Columbus Wrestling Results

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, January 1, 1930
(The Auditorium) … John Pesek b. Jim McMillen (1-0) (McMillen was unable to continue)
(42:25) … Jim Browning b. Jack Rogers (3:39) … Blacksmith Pedigo b. Jack Domar (10:12)
… Fred Grobmier b. Hans Bauer (24:10) (“famous figure four scissors”) … (promoter: Al
Haft) … (referee: Sergeant Gibson) … (7,000 fans)
Notes: Pesek was called the “greatest heavyweight since the heyday of Frank Gotch.”
Captain S.B. Gibson was a military and wrestling instructor at the University of Indiana.
The winner of the main event was to get 60 per cent of the gate and the loser 40.
McMillen was managed by Ed White. Radio station WCAH was broadcasting from ringside
beginning at 9:30 p.m. Herman Hamer was usually referred to as the local promoter,
although he was just the front for Haft.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, January 8, 1930
(The Auditorium) … World Welterweight champion Jack Reynolds b. Blacksmith Pedigo
(2/3) … Jim Browning b. George Gastrovich (16:50) … Howard Hosier b. Sergeant Bull
Smith (12:00) … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: Blacksmith Pedigo was from Louisville and was said to be the “strength of a 175-
pounder on a welterweight frame.” Howard Hosier was said to be the “Professor” and was
from Coshocton. He was an amateur wrestler at Ohio State, and now competed as a
welterweight. Smith was from Fort Wayne and was a former A.E.F. champion.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, January 15, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Jim Browning b. Fred Grobmier (1-0) (only fall in 4:37 of the seventh
round) … Blacksmith Pedigo b. Cyclone Mackay (3:50) (third round) … Howard Hosier b.
Jack Domar (DQ) ... (promoter: Al Haft) … (sponsored by: Quality Club)
Notes: Grobmier was called the “Iowa Snake.” The Grobmier-Browning match was held
under Australian rules, eight rounds to a judge’s decision. A round was 10-minutes in
length with two-minutes rest. A fall ended each round and the first man to win two falls,
won the bout. This was the first Australian rules match in Columbus. Haft reportedly
recently visited Australia and admitted: “Some of the best matches I have ever seen were
wrestled in this way,” regarding Australian rules matches. The quote was in the Columbus
Citizen (1/14/1930). Domar was from Amarillo, Texas.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, January 29, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Jim Browning b. Fred Grobmier (2/3) … Joe Banaski and John Kilonis
drew (30:00) … Professor Howard Hosier b. Les Fishbaugh (dec., 30:00) … Jimmy
Moosehart wrestled Bob Reese and William Carter, but no falls were scored … (promoter:
Al Haft)
Notes: It was noted that Kilonis “kayoed a kangaroo in Australia a couple of years back,”
and Haft wanted him to wrestle Jimmy Moosehart, a 350-pound Alaskan black bear. The
bear was managed and owned by J.J. Haney. Haney offered $1 a minute for anyone who
could stay 15 minutes with the bear. Kilonis was from Norfolk, Virginia. Hosier was making
his third pro appearance. The main event was under “American rules.”

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, February 5, 1930
(The Auditorium) … John Pesek b. John Evko (2-0) (31:05, 7:04) … Fred Grobmier b. Tom
Draak (dec., 30:00) … Blacksmith Pedigo b. Cyclone Mackay (11:08) … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: Pesek was managed by Al Haft. This was said to be the third meeting between
Pesek and Evko. The Columbus Citizen (2/1/1930) reported that “Pesek, it will be
remembered, pinned [Joe] Stecher to the mat no less than eight times in 15 minutes, but
the Stecher referee refused to call the then champion down. Changing his tactics, Pesek
then forced Stecher to give up short arm scissors hold. Even after the referee had
awarded the match to the Tigerman and the crowd had acclaimed Pesek as the new
champion the Stecher controlled arbitrator reversed his decision after leaving the ring and
said that Stecher had won on a foul.” Evko reportedly won a knockout victory over Hans
Steinke in Cincinnati “in a match that developed into a free-for-all.” Evko wsa said to have
suffered two fractured ribs and spent several months on the “shelf” after his first match
with Pesek and was knocked out during his second bout with the “Tigerman.”

