Frank Gotch
Encyclopedia
Frank Alvin Gotch was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional wrestler of German ancestry, the first American to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States. He competed back when the contests were largely legitimate (see catch wrestling
Catch wrestling
Catch wrestling is a style of folk wrestling that was developed and popularised in the late 19th century by the wrestlers of traveling carnivals who incorporated submission holds, or "hooks", into their wrestling to increase their effectiveness against their opponents...

), and his reign as World Heavyweight Champion (from 1908 to 1913) is one of the ten longest in the history of wrestling. He became one of the most popular athletes in America from the 1900s to the 1910s.

Early life

The son of Frederick Rudolph and Amelia Gotch, Gotch was born and raised on a small farm three miles south of Humboldt, Iowa
Humboldt, Iowa
Humboldt is a city in Humboldt County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,690 at the 2010 census, gaining 238 people since the 2000 census.- History :...

. He took up wrestling in his teens, earning a reputation by beating locals. He adopted the toe hold as his signature finishing move.

Wrestling career

Gotch wrestled his first match against Marshall Green in Humboldt on April 2, 1899, and won. But his first important match was in Lu Verne, Iowa
Lu Verne, Iowa
Lu Verne is a city in Humboldt and Kossuth Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 299 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lu Verne is located at ....

, on June 16, 1899, against a man claiming to be a furniture dealer from a neighboring town. Gotch held his own for nearly two hours, but lost the hard-fought contest. Only later when he received the impressed man's visiting card
Visiting card
A visiting card, also known as a calling card, is a small paper card with one's name printed on it. They first appeared in China in the 15th century, and in Europe in the 17th century...

 did he learn that his opponent had actually been reigning American Heavyweight Champion Dan McLeod
Dan McLeod (wrestler)
Dan McLeod was the ring name of a Canadian catch wrestler of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, who held the American Heavyweight Championship twice. Born George Little in Hamilton, Ontario, he worked as a miner in Nanaimo, British Columbia and wrestled his first match in 1889,...

. On December 18, 1899, Gotch challenged another former American Champion, "Farmer" Martin Burns
Martin Burns
Martin "Farmer" Burns was a world champion "catch-as-catch-can" wrestler as well as wrestling coach and teacher. Born in Cedar County, Iowa he started wrestling as a teenager and made money traveling around the Midwest wrestling in carnivals and fairs...

, losing in 11 minutes, but impressing Burns as well, who offered to train Gotch. Under the guidance of Burns, Gotch won a series of matches in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 and later Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. While in Alaska, Gotch wrestled under the name Frank Kennedy and won the title of "Champion of the Klondike". During his time in Alaska, Gotch tried his hand at boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, but failed miserably against the heavyweight Frank Slavin.
Gotch returned to Iowa and instantly challenged the reigning American Heavyweight Champion, Tom Jenkins
Tom Jenkins (wrestler)
Tom Jenkins was an American catch wrestler who held the American Heavyweight Championship three times around the turn of the 20th century...

. Gotch lost their first match in 1903, before defeating Jenkins in a rematch on January 27, 1904, to take the championship. After trading the title with Jenkins and Fred Beel, Gotch set his sights on the World Heavyweight Championship, then held by the undefeated Estonian Georg Hackenschmidt
Georg Hackenschmidt
Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman and professional wrestler, and the first free-style heavyweight champion of the world. He launched his professional career in Russia and lived most of his life in London, England, where he gained the nickname of 'The...

. Hackenschmidt, called the Russian Lion, had gained undisputed title recognition by defeating Jenkins in New York in 1905. Upon defeating Jenkins, however, Hackenschmidt ignored Gotch's challenge and sailed home to England.

Gotch and Hackenschmidt finally met on April 3, 1908, at the Dexter Park
Dexter Park
Dexter Park may refer to:* Dexter Park * Dexter Park...

