Fritz Stange

Fritz Stange medal table
Wrestler
Germany
World Championship
silver	1965 Tampere	Bantam
gold	1966 Toledo	Bantam
European Championship
gold	1966 Essen	Bantam

Fritz Stange (born September 20, 1936 in Ludwigsburg , † August 4, 2013 in Stuttgart ) was a German wrestler . He was world and European champion in 1966.

Career

Fritz Stange started wrestling at the age of nine in Stuttgart- Stammheim. As a youth and junior, he started for KV Untertürkheim (KVU) and from 1964 for TSVgg Stuttgart-Münster 1875/99 , he was one of the best German wrestlers in the lightest weight classes. He wrestled in both styles, but internationally only in the Greco-Roman style. In 1953 and 1954 he was the German runner-up among the youngsters in the class up to 50 kg body weight. In 1955 he won his first German championship title in the flyweight category in free style. From 1955 to 1972 Fritz Stange was eight times German champion, nine times German runner-up in both styles of fly and bantamweight, and took two third places.

At the international level, Stange initially failed to achieve major successes. His first start at an international championship he came in 1960 at the Olympic Games in Rome , when he prevailed in the all-German flyweight elimination, Greco-Roman style, against Eckhard Thorun from Leipzig and Heinz Witt from Jena . In Rome he showed two good fights against the 1955 world champion Ignazio Fabra from Italy and the Bulgarian Georgi Moskow, which he lost both just on points.

After that, Fritz Stange, tired of constant training, switched to bantamweight. A measure that, as it soon turned out, was the right one. At the end of 1962 he won an international high-class bantamweight tournament in Belgrade , defeating the Olympic and world champion Boris Gurewitsch from the Soviet Union and János Varga from Hungary , vice world champion from 1961 and third place in the World Cup in 1962. At the 1963 World Cup in Helsingborg he came with two wins to a respectable 7th place.

1964 he succeeded in the bantamweight class against Eckhard Thorun again the qualification for the Olympic Games. After three good fights, he met Japanese favorite Masamitsu Ichiguchi in the fourth round in Tokyo , to whom he delivered a courageous fight and only just lost on points. Ichiguchi then also became Olympic champion, while Fritz Stange took an excellent 5th place.

At the World Championships in Tampere in 1965 , Stange made his final breakthrough. With four wins and one draw he became vice world champion. Among the wrestlers he defeated was the Soviet athlete Amari Egadze . 1966 was the most successful year in Fritz Stange's career. First he was European champion in Essen and then world champion in Toledo , USA . Twice within a year he asserted himself against the entire world elite in the bantamweight division. For this he was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf on June 22, 1966.

After a somewhat weaker year in 1967, Fritz Stange started hopefully at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City . However, he was injured in his 2nd fight against the Soviet athlete Ivan Kotschergin and had to give up the competition.

Then Fritz Stange ended his international wrestling career. In 1972, however, he was once again German bantamweight champion and even shouldered Hans-Jürgen Veil , who was nevertheless nominated for the Olympic Games in Munich and won the silver medal there. Due to important professional obligations, Fritz Stange could not participate in the Olympic preparation of the German Wrestling Federation and was therefore not considered.

Fritz Stange, who then finally resigned, was also very successful professionally. He made it to the position of department director at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart and now lives alternately in Stuttgart and Florida .

International success

(all competitions in Greco-Roman style, OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, flyweight up to 52 kg, bantam weight up to 57 kg body weight)

