Omaha Wrestling Results

Omaha, Nebraska: Tuesday, July 4, 1916
(Gene Melady Stadium, Douglas County Fairgrounds) … World Heavyweight Champion
Joe Stecher and Ed “Strangler” Lewis drew (five hours) … Chris Jordan and Adrien “Kid”
Ross drew (30:00) (middleweights) … World Lightweight champion Owen Daily b. C.E.
Seeley (2-0) (less than 15:00) … (promoter: Gene Melady) … (referee: Ed Smith) …
(20,000 fans)
Notes: The Douglas Country Fairgrounds was in the town of Benson, Nebraska, which
was, in 1917, annexed by the city of Omaha itself. Technically, the Stecher-Lewis bout
occurred in Benson, Nebraska, not Omaha. In another newspaper description of the
location, it was called the “Benson race track,” and being “at the Douglas county fair
grounds near Benson.” The match was built up as being between “possibly the two
greatest athletes in the world today.” A $60,000 gate was expected. Many other events
were planned including baseball, boating, fireworks, races, tennis, bowling, golf, trap
shooting, picnics, and other competitions.

*An article in the Sunday, July 2, 1916 edition of the Omaha World Herald stated that Joe
Stecher was, “quite naturally” the favorite going in to the bout. People were betting on the
“time of the falls, and considerable has already been wagered that Stecher will not win the
first fall inside thirty minutes. Some bets have been laid that Stecher wins both falls within
an hour. One very close friend of Stecher told him the other day that he would bet all he
could get hold of that Joe does not take the first fall within thirty minutes. Stecher said he
believed that to be a very good wager, and added: “Don’t get mad at me, though, if you
lose. I am going in there to win in the shortest possible time, and if I can see my way clear
to pin Lewis within thirty minutes, you may rest assured that is what I intend to do.””

*Results of the big match were printed on the front page of the July 5, 1916 Omaha World
Herald. This newspaper said the match lasted “five hours, flat.” It also said that “In some
particulars, this was the most remarkable grapple in the entire history of this ancient game.
In other respects, it was a sad disappointment to the thousands of friends of the Dodge
wrestler who were there to see their idol dethrone another comer.” The paper stated that
“Lewis failed to step forward once during the entire five hours. He went backward all the
time. He was not in there to wrestle, but to keep away from Stecher, and he succeeded.”
The audience yelled and threw things at Lewis.

*Chris Jordan was reportedly from Silver Creek, Nebraska and Ross from Indiana. C.E.
Seeley was from Omaha.

*Regarding betting, it was said that “it was estimated at the several betting rings about town
last night that $50,000 changed hands on the bout.” The Stecher “backers lost all around
yesterday – on the result of the match, on the time of the falls and on the decision. It was a
disastrous day for them, to say the least.” “Thousands of dollars were wagered that Lewis
wouldn’t stay more than an hour with Stecher. When the referee announced the finish of
the first hour’s wrestling, Lewis and his retinue of trainers congratulated each other
vociferously, indicating they had taken down quite a pot of gold.”

*Facts of the match, according to the Omaha World Herald: “Time of Bout – Five hours flat
– from 4:03 o’clock until 9:03 o’clock.” “Attendance – 20,000, estimated, Receipts -
$30,000, estimated, Division of Money for Wrestlers – 60 per cent to Stecher and 40 per
cent to Lewis, win, lose or draw.”

*In the aftermath of the bout, many people voiced their opinions. Among them were Joe
Hetmanek, manager of Stecher, Ed Smith, the referee, Sandy Griswold of the Omaha
World Herald, and Gene Melady, the promoter.

*Hetmanek stated that “Any man with an ounce of brains who saw that bout yesterday
knows that Stecher can throw Lewis any time he sees fit, providing he can get his hands on
him. This fellow Lewis is not a wrestler. He is a fourflusher – a game-killer, if you please.
As a staller, you’ve got to hand it to Lewis. As a wrestler, he is still an unknown quantity.
Stecher tried ine very way possible to make Lewis wrestle, but Lewis was satisfied to stall
along and kill time. I repeat, Lewis is a game-killer. Such tactics as he employed yesterday
is what knocked wrestling cold a few years ago, and if men of his type are permitted to go
along unhindered, as he did yesterday, wrestling will again be given a black eye and will
lose the public’s favor.” The paper said that “Stecher didn’t appear to be tired at all last
night, he was a bit gaunt after his hard five hours’ work.”