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, February 12, 1930
(The Auditorium) … World Welterweight champion Jack Reynolds b. Blacksmith Pedigo
(2/3) … Jim Browning b. Tom Draak (dec., 30:00) … Frank Wolff b. Railroad Routte (16:
55) … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: Pedigo weighed 147 ½ pound and had trained with Joe Banaski and Pat McCarty.
Pesek’s mother died on February 10, 1930 and he cancelled all scheduled matches. He
had been preparing for a match against Jim Londos. Wolff was a young Australian
wrestler and was said to be a “brilliant prospect for light-heavyweight competition.” His
opponent was Railroad Routte of Indianapolis. Wolff (Wolfe) was said to be Haft’s
Australian discovery.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, February 19, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Alan Eustace b. Tom Draak (2/3) … Frank Wolff b. John Kilonis (dec.,
30:00) (Kilonis attacked the referee and his opponent after the match) … Walter Achu and
Harold Hosier drew (30:00) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (referee: Ed Beardsley)
Note: Eustace was returning after a layoff to mend broken ribs.

Columbus, Ohio: Thursday, February 27, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Ad Santel b. Fred Grobmier (2-0) … Abe Morris b. John Kilonis …
Howard Hosier b. Sergeant Bull Smith (19:00) … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: Ad Santel was angry that the National Boxing Association did not recognize him
when naming the top heavyweight challengers to the vacant world heavyweight
championship. Santel claimed to have defeated John Pesek in Wichita three years earlier,
winning one fall in 1:42:00. Four years before in Los Angeles, he also beat Jim Londos, it
was claimed. Santel was ready to put up $10,000 that he could beat either man, or
anyone else. Santel reportedly only recently returned to America after touring overseas
and he became known as the “White Devil” while in Asia. He was a master of “leverage
and balance.” His favorite submission was the short-arm scissors hold. Radio station
WCAH was forced by the FCC to sign off at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday nights, meaning that
the Santel-Grobmier wasn’t going to be heard by listeners. Rocky “Abe” Morris was from
Boston, and was said to be a Jewish wrestler.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, March 5, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Ad Santel b. John Evko (2-0) … Abe Morris b. John Kilonis (DQ) …
Frank Wolffe b. Harry Cross … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: The date for the Londos-Pesek match in Columbus was continuously pushed
back. It was April 2, then April 9.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, March 12, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Frank Wolffe b. Pat McCarty (2-0) (bearhug) … Clete Kauffman b.
Abe Morris (34:00) (Morris agreed to beat Kauffman twice in 40:00) … Red Perkins b. Bull
Smith in 14-minutes, Roy Norris in 6:00, and Joe Snyder in 5:00 … (promoter: Al Haft)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, March 19, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Ad Santel b. George Hills (2-0) … Bobby Chick b. Achmid Hammid
(dec., 30:00) … Eddie Burke b. Paul Adler … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: WCAH was going to begin broadcasting at 9:30 p.m. “Strangler” Adler was a
newcomer and the “protégé” of Cliff Binckley, working out at the latter’s Indian Lake camp.
An injury to Pesek postponed a scheduled bout against Pesek and negotiates began
about a match between Londos and Ad Santel instead. Pesek fell from a horse at his
ranch near Ravenna, Nebraska on March 19 and suffered a fractured collarbone.