 Pavilion in Chicago. Showing his contempt for Gotch and for American wrestling in general, Hackenschmidt was not in the best condition. Gotch was. He used his speed, defense and rough tactics to wear the champion down and then assume the attack. The wrestlers stood on their feet for two full hours before Gotch was able to get behind Hackenschmidt and take him down. While on their feet, Gotch made sure to lean on Hackenschmidt to wear him down. He bullied him around the ring, and his thumbing and butting left Hackenschmidt covered in blood. Hackenschmidt complained to the referee of Gotch's foul tactics and asked that Gotch be forced to take a hot shower to rid his body of an abundance of oil, but the referee ignored the complaints and told Hackenschmidt he should have noticed the oil before the match began. The match continued. At the two-hour mark, Hackenschmidt was forced against the ropes. Gotch tore him off the ropes, threw Hackenschmidt down and rode him hard for three minutes, working for his dreaded toe hold. Hackenschmidt had trained to avoid this hold, which he did, but the effort took his last remaining strength. Hackenschmidt quit the fall. "I surrender the championship of the world to Mr. Gotch," he said, and stood up and shook Gotch's hand. The wrestlers then retired to their dressing rooms before coming out for the second fall, but Hackenschmidt refused to return to the ring, telling the referee to declare Gotch the winner, thereby relinquishing his title to the American.

"He is the king of the class, the greatest man by far I ever met," Hackenschmidt said. "After going nearly two hours with him, my muscles became stale. My feet also gave out. I had trained constantly against the toe hold and had strained the muscles of my legs. When I found myself weakening, I knew there was no use continuing and that I had no chance to win. That was the reason I conceded the championship to him. I have no desire to wrestle him again. A return match would not win back my title." Hackenschmidt later reversed his opinion of Gotch and Americans in general, claiming to have been fouled by Gotch and victimized in America, and calling for a rematch in Europe.

As undisputed free-style heavyweight champion of the world, Gotch spent the next three years establishing his dominance over the sport, defeating the likes of Jenkins, Dr. Benjamin Roller, and Stanislaus Zbyszko
Stanislaus Zbyszko
Stanislaus Zbyszko was a Polish strongman and professional wrestler popular in the United States during the 1920s. He was one of the most influential European grapplers of all-time, he was also among the sport’s great pioneer champions...

, who was believed to have won over 900 matches before falling to Gotch on June 1, 1910. The victory over Zbyszko was particularly spectacular, Gotch taking both falls in slightly less than half an hour, and thoroughly dominating his European opponent. He took the first fall in just six seconds with a surprise move and quick pin, and won the second fall in only 27 minutes. Gotch outmaneuvered and outclassed Zbyszko every second of the match.

Gotch became a national sensation. He was in demand everywhere for public appearances. He starred in a play called All About A Bout, and whenever he walked on stage he was greeted by a standing ovation. He was invited to the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

, and wrestled a Japanese jiu-jitsu expert in the East Hall, making his opponent submit. The night before his second match with Hackenschmidt, he attended a Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 baseball game at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...

 with his wife and in-laws and took his seat down front. After the game, nearly every member of the Cubs team came to his private box and asked for his autograph. When he traveled overseas with his play, he was a huge hit. It seemed that everywhere he went, fans wanted to see him. Everywhere he went, he made wrestling "big time."

Gotch met Hackenschmidt again on September 4, 1911, at the newly opened Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...

 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, which drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 spectators and a record gate of $87,000. The rematch is one of the most controversial and talked about matches in wrestling history, as Hackenschmidt injured his knee against Roller, his chief training partner. Years later, wrestler Ad Santel
Ad Santel
Ad Santel, , was a practitioner of catch wrestling. Ad Santel fought one of the early clash-of-the-styles matches in modern martial arts history against Tokugoro Ito, a 5th degree black belt in Judo from Japan. Santel defeated Ito when a slamming takedown rendered the Judoka unable to continue the...

 told Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...

 that he was paid $5000 by Gotch's backers to cripple Hackenschmidt in training, and make it look like an accident. However, according to Hackenschmidt himself, the injury was accidentally inflicted by his sparring partner, Dr. Roller, when trying to hold Hackenschmidt down onto his knees and Roller's right foot striking Hackenschmidt's right knee. According to Hackenschmidt, his sparring partners were Jacobus Koch, Wladek Zbyscko and Dr. Roller. Ad Santel is not mentioned in any account of Hackehschmidt's training by either Hackenschmidt or Roller, both of whom offered their insights and accounts.

