made me sweat so much, but so so much that I thought that the only way to win was to drown him with all the sweat he made me. Excellent physical and great strength that I am absolutely certain that will only be getting better, then challenge him before it's too late to beat him. I was convinced that if we were closer we will wrestle almost every day. Very Very Very recommended.
P.S. ... now I know the meaning of "such a ball"

17-18/10/2015: Finally got to meet the legend that is Atonman and have a few fantastic grapples with him over two days of meets at Pippa's. He is the reigning Italian champion so I wasn't surprised to get absolutely nowhere against him; but I think I did make him work hard to get his series of victories over me. (Well he sweated a lot anyway!) Great wrestler, great physique, great technique, great fun to spend time with, just a great guy. One of those guys you just want to grapple with over and over again. And hopefully we will. Totally safe and sane and a MeetFighters superstar, you need to wrestle this man. Very highly recommended.

For a guy who says he likes to job...Well he doesn't just lie on the mat and be worked over. He is feisty and stubborn wrestler who is able to manage himself. Strong and agile and looks good in shorts. A nice guy to get along with and I hope to have more matches with him. Recommended

Oct 05: I first met Squashlad last year ago and having grappled with him at a group meet over the weekend his skill level has improved considerably. It took me longer to get a sub out of him and was even more confident when I was grappling with him. Continues to be strong and agile and as always i hope to have more matches with him.

01/11/2014: Amazing to wrestle such a strong and skilled guy, especially one who is modest to the point of nonchalant about his wrestling talent and awesome looks and physique. He seemed unconcerned about having to wrestle down to my level and was even willing to be sufficiently passive (on the odd occasion!) to let me try getting him into a submission position. A great wrestler and a great guy in other words. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to testing whether I'm improving any by wrestling him again soon.
18/10/2015: Well a rematch with Superfly was unfortunately a long time coming. On the other hand, this is the sort of wrestler that's worth waiting for. Brilliant fun to wrestle. OK, it's true, he was just toying with me, but it did take longer for him to take his submissions off me than last year, so I feel like I'm making some progress. And it's just as well that he's got more than just those "scissors" in his arsenal, because I'd more likely have fallen asleep than subbed in them. Hopefully that'll get me a quicker rematch this time! ;-) Absolute star of a guy and a wrestler.

Good grappler. We got to roll at a Manchester tournament and he was fun, full on and formidable. Nice lad too. For a Kiwi😆

17/10/2015: Had a good if brief grapple with scotsgrappler at the meet v. our Italian friends at Pippa's and I'd be very keen to meet him again when his mind's less on being the host with the most and running a smooth tournament and more on the job at hand! It was good fun though and he's very experienced as well as being safe and sane and a pleasure to spend time with both on and off the mats, so he's very highly recommended.

Met Squashlad at a group meet today in Manchester, great guy to lock up with gets stuck in and gives as good as he gets 😀 All round good lad highly recommended look forward to next time cheers mate

17/10/2015: Had a brief grapple with Lomandlad42 at the meet v. our Italian friends at Pippa's. I was just the wrestling dummy to keep him warm between his actual bouts, but hey, there's no shame in that when you're up against a guy this skilled, strong and fast (oh so fast). It's wrestling guys who are better than you that produces improvements of course, so I'm very keen for a longer match with him. For a guy this good he's very modest and unassuming and is great to chat to, as well as being completely safe and sane, so take any chance that you get to wrestle him. Very highly recommended.

Met Squashlad today at the matroom in High Barnet. It was a very enjoyable match with his determination, and drive to get stuck into wrestling an opponent, he thought he could not beat. He genuinely got some subs from me but he didn't give up. I hope he doesn't mind me saying we had some erotic moments too. He's friendly and easy to talk to. I will definitely meet him again and so should anyone up for a competitive wrestle!

11/10/2015: Had a great grapple with blackwrestleruk at the High Barnet matroom and am very keen to meet him again. His strength and experience were too much for me---this is a guy who's serious about the gym with the physique to match---and most of the subs in our match were the ones he took off me; but he's a nice enough bloke that he let me get into a good enough position to take a few off him too and so make it not totally one sided. A gentleman on and off the mats, he's a pleasure to chat too as well as wrestle. Very highly recommended.

