Sand Pit Wrestling

Bobby Bigelow vs Justin Roberts, Rec Room Battles 17 (NHB-Battle)

I had forgot or never knew that NHB-Battle staged wrestling matches in the Great Outdoors. Here Bigelow (in white trunks) takes Roberts (in dark-colored trunks) to the backyard sand pit and musses him up. Both are nineteen, tall (6' and 6'1", respectively), and weigh in in the 170s. The match mixes submission wrestling and Persian pehlwani, and I suspect that the "sand pit" is, as is the case in pehlwani, mixed with clay or another softer, less abrasive earth. The naturalness of the setting reinforces the naturalness of the sport, which requires no special gear or playing field. In fact, wrestling may be the world's first sport, it's definitely one of the most spontaneous, and even animals engage in it.

With exceptional boldness, Bobby dominates his opponent, which only raises Justin's ire and the contest's energy level. The action gets rougher as patience wears thin and the grapplers gain the confidence to attempt more daring tactics. I can't speak for the contestants' actual state of mind, but the good-natured smiles fade over time, and the action gets pretty hairy in the final stretch. The sand slows the action down, a point in its favor, in my opinion, because it prolongs the exhausting struggle.

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