Whatever the case may be, if the injury was real, Dr. Roller did not consider it serious and referee Ed Smith dismissed it as inconsequential. Hackenschmidt himself ignored it completely in declaring, the day before the match, that he was "fit to wrestle for my life" and was "satisfied with my condition and confident of the outcome." If there was a knee injury, Gotch discovered it quickly and took advantage of it. The Russian Lion was easy prey for Gotch, losing in straight falls in only 30 minutes. Gotch clinched the match with his feared Toe Hold, which forced Hackenschmidt to quit.

Gotch reigned as the World Heavyweight Champion from his first victory over Hackenschmidt in 1908 until he retired in 1913 after defeating Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

n Georg Lurich
Georg Lurich
Georg Lurich was a Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman of the early 20th century. Lurich was also the trainer of fellow countryman wrestler and weightlifter Georg Hackenschmidt and Aleksander Aberg.-Early life:...

 April 1, 1913, in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. Gotch is one of the longer reigning World Champions in the history of professional wrestling, with a reign that spanned nearly 5 years; the only other champions to have longer reigns than Gotch are Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...

, who held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...

 for a record of 7 years and 8 months, Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...

, whose fifth NWA title reign lasted 7 years and 7 months and Verne Gagne
Verne Gagne
Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne , is a retired American professional wrestler, football player, and professional wrestling trainer and promoter. He was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout...

 who held the AWA World Heavyweight Title for 7 years and 3 months.

Wrestler

Gotch did not have a long career in terms of the number of matches wrestled. His mentor, Farmer Burns, and later champions Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...

, each engaged in more than 6,000 matches in their careers. Gotch engaged in only 160, finishing with a record of 154 wins and only 6 losses. Of those six losses, however, two were in the first year of his career – to Dan McLeod
Dan McLeod
For the professional wrestler Dan McLeod, see Dan McLeod .Dan McLeod is one of the founders and the present owner, publisher, and editor of the influential weekly newspaper, the Georgia Straight in Vancouver, Canada....

 and Farmer Burns – and three were to Tom Jenkins
Tom Jenkins
Thomas Wayne Jenkins is an American golfer.Jenkins was born in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Houston, where he was a member of the winning 1970 NCAA Division I golf team. He graduated in 1971 and turned professional. His only PGA Tour victory was the 1975 IVB-Philadelphia Golf...

. His last defeat was to Fred Beell
Fred Beell
Fred Beell was a German-born American professional wrestler and police officer.-Biography:Fred Beell was born in West Prussia, Germany. At the age of three, his family migrated to the United States, settling in Marshfield, Wisconsin...

 on December 1, 1906, when he had crashed head-first into an uncovered turnbuckle and been rendered nearly unconscious. He defeated Beell in seven rematches and never lost again until his retirement in 1913.

Gotch was, by all accounts, a superior wrestler possessing tremendous strength, lightning quickness, genuine agility, cat-like reflexes, impeccable technique, superb ring generalship, a mastery of the use of leverage, and a full knowledge of wrestling holds, counterholds and strategy. He was always in the best of condition and possessed both enormous courage and an indomitable will to win, ever ready to match his heart, his gameness, against any man in the world. He was highly aggressive but always kept his cool. Critics saw in him both the strength of the old school of wrestling and the skill of the new, “as agile as a cat in his manoeuvers” and having “the grappling sport down to such science that he had assumed a rank all by himself.”

Gotch's measurements for his 1911 victory over Hackenschmidt were: Age - 33; Weight - 204 pounds; Height - 5', 11"; Reach - 73"; Biceps - 17.5"; Forearm - 14"; Neck - 18"; Chest - 45"; Waist - 34"; Thigh - 22"; Calf - 18".

Gotch was among the first elected to the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame and was the first inductee to both the Professional Wrestling Writers Hall of Fame in Latham, New York and the Lou Thesz/George Tragos Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa.

There is another side to this story, however. When Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...

 was just starting out in the early 1930s, there were a good many wrestlers still active who had known Gotch and were not reluctant to talk about him. “The picture that emerged of Gotch from those conversations,” Thesz recalled, “was of a man who succeeded at his business primarily because he was, for lack of a kinder description, a dirty wrestler. That’s not to say that he wasn’t competent, because everyone I ever talked with said he was one of the best. But those same people described him as someone who delighted in hurting or torturing lesser opponents, even when they were supposed to be working out, and he was always looking for an illegal edge when he was matched against worthy ones. One of the old-timers I met was a fine man named Charlie Cutler, who knew Gotch very well and succeeded him as world champion…; according to Cutler, Gotch would gouge, pull hair and even break a bone to get an advantage in a contest, and he was unusually careful to have the referee in his pocket, too, in case all else failed.”