Squash lad is a great guy to wrestle. He is experienced and know some good holds and moves. He is very friendly and totally safe
I recommend him without hesitation
Met Craig again today at Pippas wrestling factory 10th October (2015). Had another most enjoyable session with this most friendly of guys. He is great both on and off the mats, a most amiable sport. Look forward to next time
Cannot recommend highly enough
John/Big Ape

14/03/2015: Had a good give-and-take match with Big Ape in a matroom at John's meet. An in-shape bloke who loves his wrestling and the working over of an opponent that goes with it, he nevertheless wrestles safely and sanely. Without the back injury he'd be a real handful on the mats.
10/10/2015: Rematch with Big Ape at the OWG meet at Pippa's. A strong and experienced guy who knows his stuff, he's nevertheless most concerned to make it a fun grapple for both wrestlers and achieves that aim, so he's highly recommended.

i met with craig at a group meeting at pippers and wat a warm freindly guy alot bigger than myself so i new it was not going to be easy for me and it was hard going but was a joy to wrestle this guy very safe and sane and i wood recomend him to all you woint regret it and i look forward to more action with him

05/07/2015: Hugely experienced and deceptively strong, my hopes for a gentleish warm down match at the end of a great but tiring Grapevine meet at Pippa's were to be frustrated as the master showed me that he's not to be underestimated! His scissors in particular were amazingly powerful and it was only the unfair advantage of my extra bulk that kept it from being a squash match. Very educational in other words! A friendly, funny, welcoming bloke off the mats and a safe and sane wrestler, John1953 is a British wrestling legend for a reason and he comes highly recommended.
10/10/2015: Was pleased to have John1953 take a break from his organizing duties at the OWG meet at Pippa's to give me a rematch. Again my bulk kept me out of trouble but again this is not a wrestler to underestimate---very strong and very experienced, if you relax with him you're toast! Hopefully many more grapples to come.

I very briefly met, Squashlad on Saturday 8th November, at Johns Manchester Meet - arranged to roll on Saturday 13th December 2014, at OWG- XXX.

His pictures don't do him justice on here. He is a real gentlemen, well spoken, good manners etc.

He is strong and agile. He clearly has freestyle wrestling training, which he can use to his advantage. He has started his submission wrestling journey recently, so upwards and on-wards from here.

Safe and sane - greatly recommended.

Ha-ha... I got to wrestle Squashlad again at October 2015 Grapevine Group Wrestling Day. Yes, despite me recovering from being intoxicated and recovering from a injury... I made a comeback to wrestle. He has gotten a lot stronger and skilled, I certainly enjoyed the grapple. Always a lovely guy to chat to and see.

14/12/2014: Imran was kind enough to give me a submission wrestling tutorial at the OWG meet (despite there being much more experienced guys there that he was keen to get on and test himself against) and it was a masterclass. He was very patient with me and very clear in explaining things (although the advice to "just deal with the pain" did make me smile!). For such a young guy he's extremely experienced and skilled and even watching him wrestle, using his height and flexibility to hold much bigger opponents at bay until he quickly grabs the submission when an opportunity presents itself, is an education. He always wrestles safely and respects people's limits. Imran's also a charming, polite, friendly guy off the mats. Very highly recommended.
03/10/2015: Well we just may have discovered the secret to standing a chance with young Imran, as with a hangover and coming to the meet directly from a proper full BJJ class even he slows down a bit. I mean, I say "we" advisedly---I was still disposed of without getting anywhere near taking a submission off him, and any sweat on his part was solely alcohol related, but you know, it took him several seconds longer than it normally does to take his subs off me and I'll happily take that. Barman! Another pint for the lad please. ;-) A fabulous wrestler and a lovely human being.

14/3/2015: Thoroughly enjoyed the bouts with Squashlad at John's March meet in Manchester. We are well matched and both of us were able to get subs and to get to know the others strengths. Sqashlad repeatedly got the take downs and uses tight assertive holds. I think we can both use each other as yardsticks to monitor our development, so I’m very keen to meet again in a few months time. He is, of course, a safe fighter and a smashing guy off the mats, too.
2/10/2015: Finally got to rematch with Craig and he has improved so much he truly kicked my ass. I did have a bad shoulder and neck……..that's my excuse. Look forward to the next time.

14/03/2015: Had a great couple of subs matches with bikerskinnw on the mats at John's meet with us both taking a few subs off each other but with bikerskinnw edging it in the aggregate! His BJJ training was showing and he's very determined and relentless---really good to wrestle in other words! A pleasant and engaging bloke off the mats, he wrestles safely and sanely and I'm keen to meet him again. Highly recommended.
03/10/2015: Finally got my rematch with a new, fitter, trained up bikerskinnw at the Grapevine Group meet at Pippa's and was relieved to feel that I'm still keeping pace with him (although my bit of extra height probably accounts for that more than any matching skill). A great guy and one to wrestle again and again.