*On Thursday, March 20, 1930, an announcement that the scheduled match between John
Pesek and Jim Londos in Columbus, Ohio on April 9, 1930 was indefinitely postponed was
made after the former was injured in Ravenna, Nebraska. Pesek suffered a broken collar
bone when he fell from a horse. The match, sponsored by the National Boxing
Association, was to determine which wrestler would be recognized as the World
Heavyweight Champion. Pesek had previously posted $5,000 with the Ohio State Boxing
Commission.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, March 26, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Bobby Chick b. Achmed Hammid (2-0) … Jim Browning b. Tom Draak
(dec., 30:0) … Frank Wolffe b. Railroad Routte (23:00) … (promoter: Al Haft)

*On Saturday, March 29, 1930, the Business Men’s Athletic Club of Columbus secured the
Ray Carpenter-Gus Kallio match, to be held sometime prior to April 20. The match,
sanctioned by the National Boxing Association, to determine the World Middleweight
Champion. H.H. Hamer, representing the winning club, bid $5,000 for the rights to the
match and 40% of the gross. Kallio had recently defeated Ralph Parcaut to win the right to
meet Carpentier.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, April 2, 1930
(Memorial Hall) … Bobby Chick b. Blacksmith Pedigo (2/3) … Tom Draak b. Fred Grobmier
(19:00) … Billy Hallas b. Bobby Roscoe (dec., 30:00) … Clete Kauffman and Frank Wolffe
drew (30:00) … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: It was said that Bobby Chick “twice defeated Jack Reynolds at 147 pounds. At the
time, however, the welter limit was 145. Now, with the N.B.A. in charge, the weight has
been raised to 147.” The Auditorium was occupied this week.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, April 9, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Gus Kallio b. Ray Carpenter to capture the vacant NBA World
Middleweight Title (2/3) (Kallio won the first fall in 46-minutes, Carpenter won the second
fall in 21-minutes, Kallio won the third in 11:00) … Steve Savage b. John Evko (dec., 30:
00) … Billy Hallas b. Jimmy Devers (10:00) … Tom Draak b. Jack Rogers (8:00) …
(promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: Kallio and Carpenter were to wrestle to a finish under N.B.A. rules and this was the
finals of a tournament to determine an official World Middleweight wrestling champion.
Carpenter was from Lancaster, Ohio.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, April 16, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Ad Santel b. Tom Draak (2/3) … Clete Kauffman b. John Kilonis (dec.,
30:00) … Frank Wolff b. George Balzer (decision) … (promoter: Al Haft)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, April 23, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Frank Wolffe b. Clete Kauffman (dec., 2-hours) (Wolffe won the only
fall in 1:21:00) … Ray Carpenter b. Chief War Eagle (dec., 30:00) … Happy Nelson b.
John Hurley … (promoter: Al Haft) … (2,000 fans)
Notes: Hugh Nichols “recently grabbed the N.B.A. 175-pound title.” Radio station WCAH
invited 500 women to the show. Happy Norman was making his debut. Hurley was from
Toledo.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, April 30, 1930
(The Auditorium) … Frank Wolffe b. Clete Kauffman (dec., 2-hours) (match ended at 12:30
a.m.) … George Gable b. Blacksmith Pedigo (23:00) … Glenn Wade b. Tom Draak
(decision) … (promoter: Al Haft)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, May 7, 1930
(Haft’s Acre) … World Light Heavyweight champion Hugh Nichols b. Clete Kauffman (2/3)
… George Gable b. Cyclone Mackey (27:00) … Glenn Wade b. Joe Hackenschmidt (17:
00) … (capacity crowd)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, May 21, 1930
( ) ... John Pesek b. Ad Santel (2/3) (Pesek won the first and third falls) ... (promoter: Al
Haft) ... (7,000 fans)
Notes: Pesek was said to be the "uncrowned" heavyweight champion. According to one
report, this show took place on May 22.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, June 18, 1930
( ) ... John Pesek b. Ad Santel (2/3) (Santel won the first fall and Pesek took the next two)
(Santel suffered an injury) ... (promoter: Al Haft)

Research by Tim Hornbaker

Columbus Wrestling Results - 1930