Franz Berger (wrestler)

Franz Berger (born January 24, 1940 in Wals , State of Salzburg ; † January 8, 2012 there ) was an Austrian wrestler . With 36 championship titles, he holds the Austrian record to this day and is still the most successful wrestler from Austria with four participations in the Olympic Games , five participations in world championships and one bronze medal at European championships .

Career

Franz Berger started his career at the age of 12 for lack of alternatives at the municipal association Salzburger AK 1914 . For training, he drove to the provincial capital of Salzburg with his younger brother Gustav . After the SAK dissolved the wrestling section in 1952 and his older brother Matthias founded the Athletic Club Wals that same year , the Berger brothers switched to their newly formed home club on August 10, 1952. Gustav Berger won 19 Austrian championship titles in his career, Franz became the most successful Austrian wrestler ever with 36 championship titles as well as four Olympic and five World Cup appearances.

At the wrestling world championships in 1966 he finished fifth in freestyle (Welter) and in Greek-Roman. Style (Welter) takes eighth place. In 1967 he reached fourth place at the European Championships (Greek-Roman; Welter). In 1970 he fought for the bronze medal as an amateur in East Berlin against the then dominant wrestlers from the Eastern Bloc , who were mostly military athletes. As an Olympic participant, the Walser mostly achieved good positions, but was never able to place in the medal ranks. At the games in Rome in 1960 he finished 11th while in Tokyo 1964 he did not get beyond the preliminary round. Franz Berger achieved his best placement in Mexico City in 1968 with seventh place. When he last took part in the Olympics in Munich in 1972 , he was deprived of the seemingly safe promotion with an overnight judgment and was only ranked 10th.

Since he had no serious competitor in his weight class in Austria for years - he only surprisingly lost once in eight years in the national final against Kaspar Steinberger from Vigaun - Berger chose the route to neighboring countries and fought for eight years in the German wrestling stronghold of Bad Reichenhall . Overall, the Walser, who was successful in both styles, stood on the mat for over 20 years before he ended his active career in 1978. He fought his last fight at the age of 38 wearing the AC Bad Reichenhall jersey . After retiring from active sport, Berger worked as a coach for 17 years and also celebrated several team championship titles with AC Wals in this role.

Private

Franz Berger learned the trade of brewer and melzer , but then worked for 37 years as head of the building law office of the municipality of Wals.

Most recently, Berger lived as a pensioner in the municipality of Wals-Siezenheim and, as a spectator and honorary member of the AC Wals, never missed a fight of the Walser relay team. His grandson Franz Ronacher is one of the strongest athletes in Austria and is currently (2008) a member of the national team.

successes

International

• 4 participations in Olympic Games : 1960 (11th place), 1964 (preliminary round), 1968 (7th place), 1972 (10th place).
• 5 participations in world championships : 1966 (5th place freestyle, welter) and 8th place (Greek-Roman, welter)
• 4 participations in European Championships : 1966 (8th place, freestyle), 1967 (4th place, Greek-Roman), 1968 (8th place, Greek-Roman), 1970 (3rd place, Greek-Roman.) .)

National

• 27 × Austrian national champion
• 6 × Austrian junior champion
• 3 × Austrian youth champion
• 14 × Austrian team champions (AC Wals)
• 1 × German team champion (AC Bad Reichenhall)

literature

• Joachim Glaser: Salzburg athlete. Publisher Anton Pustet. Salzburg / Munich 2001, ISBN 3-7025-0426-5 .

Web links

• Official website of AC Wals (with a short portrait)