Had a fun match with Craig at pippas although I couldn't put up much of a fight it was good to be in the ring with this excellent wrestler. He's quick, strong but totally safe and is also a very friendly, genuine guy. Totally recommend him for a quality bout!
3/10/15. Round 2 and Craig didn't disappoint again. Gave me a good tough grapple but was still great fun and hopefully I gave more than I got last time! Definitely up for round 3!!

05/07/2015: Had a good submission grapple with Warkscub in the ring at Pippa's as part of the Grapevine meet. He's a strong, solid guy which makes taking any submissions off him (enjoyably!) hard work and he's difficult to shift once on top. He comes highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.
03/10/2015: Got a rematch with Warkscub at the October Grapevine Group meet and he's certainly improving, having me pinned and helpless for long periods. If he was more ruthless I'd have been toast! A great guy who's great fun to wrestle, so I'm very much looking forward to round 3.

What a great guy, it was so much fun to see Craig find his inner heel, I am so looking forward to a more active wrestle next time. On time fun on and off the mats. Highly recommended. You would be crazy not to meet up with this guy.

Had a fun roll with Pinned Down at his new place. I don't think I make a very convincing heel but it was interesting to try and Pinned Down is a cooperative, safe and sane partner who's in great shape and was very forgiving of my extra bulk on top of him. As pleasant and sociable a guy when he's not being pinned as when he is, Pinned Down is a welcoming and gracious host and is highly recommended.

25/11/14
Had the pleasure of having Squashlad come to mine on Monday evening. He is a very tall and well built guy. His pictures really don't do him justice. Much better in the flesh. Had him in many holds which he took very well especially camel clutch which he lasted in for quite some time before he finally submitted to. He is a very nice guy to chat to, felt like I had known him for ages. Would highly recommend him to all for a meet. Hope to see him again soon for second round.

08/03/15
Had Squashlad round for second meet today. Was well impressed with how much more he could take holds. Tried some new ones on him this time and he took them really well. Probably one of the nicest guys on here you could meet. Easy to arrange meet and always on time. Roll on next time.

25/11/2014: Had a great match with hardboy heeling me in his arsenal of beautifully executed classic pro holds. He loves his camel clutches and spladles and has a really mean Boston crab that had me submitting repeatedly. This is a wrestler who really knows how to punish jobbers! But all safely and sanely done and with my limits respected. Hardboy is a friendly and welcoming host and fun to chat to between the action. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to being disciplined on his mats again soon.
08/03/2015: Back to hardboy's for another lengthy, sweaty session of jobber disciplining with an even wider range of painful holds and even the use of some evil foreign objects! Hardboy is a safe and very hospitable guy and great fun to wrestle. He's also a good cook! Looking forward to more....
22/08/2015: I've been doing this long enough now that I have "regulars"! And hardboy's an A* one of them. Very highly recommended.

Unexpectedly met Squashlad today at Grove Park. I didn't know what to expect from this relatively new wrestler. But l wasn't disappointed. He's strong, keen and can hold his own under pressure. As well as being polite,talkative and a decent chap. I would wrestle him again any day and recommend you do the same. In fact I'm looking forward to round two which is already organized for August..

Meet Megrapple at a small group meet at the Grove Park ring and had a great sweaty submission grapple with him. He's far too strong and experienced for me and all the subs went his way. I was pleased to take him down and keep him pinned for decent periods but he's knowledgeable enough to bide his time and ride things out and the reversal and then the submission always came. Megrapple's a considerate and safe wrestler and a really pleasant friendly guy to chat to while pausing to towel off, so the rematch at Hackney is already booked in and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Met this very skilful and technical wrestler at one of John's Manchester meets. His relaxed manner helped me feel comfortable as a novice and he gave me the best workout I've yet had since I returned to active wrestling. He is really proficient and knows exactly how to work his opponent to bring him to submission. Really appreciated him spending some mat time with me and I hope I can learn more from Squashlad in future. Highly recommended!

Lucky enough to meet Craig again at Manchester in July and this time he encouraged me into the ring where we had a good sub bout, egged on by some of the Spotland Scappers! He gave me space to try out some moves and holds but also had me on the receiving end of some tough submissions. On top of that he's a friendly, considerate guy who's great to spend time with...and most importantly knows his beer!