year	space	competition	Weight class
1960	14th	OS in Rome	Bantam	after losing points to Georgi Moskow, Bulgaria and Ignazio Fabra , Italy
1962	1.	Tournament in Belgrade	Bantam	with victories over Othon Moschidis, Greece , Cristea, Romania , Majdarow, Bulgaria, Boris Gurewitsch , USSR and János Varga , Hungary
1963	7th	World Cup in Helsingborg	Bantam	with victories over Egil Hansen, Norway and Fathi Mete, Turkey and defeats against Ion Cernea , Romania and Dinko Petrow, Bulgaria
1964	5.	OS in Tokyo	Bantam	with wins over Andrew Fitch , USA , Michele Toma, Italy, one draw against Kamel Ali El Sayed, Egypt and one loss against Masamitsu Ichiguchi , Japan
1965	1.	Tournament in Klippan / Sweden	Bantam	before Eckard Thorun , GDR and Johnny Nielsen, Denmark
1965	2.	World Cup in Tampere	Bantam	with victories over Othon Moschidis, Amari Egadse , USSR, Raimo Taskinen, Finland and János Varga, Hungary and a draw against Kōji Sakurama , Japan
1966	1.	Tournament in Klippan / Sweden	Bantam	before Bruno Broja, Poland and Axel Bodelsson, Sweden
1966	1.	EM in Essen	Bantam	with victories over Kent Jonsson, Sweden, Max Scaioli, Italy, Ivan Kašpar, CSSR , Bruno Broja and Armais Sajadow , USSR and ei. Tie against Ion Baciu , Romania
1966	1.	World Cup in Toledo / Ohio	Bantam	with victories over Hossain Moareb, Iran , Risto Björlin , Finland, Koji Sakamura, Ünver Besergil , Turkey and János Varga and a draw against Ion Baciu
1967	8th.	EM in Minsk	Bantam	with a win over Oivind Solksjaer, Norway, a draw against Iwan Schawow , Bulgaria and a loss against Ünver Besergil
1967	11.	World Cup in Bucharest	Bantam	with a win over Johnny Nielsen, a draw against Hartmut Puls , GDR and a defeat against Siavash Shafizadeh, Iran
1968	8th.	EM in Västerås	Bantam	with wins over Roland Svensson, Sweden and Józef Lipień , Poland, a draw against Jan Neckař, CSSR and a defeat against Risto Björlin
1968	unpl.	OS in Mexico City	Bantam	after a win against Louis Manoel Grilo, Portugal and a defeat against Iwan Kochergin , USSR, retired due to injury

Most important international battles

• 1960, USSR - FRG, GR, Fl, shoulder defeat against Iwan Kochergin ,
• 1960, USSR - FRG, GR, Fl, points victory over Sergei Rybalko ,
• 1961, FRG - USSR, GR, Ba, point defeat against Wladlen Trostjanski ,
• 1962, Poland - FRG, GR, Ba, point victory over Laba,
• 1962, Poland - FRG, GR, Ba, point victory over Ratajczak,
• 1963, FRG - Denmark, GR, Ba, victory over Petersen,
• 1963, Sweden - FRG, GR, Ba, points victory over Johanesson,
• 1963, Sweden - FRG, GR, Ba, points victory over Skoog

German championships

year	space	style	Weight class
1955	2.	GR	To fly	behind Georg Schwaiger , Bad Reichenhall and in front of Walter Idler, Stuttgart
1955	1.	F.	To fly	before Georg Schwaiger and Paul Neff , Schifferstadt
1956	1.	GR	To fly	before Walter Idler and Paul Neff
1957	2.	GR	Bantam	behind Werner Fink, Hombruch and in front of Horst Petry, Koblenz
1957	1.	F.	To fly	before Paul Neff and Georg Schwaiger
1958	3.	GR	Bantam	behind Klaus Scherer, Heusweiler and Hermann Pfarrer, Aschaffenburg
1960	2.	GR	To fly	behind Paul Neff and in front of Rolf Lacour , Köllerbach
1962	1.	GR	Bantam	before Erwin Trouvain , Heusweiler and Bruno Steinmetz, Mainz
1963	2.	GR	Bantam	behind Karl Dodrimont , Baienfurt and in front of Bruno Steinmetz
1963	3.	F.	Bantam	behind Karl Dodrimont and Erwin Trouvain
1964	2.	GR	Bantam	behind Karl Dodrimont and in front of Bruno Steinmetz
1964	2.	F.	Bantam	behind Karl Dodrimont and in front of Franz Tempes, Schorndorf
1965	2.	GR	Bantam	behind Karl Dodrimont and in front of Heinz Kunzmann, Berghausen
1965	1.	F.	Bantam	before Karl Dodrimont and Werner Hettich , Vörstetten
1966	1.	GR	Bantam	before Karl Dodrimont and Franz Tempes
1966	2.	F.	Bantam	behind Karl Dodrimont and in front of Werner Holzner, Bad Reichenhall
1967	1.	GR	Bantam	before Tranz Tempes and Karl Dodrimont
1968	2.	GR	Bantam	behind Paul Neff and in front of Franz Tempes
1972	1.	GR	Bantam	before Hans Edfelder, Bad Reichenhall and Hans-Jürgen Veil , Schifferstadt

literature

• Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships, 1976.
• various issues of the specialist magazine "Athletik" from 1953 to 1972 and the specialist magazine "Der Ringer" No. 09/2006.

Web links

• Profile of Fritz Stange at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Fritz Stange in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary notice for Fritz Stange
2. ↑ Briefing of the Bundestag by the Federal Government of September 29, 1973 - Printed matter 7/1040 - Annex 3, pages 54 ff., Here page 55 (including all awards made up to 1973)