Referee Ed Smith, who officiated several of Gotch’s bouts, including both of the Gotch-Hackenschmidt contests, had observed after the second match that “to my mind…he wasn’t just exactly through one hundred percent on the courageous side. Two or three times I saw needless acts of absolute cruelty on his part that I did not like. Always will I think that the really courageous man, no matter how ferocious and filled with the killing instinct and eager to win he may be, is willing to let up on a beaten foe and not punish needlessly or wantonly.”

Marriage

For years one of America's most eligible bachelors, Gotch married Gladys Oestrich on February 11, 1911. They had one son, Robert Frederick Gotch.

Retirement and death

While in retirement, Gotch joined Sells-Floto Circus where he would pay any man $250.00 if they could last 15 minutes in a match against him without being pinned or conceding. Not once did he have to pay. He grew tired of touring and moved back to Humboldt
Humboldt, Iowa
Humboldt is a city in Humboldt County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,690 at the 2010 census, gaining 238 people since the 2000 census.- History :...

. After a year of health troubles, Gotch died in 1917 of what was rumored to be syphilis, but the official cause of death was uremic poisoning
Uremia
Uremia or uraemia is a term used to loosely describe the illness accompanying kidney failure , in particular the nitrogenous waste products associated with the failure of this organ....

. He left behind his wife Gladys and their son, Robert Friedrich. All are entombed together in the Gotch mausoleum in the Union Cemetery in Humbolt.

Legacy

"The story of American Wrestling at its greatest," Nat Fleischer wrote in 1936, "is the story of the career of its most illustrious champion -- Frank Gotch... Gotch was to wrestling history in this country what John L. Sullivan was to boxing. He dominated the field. Through his extraordinary ability, he gained for wrestling many converts and brought the sport into such favor that it became as big in the promotorial field as boxing."

As Mark Palmer pointed out, “For starters, George Hackenschmidt and Frank Gotch were major sports superstars of the early 20th century. Fans of all ages collected cabinet cards and postcards with their images, read their books, and devoured articles about them in newspapers. Their epic matches were front-page news around the world -- akin to today's Super Bowl or soccer's World Cup in terms of garnering global attention -- and helped to launch organized amateur wrestling in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. In fact, a large number of high school and college wrestling programs can trace their roots back to the 1910s and 1920s -- the era when Hackenschmidt and Gotch were still household names, and highly respected athletes.”.

Most wrestling historians consider Frank Gotch to have been one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. The three men continually rated as history's greatest wrestlers are Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...

 and the Ed "Strangler" Lewis. Gotch soundly defeated Hackenschmidt and Zbyzsko, and Gama headed west in 1910 to challenge Gotch, but stopped off in England to wrestle Hackenschmidt. The Russian Lion refused, so Gama wrestled Zbyszko. The result was a nearly four-hour draw against a man Gotch had overwhelmed and beaten in less than half an hour. Whether he was disheartened or not, we will never know; but, rather than proceed to America, Gama returned to India and never wrestled in the West again.

Gotch was also a major sports superstar, often called the Hulk Hogan of his day, who lifted wrestling to new heights of popularity. When he became world champion, there were not many sports competing with wrestling for public attention. Horse racing remained a favorite sport and major league baseball was growing in popularity but was not yet the national pastime. Automobile racing was in its infancy; golf was still the province of the wealthy; basketball had just been invented and was vying for attention; boxing offered a man a chance at fame and fortune but was, at this time, riddled with scandals; the National Hockey League was formed the same year; and college football—the Ivy League game—was on the verge of being outlawed because it was too rough and too dangerous. Wrestling at the higher professional levels was still a legitimate sport with the added bonus that it was popular on every continent of the globe. And a number of great wrestlers were competing for top honors. In India the Great Gama was already a legendary champion, and in Europe Georg Hackenschmidt
Georg Hackenschmidt
Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman and professional wrestler, and the first free-style heavyweight champion of the world. He launched his professional career in Russia and lived most of his life in London, England, where he gained the nickname of 'The...