14/03/2015: Had a fun subs match with Biff at John's meet and hope to meet him again. He's an in-shape bloke who knows his holds and who had me in trouble on several occasions, that only my extra bulk got me out of. Once he's recovered his killer instinct and the aggression to push hard for the submission he'll be a real handful. Safe and sane and a very pleasant guy to chat to between lock ups. Highly recommended.
04/07/2015: Rematch with Biff in the ring at Pippa's as part of the Grapevine meet and it was great to see that, after his recent nasty illness, he's not only back but turning nicely into a pretty tough wrestler. In fact (with a spot of coaching from the Spotland Scrappers lads) he took three subs off me; so round three's going to be fun! Nice to have you back Biff.

Craig gave me a tough, enjoyable wrestle on the mats at Pippas this afternoon. It was a hot day and we both worked up quite a sweat. There was no way I could 'squash' this strong guy, but I enjoyed trying! He's nice guy off the mats too and I'd recommend him to anyone.

Had a great submission grapple with Torrnado on the mats at Pippa's as part of the Grapevine meet. He's a strong, fast and feisty guy in great shape and it was only my extra bulk that kept me out of trouble against him. If we were closer in size I'd have been toast! He wrestles safely and sanely and is highly recommended. Looking forward to a rematch against him in London!

At the International Wrestler's Camp in Lindow, Squashlad became my training partner for most of the coaching sessions, and it was really great to wrestle him every day. Although he said that he was a beginner just like me, he appeared to be very serious on the mat, and he used each and every opportunity to improve his skills, especially during the open mat sessions. When we wrestled he invited me to be more brutal in my wrestle, which I apparently have some lack in, and he welcomed me to practise the moves on him. Off the mat he is also a very friendly lad, and I indeed hope that I can wrestle him again, if not at next year's wrestling camp then maybe in London!

Had some good grapples with alpinisto during the open mat sessions over the four days of the International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). He was also my training partner for many of the beginners' coaching sessions so we got to grips with each other a decent amount. He's a very gentlemanly wrestler and didn't take advantage of his size to dominate me, but instead allowed us both to work on improving our technique. A really nice, friendly and sociable guy to share a beer with afterwards too, so he is highly recommended and I'm looking forward to another wrestle with him.

Met Craig today at the group meet we had a great match aswell,hope to have another match again soon,looking forward to round 2.

13/12/2014: Had a good, fun, sweaty wrestle with andy at the OWG meet. Andy's a solid, up-for-it guy who plays safe and respects others. Really enjoyable to wrestle and to chat to off the mats and there will be a repeat!
13/06/2015: Rematch with andy at John's meet at Pippa's. Plenty of give and take and as enjoyable as before; hopefully only the second of many.

Finally got to wrestle Squashlad at John's meet at Pippa's. He is very strong and competent, but safe and sane, always willing to match his strength to that of his opponent. I only wish that I had been able to give as good as I got! That will have to wait until the next time. Well worth the wrestle!

09/05/2015: Had a great subs grapple with resurgam at John's meet at Pippa's. He's an experienced wrestler in great shape and he made me work hard to take a couple of submissions off him. He wrestles safely and sanely and is a lovely guy to chat to off the mats as well. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to another bout with him.
13/06/2015: Had a great rematch with resurgam at John's meet and had to work harder for the submissions as he'd had some quality coaching in the meantime! Hopefully only the second of many grapples with him.

Es hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht mit Craig beim Ringercamp in Lindow (Mark) zu trainieren. Er lernt sehr schnell und kam auch mit meinem schlechten Englisch sehr gut zurecht. Ich freue mich schon darauf ihn beim nächsten Ringercamp in Llindow wiederzusehen.

Had a very useful holds trading session and tutorial with Karl1955 when he kindly joined the beginners' class at the International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark) to help out with the coaching. He eventually got it through my tiny brain that if he didn't rely on his 105 kg to get a takedown and a pin, it would be sensible for little me to also try good technique rather than brute force to achieve my bout objectives. And all explained clearly in excellent English, with never a murmur about my laziness in having learnt no German. A calm, patient and skilled man, a delight to wrestle, he is very highly recommended and I hope to meet him on the mats again soon.

Had the privilege of getting to grips with GrapplingHB when he coached the submission grappling classes at the excellent International Wrestlers' Camp in Lindow (Mark). I was hardly his most able or quick student but he was super patient and clear in demonstrating and explaining a decent selection of control positions, submissions and counters (the verbal explanations being all the more impressive given that he was giving them in his third language). In short a very skilled coach as well as a very skilled grappler and it was an education just to watch him in action against guys more at his level. On top of that, a lovely, friendly guy off the mats too; and therefore very highly recommended for anyone at any level.

