Columbus Wrestling Results

Columbus, Ohio: January 1, 1931
( ) ... Joe Banaski b. Nick Bozinis (2/3) ... Ray Carpenter and Frank Wolfe drew (30:00) ...
Hardy Kruskamp b. Joe Hackenschmidt (DQ) (at one point, Kruskamp missed a flying
tackle and went into the crowd, where he received a punch from a ringside spectator)
Notes: The Coshocton Tribune (1/2/31) stated that the "Midwest Wrestling Association's
first world's light heavyweight championship was held by Joe Banaski," and that he
captured the belt "by taking a sensational victory over Nick Bozinis."

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, February 4, 1931
(Southern Theater) … Jim Browning b. Jack Ganson (2/3) (Browning won the first and third
falls) … Regis Siki b. Joe Shimkus (20:00) … Joe Campbell b. Ray Carpenter (dec., 30:00)
… Ray Phillips won a round-robin tournament over four Columbus middleweights …
(promoter: Al Haft) … (referee: Alan Eustace)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, February 11, 1931
(Southern Theater) … MWA World Light Heavyweight champion Joe Banaski b. Joe
Campbell (2-0) … Hardy Kruskamp b. Ray Carpenter (58 seconds) … Marion Mynster b.
Dude Chick (DQ) (20:00) … Carl Beightler b. Larry Straub (10:00)
Notes: Straub was from Columbus and Beightler from Marysville.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, February 18, 1931
(Southern Theater) … John Pesek b. Gene LeDoux (2-0) … Al Baffert b. Regis Siki (dec.,
30:00) … Dug Marcell b. Jack Kogut (8:00) … Hardy Kruskamp b. Tiger McKee (9:00) …
John Boris failed to pin Midge Slagle in 15:00 … (promoter: Al Haft) … (capacity crowd)
Notes: Boris was Pesek’s protégé and Slagle was from Columbus. LeDoux was from
Boston.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, February 25, 1931
(Southern Theater) … Al Baffert b. Charlie Santon (2/3) … Father Lumpkin b. Leo
Alexander … Nick Boznins and Dug Marcell drew … Hardy Kruskamp b. Railroad Routte
(17:00) … (promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: Lumpkin was a former Georgia Tech football player and was making his debut here
as a grappler.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, March 4, 1931
(Southern Theater) … Al Baffert b. Regis Siki (2/3) … Nick Bozinis and “Kewpie” Higgins
were both disqualified (25:00) … Carl Beightler b. Hal Chenoweth (3:00) … Bobby Chick b.
Ray Dunkin (21:00) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (referee: Tooley) … (1,000+ fans)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, March 11, 1931
(Southern Theater) … Jim Browning b. Al Baffert (2/3) … Nick Bozinis and Bobby Chick
drew (30:00) … Carl Beightler and Tom Temple drew (15:00) … Father Lumpkin b. Kewpie
Higgins (18:00) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (1,000 fans)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, March 18, 1931
(Southern Theater) … Jim Browning b. Al Baffert (dec., 2 hours) (1-1) … Carl Beightler b.
Hal Chenoweth (12:00) … Kewpie Higgins b. The Flying Dutchman (decision) … Bobby
Chick b. Alex Williamson (19:00) … Pat Fraley b. Father Lumpkin (19:00) … (promoter: Al
Haft) … (1,000 fans)
Notes: According to the Columbus Dispatch, Marin Plestina and promoter Jack Herman
challenged John Pesek to a match for New York’s Madison Square Garden, and manager
Al Haft turned the offer down. Plestina and Herman agreed to cover Pesek’s $10,000
forfeit for the match, reportedly. Dutchman was “traveling from coast to coast meeting men
in his own class.”