*Melady said that “after it was all over that the wrestling match was one of the greatest ever
staged. Both men were in great condition, but at the end of five hours, they were almost
completely exhausted. “The match was called on the doctors’ orders because both
contestants had practically gone to the limit of their physical power. Should the match
have been continued longer, one of the men probably would have been overcome.
According to the articles of agreement, the match was slated for a finish, but the men could
not have held out much longer. Both Lewis and Stecher are good wrestlers. Lewis must
be given credit for the great defensive he put up against the Nebraska champion.”

*Smith explained that his decision to call the match a draw was in violation of the rules
agreed to beforehand, stating that it would be a finish bout. He said that “when both
contestants became so exhausted that further wrestling would have developed nothing and
might possibly have terminated in permanent and possibly fatal injury to one or the other.
In the name of all humanity, the match was over and in this view that I took I was upheld by
several prominent physicians, who noted carefully the condition of the men.” He mentioned
that Melady proposed that Stecher and Lewis continue their match “at the same place and
under as nearly similar conditions as possible and amit the public free to see it.” Smith said
that the result “would be the same thing again,” and disagreed with the idea.

*Griswold voiced his opinion in a World Herald article. He wrote that instead of the match
being the “grandest and most thrilling athletic struggle that has ever been offered to the
local public, it was unqualifiedly and indisputably the greatest disappointment, not by
reason of anything that bore even the faintest suggestion of dishonesty connected with the
bout, its promoter, the managers or any of the regime necessary to the exploitation of an
affair of its huge proportions, but simply because it was not a bona fide and legitimate
struggle on the part of the two principals for supremacy, as the public expected to see.” He
explained that Lewis was on the defensive the entire time and that he “came here purely
and distinctly to keep Joe Stecher from throwing him, not to try to throw Joe Stecher, as he
said before the match, and as has been seen, to the intense disgust of the biggest crowd
that ever assembled in Omaha to witness a sporting event of any kind.”

*During the afternoon of Thursday, July 6, 1916, the Melady, Hetmanek, and Sandow
gathered to discuss business. The two hour meeting ended without the possibility of a
rematch, starting where the two wrestlers had left off. Hetmanek offered to offer Stecher’s
entire share from the July 4 bout for a second “finish” match. Stecher “refused absolutely
to consider the matter, murmuring something about ‘advance bookings’ and forfeit money
which would be lost by another combat.”

*The World Herald stated that “Lewis will leave Omaha today with more than $8,000 in cold
cash, a claim of having stayed longer with Stecher than any other man, and a reputation
for unsavory sportsmanship which will undoubtedly make his further appearance in a local
ring an impossibility.”

*Moving pictures of the Stecher-Lewis affair was shown for the first time on Friday, July 14,
1916 to a “few invited guests.” The newspaper said that “it was the unanimous opinio nthat
the bout via the movie route is far more interesting and entertaining than the real thing
could have been.” The pictures “are in three reels. It takes about forty minutes to show
them. They were taken by local film producers, the Summit Film Co., and they will be
shown throughout Nebraska and over the entire country.” Footage would be shown at the
Auditorium “this evening, Sunday afternoon and evening.”

Fremont, Nebraska: Wednesday, August 9, 1916
( ) … World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher b. Harold Christensen (2-0) (less than 15
minutes total) … (1,200 fans)
Notes: Christensen was managed by Hjalmar Lundin, who was called the “famous wrestler
and strong man.” Stecher was in Dodge, Nebraska, prior to the affair, training. The match
was part of the Tractor show. Within days of this loss, Lundin was issuing challenges on
behalf of Christensen to Plestina or Charlie Peters. Plestina took up the challenge.

Omaha, Nebraska: Thursday, August 10, 1916
( Eagle Hall) … World Lightweight Champion Owen Daily and Joe Miller drew (2:05:00)
Notes: The facility was at 23rd and N. Streets, South side. There was a forfeit of $50 for
each wrestler, held by the World Herald. There was also a side bet of $200. Miller was
from Omaha.
Daily was managed by Ray Page. After the bout, Daily wanted a rematch with a side bet
anything up to $500 with a 135 pound weight limit.