I met Squashlad for a submission bout on 20 May at Hackney mat rooms. We wrestled almost non stop for 2 hours and 15 minutes and were both drenched in sweat throughout the match. Before the match I thought - 'he is a newbie and a jobber - this will be a stroll in the park' but hey, was I in for a surprise. This guy never gives up, he occasionally gives in by tapping but he then comes back for more. We had a competitive bout and I had to work for each of my submissions - it was a great bout, at times very tough - I came out of this match with a couple of scratches (accidental) and some bruising. Squashlad is a great opponent, he is safe, sane and fun - check him out and take him on - I look forward to the second of many bouts with this fella :-)

Had a great, stupidly sweaty wrestle with Scrapmerchant 1 at Hackney (wrestling really is getting tricky now summer's here!). He's a well-named bloke and loves a brawl, but he's completely safe and sane and absolutely respected my requirement for no punching (and kindly did the majority of the bleeding). Not that that did me any good though, because he might claim to be a fighter who only knows a few wrestling submissions, but that was plenty for Scrapmerchant 1 to wipe the floor with me! I did spend some time on top of him (I am a fair bit taller and heavier) but his defence and strength were way too good for my one-dimensional attack, and the skilled reversal therefore always came, and usually resulted in a submission. Ah well. Definitely a wrestler to benchmark progress against (assuming I ever make any!) as he was kind enough to offer a rematch, and who wouldn't want another match with a gentlemanly guy this strong, skilled, in-shape and fun? (And, erm, sweaty?)

18/05/15 A sweaty rematch. He's as tough as ever, with a free-style wrestler's like of standing manoeuvre and attempts to throw. I know for sure he is going to become hard to beat as he is gaining technique in the only possible way - fighting loads of opponents in a short space of time. The sweat won't save me next time.

09/04/15 A very affable guy. We had a prolonged and intense sweaty wrestle at Hackney. I certainly couldn't squash this hunky lad and found myself defending most of the time. I want a rematch soon to see if I can do better and do some of that heeling he is supposed to like.

09/04/2015: Had a sweaty subs match with duncanuk at the Hackney matroom. His experience was enough for him to have me tapping repeatedly, but my extra bulk was enough to keep me on top for periods and I was very chuffed to get a couple of subs off him in return. Mainly though that was because he coached me how! A little bit of heeling from this in-shape guy too to add some variety to our grapple and keep me in my place. Safe, sane, reliable and fun, he is very highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.
18/05/2015: Rematch with duncanuk at Hackney and I was keen to see if I'd improved any. Apparently I haven't because despite being on top of him most of the time, his experience and strength meant that the subs went mostly his way and I was only rarely able to get through his excellent defence. A real education to wrestle; and a lot of fun too.

Had a great wrestle with Squashlad each getting a few subs. We both had lots of fun and made sure we grappled to each others skill level and he gave me a real good sweaty workout as well.
Off the mats he is great company, easy to talk to and genuine all round nice guy.
Definitely recommended.

Had a great give and take wrestle with Playwrestling at High Barnet. He's a sporty, in-shape guy who knows some good submission holds and pro-style moves so we had a good grapple and I'm looking forward to some more mat time with him. Safe, sane and friendly, Playwrestling is well named but nevertheless knows how to get a submission and he comes highly recommended.

Don't let the name fool you in anyway, this guy might like to be a jobber and get squashed but you have to work for it.. Very nice guy to meet and wrestle. With some more coaching he will give a lot of heels a hard but satisfying bout. Would definitely meet and work him over again...

Had a fantastic wrestle with this very strong and very experienced guy at his great home mat set up. Completely out of my depth here but it was no problem as jamstu's seemingly very happy to wrestle down to others' level, wrestles safely and sanely and only very occasionally uses his size to his advantage (just to remind you what you've taken on!), mostly preferring to get his (many) submissions through well executed holds. For such a big guy he's a very technical and thoughtful wrestler. He's also a generous and skilled coach, patiently showing me a number of holds and moves and explaining them in a clear way that'll hopefully sink in. A lovely, friendly, funny guy off the mats too, he is very highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.

Strong, Strong, Strong.

Fought for a good while we only managed 1 sub between us.

His defence is excellent in a way that confuses because he held out against me for much longer than I want him too.