Columbus, Ohio: Thursday, March 26, 1931
(The Auditorium) … John Pesek b. Marin Plestina to capture the initial MWA World
Heavyweight Title (1-0) (two-hours) (Pesek won the only fall in 79:43) … Frank “Kewpie”
Higgins b. Jack Kogut (13:49) … Bobby Chick b. Leo Donahue (10:26) (airplane spin) … Al
Baffert and Pat Fraley drew (30:00) … Jim Browning b. Joe Rojack (20:23) … (promoter:
Al Haft) … (referee: Perry Schad) … (7,500 fans) … (gate: $10,000)
Notes: The Columbus Dispatch on March 19, 1931 announced that Pesek and Plestina
would wrestle and it was billed as “one of the most important tests” of Pesek’s career. He
was said to be the uncrowned heavyweight champion. Both Pesek and Plestina had
repeatedly challenged Jim Londos and Ed Don George, only to be ignored. The winner of
the match was going to receive $5,000, reportedly. Wrestler Joe Campbell was said to
have been sidelined because of a mat burn on his arm suffered in a match against Joe
Banaski in Columbus recently. It became infected and he spent four weeks in the hospital,
and another two in bed. He planned to return to his Buffalo home soon. Hardy Kruskamp
suffered a bad bruise to his elbow after missing a flying tackle in Charleston and it wasn’t
healing as fast as doctors wished, so he was expected to miss some time in the ring. Al
Haft was trying to bring Joe Savoldi to Columbus. Pesek was said to be the biggest thorn
“in the side of the New York Athletic Commission and those two Gotham moguls, Jack
Curley and Jack Herman,” according to the Columbus Dispatch (3/22/1931). That same
paper stated: “The winner of the Pesek-Plestina bout will be recognized as the world
heavyweight champion by the M.W.A., it was announced Saturday by Chub Sisson,
president of the organization. Twenty leading clubs throughout the Midwest are members
of this body. A diamond-studded gold belt will be presented to the winner of the bout.”
Plestina weighed 251 and about 55 or so more pounds than Pesek. Referee Perry Schad
was from Detroit. The match was held under N.B.A. and M.W.A. rules, “which call for two
best out of three falls with a two-hour limit. If no falls are scored at the end of two hours, or
if each has scored a fall, the men will rest five minutes, return to the ring and wrestle 15
minutes. Two judges and the referee must then vote a decision.” After the main event
victory, Pesek was presented with the diamond jeweled belt by MWA President Chub
Sisson. Rojack was the “chief wrestling partner of Plestina.”

Notes: The Zanesville Signal (3/27/31) stated that Pesek "today held the championship
belt of the Midwest Wrestling Association following his hard earned victory over Marin
Plestina."

*The Sunday, October 4, 1931 edition of the Columbus Dispatch reported that John Pesek
was in a car accident and hospitalized in Dayton, Ohio. A scheduled title defense against
Joe Stecher was postponed. Pesek’s manager Al Haft traveled from Columbus to Dayton
to check on him. The accident occurred the Friday before. Dr. Robert B. Drury told the
press that Pesek would be unable to train for at least a month.

Columbus, Ohio: Monday, October 5, 1931
(Parsons Plaza Arena) … Swede Thompson b. Bull Marshall (2/3) … “Wild” Pete Dando b.
Jimmie Lewis … Pete Dando and Cleve Welsh drew (30:00) … Spud Carter b. Ward
Vincent … (sponsored by: South Side Athletic Club)
Notes: Bull Marshall was the “ape man.” Welsh was from Grove City.

Columbus, Ohio: Monday, October 12, 1931
(Parsons Plaza Arena) … Swede Thompson b. “Wild” Pete Dando (mixed match) (fourth
round) (Dando was wrestling, while Thompson was boxing) … Earl Hassen and Cleve
Welsh drew (30:00) … Jack Morris and Herb Slagle drew (30:00) … Arl Murray b. Dutch
Longhorn (7:00) … (referees: Freck Hart, Jack Smith)
Note: Slagle was called the “blonde giant of the West side.”

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, October 14, 1931
(The Auditorium) … Charlie Hansen b. Al Baffert (2/3) … Frank French b. Joe Banaski
(decision) … Ray Richards b. Hardy Kruskamp (21:58) … Nick Bozinis and Mustapha
Pasha drew (30:00) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (referees: Ed Beardsley, Chub Sisson)
Notes: Herm Hamer was the matchmaker for the show. Frank French was trained by Joe
and Tony Stecher for three years. He was the “talk of the corn belt, which is the greatest
wrestling country in the world.” Small crowd.

