Curran “The Giant Slayer” Jacobs

Friday, August 17th, 2018 | Columns, Wrestling

They are now calling him “the Giant Slayer”.

It is the result of a stunning performance on July 14, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. The event was the Snake Pit USA World Catch Wrestling Championship and it featured a packed 8-man bracket, with some of the toughest combat-style wrestlers in America, all with long resumes.

Catch derives from the old catch-as-catch-can style that was popular in Europe and America in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

And the winner was a former Michigan State Spartan named Curran Jacobs, who earned the world championship belt by overcoming three very tough, much larger wrestlers who came with the expressed intent of defeating Jacobs.

What this young warrior accomplished was amazing. He entered weighing 193 pounds; by far the lightest wrestler in the competition.  Matches consisted of five minute rounds, with a one minute break in between. Chokes and submission holds are permissible in the Snake Pit version of catch wrestling. Curran is part of an organization called the Catch Wrestling Alliance, and the CWA does not allow chokes.

That conflict led to considerable tension between the two groups leading up to the event, with social media going wild. Supporters on each side wanted desperately to see their champion triumph.

Curran’s first match was against Johnny Buck, a seasoned veteran and former MMA fighter who weighed around 225 pounds. It was a grueling contest, with neither man giving an inch. Despite the large weight disadvantage, Curran was the clear aggressor and he won after nearly 30 minutes, with a rear-naked choke.

Curran’s second match was against Erik Hammer, who has a long background in all forms of wrestling and weighed close to 240 pounds of chiseled muscle. He was being called the top student for Josh Barnett, one of the nation’s best-known catch clinicians and a man with an extensive background in MMA, and all forms of wrestling.

After refusing to shake hands prior to the start, Hammer took control of the match early with some power takedowns, working to slip in a choke and make Jacobs tap out. But the former Spartan showed his tremendous conditioning and defensive skills, and in the fourth round gained control of the match. He took Hammer down with a lightning quick go-behind and slipped in another rear-naked choke, winning by tap out.

After some 60 minutes of exhausting competition, and with only 10 minutes rest between his bouts, Curran was back in the ring for his championship match against another formidable foe. Brandon Ruiz is a 255-pounder and a former world champion in submission grappling. He has placed in many top freestyle and Greco-Roman national tournaments and was the odds-on-favorite to win the belt.

It was another tough and bruising battle, and Curran won after 31 minutes with his third choke maneuver.

I watched the matches on a live stream, coming back from Dodge, NE., where I had been the guest speaker at Joe Stecher Days. Stecher was world heavyweight champion in the 1915-1926 era, one of the truly great catch wrestlers. On the trip with me was Dr. Raul Ramirez, founder of the CWA. He wanted to take video of my speech on Joe Stecher.

The stunning victory by Jacobs exploded on Facebook and YouTube. Within a short time, his three matches had over 15,000 views on various sites!

Jacobs has now won four major tournaments, including two called the Frank Gotch World Championships, held in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary Gotch. He is currently 9-0 in catch matches and is 3-0 in MMA bouts, and is the No. 1 ranked amateur middleweight in Michigan.

But with a master’s degree in acting from MSU, Curran is facing a huge decision now – whether to pursue an acting career (he has appeared in several minor films and on the popular TV sitcom, Modern Family) or go 100 percent into catch wrestling and try to help it grow into something special.

“I love catch wrestling,” he said. “It is the perfect way for wrestlers to stay involved with the sport if they don’t have aspirations for the Olympics or going into MMA. I feel it must be passed on to ALL wrestlers who were just as heartbroken as I was after losing a state title and/or just missing out on All-American status.
“I want to see more ex-college wrestlers get into catch. If that doesn’t happen, I feel that the one hour and 30 minutes when I was winning the world catch title on July 14 will be wasted.”

To prepare for this contest, Curran did most of his training in the Michigan State wrestling room, and made many fans among the coaching staff and current athletes.

“We loved having him in the Spartan room,” said Roger Chandler, head coach at MSU. “He is very charismatic, and he brings an energy and enthusiasm that is contagious.

“He came here as a walk-on and earned a scholarship through incredible drive. He was team captain as a senior and made it to the round of 12 at the 2012 NCAA tournament, losing in overtime to Nick Heflin (of Ohio State).

“One thing about Curran – he has the heart of a lion. And he’ll go forever …. he never stops and never slows down. His strategy was to keep moving forward and tire out the bigger guys.”

That mindset was evident in the catch tournament. His hand fighting techniques were superb and he kept the pressure on the much bigger wrestlers all the time.

It was a test of commitment, desire and, most of all, endurance.

He also spent considerable time training with Andrew Peterson, a submission expert out of Lansing, MI.

Dan Severn and Randy Couture are two former college wrestlers and legendary MMA stars among those who were excited to hear of Curran’s triumph on July14.
Severn is the man who opened the door for wrestlers to move into the world of MMA back in the 1990s with his tremendous performances. He had been a sensational high school wrestler in Michigan and was Junior World champion in 1977 before embarking on a long and highly-successful career in college at Arizona State.

“What Curran did in New Jersey was very impressive,” said Severn a week later. “I know why they are calling him the giant slayer. What I like most is that Curran is a real wrestler, and continues to prove that wrestling is a great base to apply to any and all martial arts.”

Couture has served as a mentor to Jacobs, both in his post-college wrestling and his acting aspirations. Couture has appeared in over a dozen films, including all three of the popular “The Expendables” series with Sylvester Stallone.

“I was very happy to hear of the crowning of a new catch wrestling world champion in Curran Jacobs,” said Randy. “Curran is an outstanding athlete and is an amazing ambassador for one of the oldest forms of submission grappling — catch-as-catch-can wrestling! I can’t wait to see him defend his title and propel this style back to popularity.”

So now, Curran Jacobs faces his future and is anxious to see if he can make catch wrestling relevant once again, a century after its hay day. He has been on several radio talk shows since his July 14 triumph and has been offered a title defense in England.

To help promote the sport, he is also making himself available for seminars, clinics and speaking engagements.

“I want to spread the word about this true wresting art and how it can become much more popular,” he said a week after his victory. “It’s a great sport with a wonderful tradition. I want to see it flourish in America once again – and around the world, for that matter.”

So now “The Giant Slayer” has his eyes set on even bigger challenges.

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