Hans Furst
Born(1890-10-29)October 29, 1890
Vienna, Austria
DiedNovember 2, 1967(1967-11-02) (aged 77)

Hans Furst (October 29, 1890 - November 2, 1967), also spelled Hans Fuerst, was an Austrian professional wrestler and matchmaker.[1]

Early life

Furst was born in Veinna, Austria on October 29, 1890.[1] Furst was said to have won the Austrian wrestling championship at the age of 16 and was said to be the youngest wrestler to hold that title.[2] He attended business college in Vienna, and learned to wrestle there. He finished second in a European lightweight title tournament while still being a student and was a member of his schools, wrestling, football and hockey teams.[1] Furst was said to be a good swimmer and was said to be Austrian two-mile running champion.[2]

Wrestling career

First arrived in Buffalo, New York in 1907 and was the New York State Light-heavyweight champion in 1914 and 1915.[1] Furst was said be "one of the cleverest light-heavyweight wrestlers" and had wrestled Wladek Zbyszko in 1911 at Brown's Gymnasium and also had fought George Hackenschmidt, Stanislaus Zbyszko and Dr. Benjamin Roller.[1][3][4][5] He wrestled multiple matches against Oluf Nielsen and[2] highly publicized losses to Pierre la Colosse and Cyclone Burns in 1915.[6][7][8][9] Furst wrestled Earl Caddock and Ed "Strangler" Lewis in 1916 along with others like Joe Matty, Steve Karger and Adolph Pohl (who was known for his short temper).[10][11][3] Furst defeated Cyclone Ress in February 1918 and was defeated by Wladek Zbyszko on June 22, 1918.[12][13]

Matchmaker

Furst partnered with Ed Delivuk to create of the Great Lakes Athletic Club in New York in the 1920s.[14] Furst was an assistant matchmaker and treasurer of the Buffalo Sporting Club and later became the head matchmaker and secretary in 1934.[1] Furst later resigned and sold his stake in the Buffalo Sports Club in August 1936.[15]

Personal life

Furst's main job outside of the ring was importing diamonds and Furst was said to enjoy swimming.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Delivuk's Widow Heads Ring Club, The Buffalo News, 1934, retrieved 13 March 2023
  2. 1 2 3 Nielsen To Wrestle Hans Furst ---St. Peters' To Play Christ Church Five, Perth Amboy Evening News, 1915, retrieved 13 March 2023
  3. 1 2 Furst-Karger Match Here., The Boston Globe, 1916, retrieved 13 March 2023
  4. ↑ Christensen Beats Alvarez In Great Mat Battle; Nielsen Wins From Furst, Perth Amboy Evening News, 1915, retrieved 13 March 2023
  5. ↑ Wrestling, Newark Star-Eagle, 1913, retrieved 13 March 2023
  6. ↑ Double Jitney Admission By Neward Feds, Fall River Globe, 1915, retrieved 13 March 2023
  7. ↑ Sporting Notes, Kennebec Journal, 1915, retrieved 13 March 2023
  8. ↑ Burns Defeats Furst, The Boston Globe, 1915, retrieved 13 March 2023
  9. ↑ At Random in Sportdom, Asbury Park Press, 1915, retrieved 13 March 2023
  10. ↑ Buffalo Gets First Peek At Masked Marvel, Star-Gazette, 1916, retrieved 13 March 2023
  11. ↑ Furst and Pohl in Finish Match, The Boston Globe, 1916, retrieved 13 March 2023
  12. ↑ Furst Wins Two Falls From Cyclone Ress, The Boston Globe, 1918, retrieved 13 March 2023
  13. ↑ Zbyszko and Hans Furst Grapple- Benny Leonard in Exhibition Bout, The Standard Union, 1918, retrieved 13 March 2023
  14. ↑ "Obituaries". Legacy of Wrestling. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008.
  15. ↑ Cordovano Gets Matchmaker Job, The Buffalo News, 1936, retrieved 13 March 2023
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.