Columbus, Ohio: Monday, October 19, 1931
(Knights of Columbus Hall) … Merle Dolby b. Cotton Eaton (2/3) … Miss Mae Stein b. Miss
Teddy Meyers (15:00) … Spud Carter b. Chuck Dun … Sam Markowitz b. Bob Blake …
(300 fans)
Note: First indoor show for the South Side Athletic Club.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, October 21, 1931
(The Auditorium) … Charlie Hansen b. Al Neuman (2/3) … John Kilonis b. Pat Reilly …
Leslie Grimes and Charlie Peterson drew (30:00) … Bull Komar b. Dick Lever … Joe
Hubka b. Bull Komar (DQ) (Komar offered $25 to anyone who could stay 15 minutes with
him) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (referee: Ed Beardsley)
Note: The newspaper billed Hansen as “Charles Aurelius Hansen,” and was from Seattle.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, October 28, 1931
(The Auditorium) … MWA World Light Heavyweight champion Marion Mynster b. Joe
Banaski (2/3) … Al Neuman b. Al Baffert (26:18) … Robin Reed b. Ernie Arthur (decision)
… Frank French b. Frank Wolfe (23:00) ... (promoter: Al Haft) … (referees: Chob
Sissons, Ed Beardsley) … (1,100 fans)
Notes: Banaski was the former champion and had lost the belt to Mynster at “Haft’s Acre
last summer.” French was billed from Omaha. Mynster was from Huntington, West
Virginia. Reed, according to the newspaper report, spent 30 minutes making his opponent
“appear ridiculous,” but was unable to pin him. Reed weighed 145 to Arthur’s 140. French
weighed 180 and Wolfe 177.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, November 4, 1931
(The Auditorium) … Joe Stecher b. Charlie Hansen (41:11) (one-fall match) … Robin Reed
b. Jim King (21:28) … Roy Grimes b. Billy McCoy (21:41) … Bull Komar and Al Neuman
drew … (promoter: Al Haft) … (referee: Ed Beardsley)
Notes: King was from Flint. Golf professional of Brookside, Denny Shute, was in the
audience with his wife. Stecher was reportedly “outwrestled” by Hansen and won with a
“lucky break.” Frank M. Colley of the Columbus Dispatch reported that Stecher’s actions
were “anything but that of a champion, past, present or future.”

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, November 11, 1931
(The Auditorium) … MWA World Light Heavyweight champion Marion Mynster b. Frank
Moran (77:47) (one-fall match) … Charlie Santon b. Regis Siki (35:25) … Hardy Kruskamp
b. Pat Reilly (9:27) … Dick Lever b. Uzual Hott (14:58) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (referee:
Chob Sisson)
Notes: Moran was from Boston. He was also a swimmer and coached the Olympic
swimming team at one time. He was also a noted life guard. He’s won many trophies in
basketball, football and hockey and was supported by promoter Paul Bowser. Moran
reportedly held wins over Pinky Gardner, Abe Coleman, Waino Ketonen, and Cyclone
Burns. Said to be the best “all-around card of the indoor season and drew the biggest
crowd.”

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, November 18, 1931
(The Auditorium) … Glen Wade b. Al Neuman (59:05) … Charlie Santon b. Dick Lever (14:
15) … Henry Jones b. Ernie Arthur (19:14) … Fred Moran b. Farmer Pete Kline (21:17) …
(promoter: Al Haft)
Notes: Wade was said to be from Jackson, Mississippi and Neuman from Provo, Utah.

