Armed — and ready to wrestle

Strong men and women from across the region and beyond congregated in Bunbury on Saturday for the inaugural South West Amateur Arm Wrestling Competition.

Hosted at the Waters Edge Cafe and Restaurant, the event was refereed by reigning Australian heavyweight champion, Ryan ‘The Milkman’ Scott, and organised by local man Hamish Boyss.

“I’ve been arm wrestling for about a year and my parents own Waters Edge so I thought it would be good for the sport,” Mr Boyss said.

“It’s just an amateur competition so new people can have a go.”

Competitors were well catered for with broad weight divisions, comprised of men’s under and over 80kg, left arm and right arm as well as open weight left and right arm women’s divisions.

The evening boasted free entry for spectators, something which the community was more than happy to oblige, with the main hall of Waters Edge eventually filled to absolute capacity.

Mr Boyss may have only been competing for the past 12 months, but he has already claimed the 70kg left arm State title and said he only expected about 20 people to show up.

“People don’t realise it’s a sport until they give it a couple of goes and start getting into it,” he said.