Son of a gun, he can wrestle, too (human cannonball)

mpls Star & Sickle ^ | 2-25-05 | Pat Reusse

[Rakkasan1]

The Smiths of Halfway, Mo., are currently the world's most famous collection of human cannonballers. Those openings are only so wide, which gives the Smiths a business reason for remaining trim.

The family's dedication to physical conditioning, as with cannonballing, starts with David Smith Sr. That meant the patriarch had some training ideas when his son Russell, seventh of nine children, decided he wanted to become a seriously competitive wrestler.

Russell succeeded to the point that his record stands at 45-0 after three victories in Thursday's opening competition in the Minnesota high school wrestling tournament, although first there was this:

"We would tie five tires to Russell and then ride alongside as he jogged down the road," his father said. "I attached a huge, heavy-equipment tire to a post in the yard, then Russell would get inside and push it away, over and over. We would put a pallet of bricks on the ground, Russell would bend, reach and then swing his arm to put them in a truck."

[Rakkasan1]

Hunter S Thompson would be jealous.

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