 had reigned supreme with Stanislaus Zbyszko
Stanislaus Zbyszko
Stanislaus Zbyszko was a Polish strongman and professional wrestler popular in the United States during the 1920s. He was one of the most influential European grapplers of all-time, he was also among the sport’s great pioneer champions...

 coming along. Right there you have three of the four greatest wrestlers who ever lived. But in America Tom Jenkins
Tom Jenkins
Thomas Wayne Jenkins is an American golfer.Jenkins was born in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Houston, where he was a member of the winning 1970 NCAA Division I golf team. He graduated in 1971 and turned professional. His only PGA Tour victory was the 1975 IVB-Philadelphia Golf...

 had been rather easily beaten by Hackenschmidt, so there was no American to capture the nation’s fancy until Gotch; and none of the other great wrestlers had either the amazing physical attributes or the gift for self-promotion that Gotch possessed.

Furthermore, the United States was beginning to dominate some of the world's major sports. Americans already dominated boxing and within a decade would begin to dominate golf. When Gotch defeated Hackenschmidt, the domination of professional wrestling passed to the Americans. In addition, many matches had still been conducted under Greco-Roman rules, but this match caused Greco-Roman to be forever replaced by the more exciting catch-as-catch-can style.

Because of both his superior ability and his gift for self-promotion, Gotch became one of America’s greatest sports idols. He achieved a level of popularity similar to that formerly held by boxer John L. Sullivan
John L. Sullivan
John Lawrence Sullivan , also known as the Boston Strong Boy, was recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing from February 7, 1881 to 1892, and is generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring rules...

 and harness racehorse Dan Patch
Dan Patch
Dan Patch was the outstanding pacer of his day. Dan Patch broke world speed records at least 14 times in the early 1900s, finally setting the world's record for the fastest mile by a harness horse during a time trial in 1906, a record that stood unmatched for 32 years.-Life:He was a brown...

, and enjoyed later by such sports heroes as Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...

, Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...

 and Bobby Jones. This in turn made wrestling mainstream. Mac Davis wrote in 100 Greatest Sports Heroes, "As the idol of millions in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Gotch made wrestling a big-time sport in his day. He drew larger audiences than did the heavyweight champion of boxing when defending his title."

Gotch's first match against Hackenschmidt also remains perhaps the most famous wrestling encounter of all time.

There is a park named the Frank A. Gotch County Park, three miles south of Humboldt near his childhood farm, in homage to Gotch. The Humboldt Community School District also sponsors the annual Frank Gotch Wrestling Tournament as well. Because of Gotch's legacy, Iowa remains a wrestling stronghold at the high school and collegiate levels to this day.

There is an extensive Frank Gotch collection in the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. On display are the wrestling shoes he wore into the ring in 1911 against Hackenschmidt, his Mason’s sword and leather scabbard, the roll-top desk that sat in his living room in Humboldt and many other rare items.

In addition, a film company currently holds the rights to the book Gotch: An American Hero, by Mike Chapman, and is actively in the process of making a movie based on the book.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Bridging belly to back suplex
    • Cross kneelock
    • Toe hold
    • Ankle Lock

  • Signature moves
    • Double leg takedown

Championships and accomplishments

  • Wrestling championships
  • World Heavyweight Championship (original version) (1 time)
  • American Heavyweight Championship
    American Heavyweight Championship
    The American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first Heavyweight professional wrestling championship in the United States. The title existed from 1881 through approximately 1922.-Title history:-References:* at Wrestling-Titles.com...

     (3 times)
  • Champion of the Klondike (1 time)

  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
    Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
    The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...

     (Class of 1996)

  • Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
    • Class of 2002

  • Other titles
  • George Tragos / Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (1999)
  • Iowa Sports Hall of Fame
    Iowa Sports Hall of Fame
    The Iowa Sports Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Des Moines Register, honors outstanding athletes and sports contributors. To be eligible, members must have either been born in Iowa or gained prominence while competing for a college or university in Iowa....

     (1951)

See also

  • "Karl Gotch": a moniker taken in honour of Frank Gotch.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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