Roll,on the next tokl

14/03/2015: Was pleased to arrange a subs match with Vanman81 on the mats at John's meet as he's the biggest guy whom I've wrestled and he was every bit the powerhouse that I'd expected, with a lot of muscle, strength and stamina. And our match was therefore pretty predictable, with me on the defensive the whole time. But I was very happy at defending sufficiently well that we had to drop the planned three subs for the win down to the single sub that he eventually took off me in order to get a result. Vanman81's out to win, is aggressive in the right way, but wrestles safely and sanely and is a decent, pleasant bloke who I'm very keen for a rematch with. Very highly recommended.
09/05/2015: Well, I got my rematch with Vanman81 and it was as enjoyable a grapple as the first. I risked a bit more this time and was less defensive, and as a result he took a fair few subs off me and was a clear (but gracious) winner; but it did also mean I got a couple off him too, which was hugely satisfying! Ace bloke, both on and off the mats, and I'm hoping for lots more mat time with him.

I had the pleasure of meeting Craig, At my new matted room in the midlands.
He is more than a beginner, He's strong, tough and very stubborn.
He's into the Olympic style wrestling aswell. He has a very good defense also very good fun to be with. And very safe and sane.
I don't have a problem in recommending Craig to anyone on this site. I look forward to grappling with Craig again. Bill

Had a good, varied but all-too-brief match with small power house at his excellent dedicated mat set up. Awesome to get to do some Olympic freestyle wrestling with another guy into this neglected version of our great sport; and not just an enthusiast, but a qualified coach! He was kind enough to give me some instruction; but not so kind that he didn't chuck in taking a few off-programme submissions off me when the mood took him! Great fun to wrestle, very hospitable, safe and sane, he comes very highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.

I met Craig today he says he is a jobber and a novice.
He is neither he is a strong fit submission wrestler. We had a good match and will both feel it tomorrow. Great company on and off the mats
If you get the chance get this man on the mats
Strongly recommended

Had a great sweaty subs match with Peteuk at his excellent home set up. A strong and in-shape gym-going guy, he's got a mighty fine defence and really makes you work for anything you get off him. He was kind enough to give me some pointers to help me try to improve my attack and is a very generous, welcoming and gregarious host and fun both on and off the mats. He comes very highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.

It was a great pleasure to meet Craig on the mats today. There's a touch of freestyle in Craig's approach and, as a fit and strong bloke, a lot more to come. Very civilised (even when called an Aussie) and good company off the mats. Highly recommended and I look forward to round 2.

18.4.15. Craig is being very kind. After 3 months off the mats I was in poor shape. In the meantime Craig has improved significantly. He's made of bendy steel and very tricky to work on. None the less it was a pleasure and a memorable session even if it pushed me to my limits.

17/01/2015: Wrestled Ironbull at a small group meet and was comprehensively outclassed. A very strong, experienced guy who knows his stuff and who easily took multiple submissions off me. Very educational watching him wrestle the others at the meet too. He wrestles safely and with consideration for others and was pleasant to chat to between bouts. Very highly recommended and I'm looking forward to a repeat.
18/04/2015: Rematch with Ironbull at a small group meet at Hackney and was really pleased to have improved sufficiently that he had to work for the submissions this time and was kind enough to compliment me on my progress. He's still the master though!

Whay a properly good guy! Just heading back on the train from a top day with craig as i am typing this.

On the mats he claims to be a jobber - i sure did not get this side of him, he threw himself into the bout vs me and had a good idea of how to be offensive on the mats. When he has to defend he makea it truly hard work getting ANYTHING on him, and when i was lucky to open his defence he shows great durability and does not tap easy, and this is in a condition i would struggle to wrestle in.

After the session we made brilliant use of the weather and had a couple at a pub for a good couple of hours, we had a fair few things in common and he made great company.

Another day like today is required i think, top stuff and i can not recommend him enough!

Wrestling The Kestrel could be a bit of a depressing experience. You know, having your arse comprehensively kicked and having the resulting lengthy amount of time with your head buried in the mats to reflect that he's 11 years younger than you are and that you'll never be as good a wrestler as he is.... Kes is to wrestling as ducks are to water. But actually he's such an awesome bloke and his love for wrestling is so infectious that wrestling him's just a complete joy. Strong, skilled and talented, he's controlled aggression itself, but is nevertheless a smart tactician, happy to bide his time and wait for mistakes---which he ruthlessly exploits. He's probably the most complete wrestler that I've come across. I'm just going to count myself lucky that I've wrestled him now, when it was just a very clear result, as opposed to six months from now, when he's going to be a freaking monster! Safe, sane, reliable, a top lad with superb footballing taste and good fun to hang around with off the mats, he comes very highly recommended. Wrestle him now while it's still possible!

