Ede Virágh-Ebner

Ede Virágh-Ebner (born August 12, 1912 in Budapest , † October 22, 1951 in Thessaloniki ) was a Hungarian wrestler and American wrestler . In 1935 he was European champion of the amateurs in free style and as a wrestler several times world champion of the National Wrestling Alliance (Kansas).

Career

Ede Virágh, born Eduard Ebner in Budapest in 1912, was an amateur at the Magyar Athletics Club (MAC) Budapest . In 1935 he was Hungarian master in both styles (free style and Greco-Roman style) in the light heavyweight division . As early as 1934 in Stockholm he was runner-up in free style in the same weight class. In the final there he was defeated by the Swede Knut Fridell.

In 1935 he started in Copenhagen at the European Championships in the Greco-Roman style again in the light heavyweight division, but lost both fights there and only came in 7th place. All the better he performed at the European Free Style Championships in Brussels. He defeated there in the light heavyweight Fabio del Genovese, Italy, Émile Poilvé , France, Axel Cadier , Sweden, Paul Dätwyler, Switzerland and Hubert Prokop, Czechoslovakia and became European champion in a superior style.

In 1936 Ede Viragh-Ebner represented Hungary at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. He started there in the free style and again in the light heavyweight division. In his first fight he defeated Matti Lahti, Finland, but then lost to August Neo from Estonia and Knut Fridell and only reached 7th place.

After this disappointment, he signed a professional contract in Budapest on October 9, 1936.

Success as an amateur wrestler

year	space	competition	style	Weight class	Results
1934	2.	EM in Stockholm	F.	Semi-difficult	after victories over Stanley Bissell , United Kingdom and Karl Engelhardt, Germany and a loss to Knut Fridell, Sweden
1935	1.	Hungarian championship	GR	Semi-difficult
1935	7th	EM in Copenhagen	GR	Semi-difficult	after losing to Axel Cadier , Sweden and August Neo, Estonia
1935	1.	Hungarian championship	F.	Semi-difficult
1935	1.	EM in Brussels	F.	Semi-difficult	after victories over Fabio del Genovese, Italy, Emile Poilvé, France, Axel Cadier, Paul Dätwyler, Switzerland and Hubert Prokop, Czechoslovakia
1936	7th	OS in Berlin	F.	Semi-difficult	after a win over Matti Lahti, Finland and defeats against August Neo and Knut Fridell

Explanations

• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship
• F = free style, GR = Greco-Roman style
• Lightweight, weight class up to 87 kg body weight

Career as a "wrestler"

Ede Virágh-Ebner went to the United States in early 1937 and was based in Wichita, Kansas . In America he was mostly called Ed Virag, but also Eddie Virag or Ed Viragh. He started for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) . He fought his first fight on March 8, 1937 in New York, defeating Bobby Roberts. In total, he played as a wrestler over 300 fights. He usually weighed between 100 and 105 kg. The list of his prominent opponents whom he defeated is long. In 1942 he was also NWA world champion. He won this title several times. In 1943/44 he was a soldier in the US Army and participated in World War II. During his military service he had to give up the world title.

In 1948 he returned to Europe and still fought many fights in Switzerland, France and Germany. In 1950 he also took part in the world championship of professional wrestlers in Zurich, but could only win a few fights and remained unplaced. In 1951 he also started at a tournament in Hanover, where he defeated Willi Müller.

Ed Virag tragically died in October 1951 at the age of only 39 in a traffic accident in Thessaloniki.

Important fights of Ed Virag as "wrestler"

date	place	Title fight	Result
8.3.1937	new York	-	Victory over Bobby Roberts
March 22, 1937	new York	-	Victory over John Gudiski
September 15, 1937	new York	-	Victory over Iwan Wachturoff
January 13, 1938	Santa Barbara	-	Victory over Abe Goldberg
August 28, 1939	Detroit	-	Victory over Alex Kasaboski
May 14, 1940	Greeley	-	Victory over Walter Sirois
March 23, 1942	Wichita	-	Victory over Frank Sexton
April 28, 1942	Wichita	NWA title	Victory over Roy Dunn
4.5.1942	Wichita	NWA World Title	Victory over Bobby Burns
August 12, 1942	Topeka	NWA World Title	Losing to John Grandovich
10/26/1942	Wichita	NWA World Title	Victory over John Grandovich
9/28/1943	Wichita	-	Victory over Wladek Zbyszko
December 27, 1943	Wichita	NWA World Title	Victory over Jack Nasworthy
December 27, 1945	Columbus	NWA World Title	Loss to John Pesek
9.1.1946	St Louis	-	Victory over Ed "Strangler" Lewis
29.4.1946	Wichita	-	Lost to Roy Dunn
11/16/1946	Wichita	NWA World Title	Lost to Orville Brown
October 27, 1948	Zurich	-	Loss against Iwan "Jan" Martinsson
11/28/1948	Paris	-	Defeat against Paul Berger
12/30/1948	Minneapolis	-	Lost to Bronko Nagurski
April 13, 1949	Wichita	NWA World Title	Draw against Lou Thesz
7.2.1950	Berlin	-	Lost to Kurt Zehe
May 28, 1950	Zurich	-	Loss to Axel Cadier
January 27, 1951	Hanover	-	Victory over Willi Müller

literature

• Athletics magazine
• Documentation of International Wrestling Championships 1896 to 1976, published by FILA, 1976

Web links

• Profile of Ede Virágh-Ebner at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Ede Virágh-Ebner in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Data collection on Ed Virag's career