Youngstown, Ohio: Monday, November 23, 1931
( ) … John Kilonis b. Frank Moran (2-0) (17:00, 13:00)

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, November 25, 1931
(The Auditorium) … MWA World Light Heavyweight champion Marion Mynster b. Fred
Moran (35:00) … Glen Wade b. Joe “Bull” Komar (DQ) (35:45) … Henry Jones and Sammy
Vengler drew (30:00) … Charlie Santon b. Dick Lever (20:25) … (promoter: Al Haft) …
(referee: Charlie Hansen)

Columbus, Ohio: Tuesday, December 1, 1931
(Ivanhoff Hall) … Chris Brown vs. Swede Thompson (2/3) … Herman Hodge vs. Al Murray
… Pete Dando vs. Cleve Welsh … another match involving Mike Mileusnich … (sponsored
by: South Side Athletic Club)
Notes: The venue was at the corner of Reeb and Parsons Avenues. Brown was the
“Terrible Greek.” Mileusnich was a former South High School football player. Carter also
attended South High School.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, December 2, 1931
(The Auditorium) … Joe Savoldi b. Charlie Santon (15:13) (flying tackles) … Ray Richards
b. Julius Strongbaugh (18:00) … Everette Marshall b. Glen Wade (31:22) … Henry Jones
b. Jack Domar (24:45) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (4,000 fans)
Notes: The Columbus Dispatch reported that Savoldi was the “latest and greatest of all
football-wrestling warriors.” This was said to be Everette Marshall’s “first eastern
appearance and many out-of-town writers are expected to be on hand to see him in
action. The westerner is touted as greater than Ad Santell.” Julius “Stronghbaugh” was a
“former Oklahoma university flash.” He weighed 250 pounds and stood 6’8” tall.
Strongbaugh was said to be inexperienced and Bradford Willson of the Columbus Dispatch
noted that he was “obese.” Domer was from Toledo and weighed 148 pounds. Jones
weighed 144. Savoldi weighed 211.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, December 9, 1931
(The Auditorium) … Everette Marshall b. Steve Savage (24:34) … Henry Jones b. Sammy
Vangler (26:00) … Nick Boznis and Marion Mynster drew (30:00) … Karl Davis b. Ray
Richards (24:00) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (2,500 fans)
Notes: Mynster reportedly lost his light heavyweight belt to John Kilonis “recently.” Davis
was from Columbus and had “considerably less experience than Richards.”

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, December 16, 1931
(The Auditorium) … John Pesek b. Elmer Holtzman (15:23) … MWA World Light
Heavyweight champion John Kilonis b. Fred Moran (31:00) … Al Gahn b. Lou Bloom for
the Columbus lightweight boxing championship (boxing) … Johnny Conley boxed Ray
Woodward to a draw (boxing) … Tony Petruzzi b. Kid Farmer (boxing) … Henry Jones b.
Jack Domar (DQ) (10:32) … Adolph Sandow and Regis Siki drew (15:00) … Paddy Mack
b. Joe Banaski (decision) … Al Neuman b. Al Baffert (judge’s decision) … (promoter: Al
Haft) … (referees: Ed Beardsley – wrestling, Ray Ward – boxing) … (6,500+ fans)
Notes: Special boxing and wrestling show sponsored by the Columbus Dispatch. The
show was being staged for charity with proceeds going to the Salvation Army Christmas
fund. Pesek was making his first local appearance since his car accident “two months
ago.” Paddy Mack was the protégé of Pesek, and was a light heavyweight. Pesek said
Mack would be the light heavyweight champion within a year. Various radio stars and
orchestras were also going to perform during the show. Holtzman was from Chicago,
reportedly under the management of Joe Coffey. He weighed 232 compared to Pesek’s
192. During the show, Pesek introduced Mack and sportswriter Frank M. Colley noted that
Mack looked young. $2,090.70 was donated to the charity. Pesek was only casually
referred to as the “MWA World Heavyweight champion” by the local newspaper, and
sometimes was only said to be a claimant to the title.

Columbus, Ohio: Wednesday, December 23, 1931
(The Auditorium) … Joe Banaski b. Paddy Mack (65:00) … Ray Carpenter b. Mustapha
Pasha (22:46) … Karl Davis b. Father Lumpkin (decision) … Hardy Kruskamp b. Nick
Boznis (22:43) … (promoter: Al Haft) … (small crowd in attendance)

Research by Tim Hornbaker

Columbus Wrestling Results - 1931