We met at Hackney. Squashlad was prompt and kept in good touch in planning the match. He is an affable and cheerful straight-forward guy, very fair and honourable on the mats. He is extremely resistant to holds and masks his reactions well so he can be near submission without his partner realising it. My usually devastating grapevines had no effect on his rugby legs and his thick neck made nelsons useless; he is very hard to submit. I did get two submissions, with a front headlock and a hammerlock, but he was the clear winner with four, various arm and wristlocks and a sleeper. Full points to him for a bear hug lift and takedown, and also for his standing side headlock, which though a demonstration was clearly unbreakable owing to his excellent balance on his feet and strong arms. Squashlad hosted me at a real find of a local Italian restaurant, where the chef, realising we knew his beloved hometown brought us an extra dessert. Squashlad has the strength and stamina to last two hours of friendly but competitive struggle. I highly recommend him and look forward to clashing again.

Had a great match with kal at Hackney while he was visiting London, some competitive and some give and take, with subs going both ways. He's in great shape, is deceptively strong and has a mean headlock and is out to win without being overly competitive about things. Like most of our North American cousins he's got wrestling ingrained in him from childhood, has beautiful manners and is a pleasure to chat to when taking a breather between subs and off the mats; but doesn't let the nice manners off the mats get in the way of the odd bit of mean on them! Safe, sane and reliable, he is highly recommended and I look forward to another grapple when he's back in London-town.

Had great wrestle with Craig today. Puts up a good fight for a jobber - wasn't all one sided. Has a good headlock and great potential. Really looked the part in his boots and trunks. And real nice guy off the mats too. You need to wrestle this wrestler. I am so looking forward to round 2.
14/04/15 Round 2
Another good long wrestle - the jobber boy got an a submission so had to show him who was boss. The boy wrestles and suffers well. Love wrestling him and can't wait to hit the mats again.

22/02/2015: Had a good, long, sweaty and varied match up with this big, beefy bloke who looks and wrestles the part for World of Sport-style Britpro matches. Was very pleased to take a couple of subs off him in a competitive bout, although he took some off me too, then plenty of enjoyable give and take and finally the big guy used all his 230 lbs of beef to squash me properly. A safe and sane wrestler, a welcoming and hospitable host and a charming guy to chat to off the mats. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the rematch.
14/04/2015: Well, I got my rematch and it was as enjoyable as the first, with plenty of Britpro and give and take on the subs and a bit of practising holds. Beefyprowrestler was as safe and hospitable as ever and I'm sure there'll be more.

Had a fantastic meet with Squashlad today.
Says he likes to job and to be put in holds, but don't let that fool you...he certainly makes you work for the subs.
He's a tough cookie and enjoyed a great give n take match which we both enjoyed.
He applied some moves of his own and was effective in getting a few subs, but didn't let him have it all his own way.
Plenty of banter and verbal chucked in for good measure.
Was great to meet this guy for a few hours of grapping and put him in some holds which he thoroughly enjoyed.
This guy is so much fun to wrestle and I will definitely be meeting him again for round 2.
Off the mats, an absolute pleasure to be with, great conversation and share a few beers with afterwards in the pub.
If your after a great grapple, challenge him....you will not be disappointed!
Don't forget that award winning "cabin crew smile" Mr NZ.
Highly recommended.....diamond geeza...bring on round 2.

It's always a bit sad to meet a lad who struggles even to tell the difference between a person, a unit of currency, a fruit and a fat flightless bird; but I did my bit for care in the community and let him take a few subs off me. Well, quite a few subs to be honest. Actually I lost count how many.... But, you know, I got some off him too! Eventually. When he got a bit bored and wanted to go home to feed his dogs....
Essexwrestler's a ridiculously lovely guy whose only interest seems to be whether you're having as good a time as he is. A strong, quick, skilled and experienced wrestler, he's in fantastic shape, is adaptable to your level and is happy to heel, job and coach to ensure a great match. He was even cool with me sweating all over him while I tried to sort my clumsy submission attempts out and the hours passed! Just a pity about the Essexboy gob, but no one's perfect and if it gets too much you can always shove something "innit".... Safe, sane, reliable, fun, a fabulous host and great to chat to off the mats, he comes very highly recommended and I can't wait for round two!

He's a really nice guy who will make a formidable opponent once he's got more experience and learnt more moves. He likes to be worked over as a jobber but can wrestle competitively if he wants to. I had to do some work to resist having to submit to him. I wasn't nasty enough as a heel for him. He's an interesting guy to talk to off the mats as well as reliable and I would highly recommend him.

