BOLTON once again led the way in the medal tables at the English Senior Wrestling Championships, with members from the town's two clubs winning two gold, three silver and one bronze.

Sharples Wrestling Club had a fantastic tournament, with five of their six wrestlers that competed at the national wrestling academy in Salford earning a medal.

George Ramm, aged 20, of Harwood, beat promising young Maltese wrestler Gary Giordimaina to claim his second English senior title, following up on the gold he won at the British Championships in Bolton last November.

The was also a gold for Sharples' Georgina Nelthorpe in the 73k women's division, while Rocky Valantinas (86k), Abdullah Tatarashvili (74k) and Lewis McGrath (70k) all won silver.

Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club's Craig Pilling earned bronze in the 61k category.

Sharples coach Eddy Kavanagh said: "It was a very good return for our wrestlers to finish with five medals.

"We took more medals than any other club at the tournament, so I was very happy with the performance of our wrestlers.

"George added the English senior title to the British title he won at Smithills Leisure Centre last year, while 17-year-old Lewis McGrath, who is still a junior wrestler, impressed again after winning a silver in the Welsh Open at the end of January and a gold in the senior category in the Derbyshire Open last October.

"Rocky took silver after winning gold in the Welsh Open, while Abdullah Tatarashvili finished up with a silver to match the one he won in the British Championships last year."

The English Championships were the second of four qualifying events for the national team ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.

A panel will sit down in November to make their final selections, but Ramm already looks odds on to make the team for what would be his second Commonwealth Games.

Since making his international debut in Glasgow 2014, the young Boltonian has moved to Europe, where he now trains and competes for Dutch side KSV Simpson in the third tier of the German Bundesliga.

After impressing in his first season as a pro wrestler on the Continent, Ramm is looking forward to another busy year of international competition.

"At the moment I'm in talks about a possible move to a German team, RC Merken, who are in a higher league, so it is going really well," he said.

"Nothing is definite yet, I have until May to sign the contract, but it is great to have options.

"As well as the Bundesliga, I also have the European Under-23s Championships to look forward to at the end of this month and the World U23s in November, as well as the Tallin International in April and Poland Grand Prix in June.

"I could also wrestle in the World Senior Championships in Paris in August, depending on my results this year."

Ramm's busy schedule has coincided with a change in fighting weight, stepping down from 61k to 57k.

"I'm still getting used to my new weight, but I feel good and healthy and I'm improving all the time," he added.

"I made a few mistakes in the final at the English Seniors, but still ended up taking a fairly comfortable win.

"My main focus is working hard to turn those mistakes into strengths, and while I am happy with the gold, my main focus now shifts to the big international tournaments coming up this year."