Meet Ray Darling
Ray Darling enjoying himself at the
World's Wristwrestling Championship
in Petaluma, CA 1999
Q. How long have you been armwrestling Ray?
A. 40 years if you count my armwrestling in the high school cafeteria.
Q. How did you get started in organized competitions?
A. In the late 70's I entered my first wristwrestling tournament.
Q. How did you finish?
A. I finished almost dead last. What a surprise for someone who could beat
almost all competition in the bar rooms.
Q. When did you start winning?
A. From 1980 to 1983 I won several local tournaments but couldn't win any state
or national titles. Something was keeping me from winning the bigger competitions,
and that was training. So at the age of 39 I picked up the weights and
started kicking butt.
Q. What was your toughest match?
A. Gene Tatti from Canada at WPAA World Championships in 1985. (6-minute
match)
Q. How did the Yukon Jack tournaments get started?
A. In the summer of 1988 Yukon Jack representatives contacted me to put on a
couple of tournaments as a marketing tool for their products. The first two contests
were held in December 1988 in Albany, NY. They were a great success In 1989
I hosted a 9 city tour across the country, and the rest is history.
Q. Was Yukon Jack your greatest contribution to
armwrestling?
A. It was one of them but I think taking the first armwrestling team to Russia
in 1989 ranks right up there.