Had a combination match with Londonlatino at High Barnet, with some submission and some jobber-heel. He's a very experienced and strong guy and effortlessly resisted all my attempts to take a submission off him, and my extra bulk was just enough to stop him getting on top of me too much, but I learnt a lot from (having no choice but to!) observe his defensive techniques. He also played the heel for me and had some nice punishing holds that had me tapping easily but he's really too nice a guy to make for a natural heel! Very interesting to talk to off the mats, safe and sane, reliable and highly recommended.

Had a combination give-and-take match and tutorial with LdnGrapple at John's meet. A very experienced but humble guy who is willing to give you the benefit of that experience if only you ask for it. Shrewd and strong, he nevertheless instructed me in the virtues of using technique rather than brute force but clearly I didn't listen well enough as even when he was restricting himself to defence rather than counter-attack I wasn't able to break him down well enough to obtain a submission and eventually had to admit defeat having, as rightly pointed out, tired myself out (rather than being worn out by my opponent). A safe and sane guy who's a pleasure to wrestle, I'm looking forward to more coaching and matches with him.

A nice friendly bloke who is a lot better than he thinks! We had a great roll around at Pippas. He hasn't been doing it long but he's got great aggression and really given time I think he will become very good. Hope to meet him again soon

09/11/2014: Had a great, if one-sided, subs match against chesterbloke at Pippa's. A friendly, hospitable, laid-back bloke off the mats, he's a bit more intense on them, but that makes for some good fun grappling. Strong, skilled, knowledgeable and shrewd, he's a real pleasure to wrestle and I'd love to have a repeat. Highly recommended.
14/03/2015: Well, I got my rematch with chesterbloke and his guns and I've improved a little in the four months since, but not enough to make much of a difference as all the subs in our rematch at John's meet went one way! But he's a great pleasure to wrestle so I'll keep trying.... A strong, safe and sane wrestler that you want to test yourself against.

Squashlad and I managed to get a few minutes wrestling each other during a tag match at Pippa’s. He’s a fit and strong guy, so I reckon there must have been some dodgy betting scam going to allow me to get a submission from him :-) Maybe next time he won’t go so easy on me! I hope we meet again soon.

Got to wrestle ukrassler as part of a tag team match and went down to one of his punishing leg locks. A strong, skilled guy who really enjoys his wrestling, knows his stuff and respects his opponents' safety (although not necessarily their dignity!). Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to a repeat in a singles match.

Great guy and makes you work at it. Really look forward to meeting again. Just shame we didn't have longer.

This strong, feisty, enthusiastic guy has got some tasty, well-executed wrestling holds for someone who claims to be just a scrapper. He did make me bleed like a brawler though! Safe and sane, friendly and hospitable and pleasant to chat to. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to round two.

Loves to lose but has a lot more fight in him than his name suggests and can dish it out too.. He got subs himself and was a challenge to get a submission from. Easy going lad who was good to talk to as well and definitely hope to meet again. good lad on and off the mats. tagged with me and we got beaten easy but he didnt sub easily against a good tag team!

Took on this strong experienced guy in a great competitive subs match. Safe and sane, knows his stuff, feisty and aggressive in a good way, he was a treat to wrestle even when he was crushing my head to a pulp! Highly recommended and I look forward to wrestling him again.
Update: Also a great guy to have as a tag team partner to save your bacon!

meeet craig the otherday at one of the wrestling meet in manchester he very good wrester to wrestle and a great guy to meet i would recommend him to anyone

Had a singles and a tag team match against ianparker09 and was comprehensively and very enjoyably taken apart! A strong, skilled, experienced guy who knows his stuff and loves his wrestling. Very safe though, and good to chat to off the mats. Highly recommended.

Met squashlad in Manchester for a Pro style match in the ring at Pippa's
bigger wrestler who loves to job
this jobber can take punishment and is great to wrestle lots of sweat and long holds was so hard to make this jobber submit
A great guy to talk to after and have couple beers with
great company can't wait for the rematch
If you like a jobber who makes you work in a match this is one jobber you've got to meet !!

Always a big ask to take on a super-experienced guy with 134 past opponents and this was as one-sided as was expected. (But then that's what us jobbers like.) Don't let his diminutive size fool you, this is a strong bloke who knows his stuff and is able to change tempo effortlessly and take complete control of a match. He was willing to work with my lack of knowledge of pro and switched instinctively to promission, but it was no less punishing for being largely on the mats. Always safe though, he was clearly looking out for my welfare while he was working me over. Altogether a fantastic experience that I'm very keen to repeat.