Egan, Exeter wrestling: Webber the young champion (1828)

In Devonshire, early in June, 1828, the Wrestling Match in St. Thomas’s, adjoining Exeter, commenced; at which, Woolaway, Wreford, Simon Webber, Huxtable, Jackman, and Flower, from the North; the Underdowns, Freys, &c. from the east, were particularly noticed. The champion, attended by his brother James, Roach, &c., was on the ground, but not playable—he was hobbling under all the acute sensations of gout. Abraham, with great naivete, produced his swollen and burning foot, convincing the most sceptical of the painful reality.

John Webber, of Exeter, and Holmes, literally a couple of chickens, presented themselves. The former, an apprentice to a baker, and scarcely eighteen years of age, has acquired such celebrity as to be dubbed “The Champion.” He is of short stature, but strongly limbed, and came every thing so completely a la Cann, that a delightful ring testified their approbation by loud and continued plaudits. At the end of four minutes, Webber gathered his man up in Abraham’s best style, and laid him flat as a pancake on mother earth.

The final round brought Woolaway and Wreford together; this was a treat worth riding 100 miles to witness. The odds were in favor of Woolaway at setting to; the foils, however, changed the aspect of affairs; and in eighteen minutes Wreford laid his powerful opponent on his back in the very first style.

The prizes were awarded as follows: Wreford first prize, £12; Woolaway second, £8; Robert Underdown third, £5; Archer fourth, £3; Bradford fifth, £2; and Westlake sixth, £1 10s.