*As of August 11, 1916, promoter Melady was still proposing a rematch between Stecher
and Lewis. He wanted a two-of-three-falls affair with both men putting up $2,500. He wrote
to Sandy Griswold of the World Herald explaining his new terms, stating “I have figured this
out and while this is one of the broadest propositions ever offered in the sport game, I
believe it is justly due to me and the best sport-loving public in the world – the people of
Nebraska and vicinity – that Lewis and Stecher wrestle on these terms.”

Chadron, Nebraska: Unknown Summer 1916
(County Fair) … World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher vs. Karl Busch
… (sponsored by: Dawes County Fair Association)
Note: Busch was said to be from Chicago.

Spalding, Nebraska: Wednesday, August 23, 1916
( Opera House) … George Kinney b. Adrien “Kid” Ross (2-0) (first fall in 1:10:00, second in
30:00) (160 pounders) … (large crowd)
Note: Kinney was from Spalding and Ross was from Indiana.

Long Pine, Nebraska: Friday, September 1, 1916
( ) … World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher vs. Sam Clapham (Stecher had to throw
his opponent twice in 60:00)
Note: The show would be on the third day of the frontier show.

Lincoln, Nebraska: Monday, September 4, 1916
( ) … World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher b. Ed Davis (2-0) (first fall in 7:00 and
second in 4:30)
Notes: Davis was from Indianapolis and claimed to be the “intercollegiate champion of the
world.” The report stated that “Davis recently gained wrestling renown when he held
‘Strangler’ Lewis to a draw in a two-hour contest.”

Lincoln, Nebraska: Wednesday, September 6, 1916
(State Fairgrounds) … World Lightweight Champion Owen Daily vs. Joe Maurell
Notes: The newspaper said that Owen Daily was “probably the fastest and cleverest man,
big or little, that ever stepped on a mat.” Additionally, “Daily is a wonder, and his name
alone should be magnet enough to fill the biggest auditorium in the country.” He won the
lightweight championship from Johnny Billiter “two years ago last June, with Frank Gotch as
referee.” He reportedly lost a match to John Makie of Boston, but beat him “a few weeks
later.”

*A report in the Thursday, September 7, 1916 edition of the World Herald stated that
Stecher and his brother Tony were in Fremont “on their way back home from Long Pine
and North Platte, where Joe employed a new hold in the undoing of two aspirants, Sammy
Clapham at Long Pine and Ed Davis at North Platte.” There was a brief mention that
Stecher wanted to “smoke Gotch out of Humbolt.” Joe said “I can beat Gotch, and Gotch
thins so too.”

Red Oak, Iowa: Thursday, September 7, 1916
(Chautauqua Pavilion) … World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher b. Anton Stecher (2-
0) (first fall in 10:00 and second in 11:00) … Young Gotch failed to throw Ives Boyington
twice in 40:00 (Gotch lost the purse of $100) … (promoter: George E. Clark) …
(thousands in attendance)
Notes: The match was part of the third annual festival of Montre Festo. The day was
proclaimed “Stecher Day.” Gotch was from Omaha and Boyington was from Red Oak.

Atlantic, Iowa: Monday, September 25, 1916
( ) … World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher b. Harold Christensen (2-0) … (close to
1,000 fans)

York, Nebraska: Wednesday, October 4, 1916
(Chatauqua Pavilion) … World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher b. Bill Hokuff (2-0)
(Stecher won the first fall in 21:15 and the second in 11:30) … (referee: Sandy Griswold)
… (2,000+ fans)
Notes: The report indicated that “no man in the whole game has improved within the last
year as Bill Hokuff has,” and that Hokuff was “Stecher’s chief trainer in his preparations for
Lewis last July.” It was said that “the champion acknowledged this evening that it was one
of the toughest fights he has ever had, and that there is no man living who can put Hokuff
down in shorter time than it took him to turn the trick this afternoon.”

*Searched the Omaha World Herald through the end of October 1916 and found nothing.

Research by Tim Hornbaker
September 30, 2007

Omaha Wrestling Results - 1916