Heinz Eichelbaum

Heinz Eichelbaum medal table
Wrestler
Germany
World Championship
bronze	1975 Minsk	Super heavy
European Championship
bronze	Madrid	Super heavy

Heinz Eichelbaum (born September 13, 1940 in Oberhausen ) is a former German wrestler .

Career

Heinz Eichelbaum grew up in Oberhausen and started wrestling there . As a teenager he developed into one of the best German young wrestlers and in 1958 in Heiligenwald he became German youth champion in the free style in the class over 79 kg body weight. Just a year later, he also surprised the seniors and was the first German champion in free style in the light heavyweight division in 1959 before the experienced Johann Sterr from Munich- Neuaubing. In the next few years he was always at the top of the German championships, both in the free style and in the Greco-Roman style. However, he was initially unable to qualify for international championships because he had grown into the heavyweight division in the mid-1960s and had strong competitors in this weight class in Wilfried Dietrich and Roland Bock . After Wilfried Dietrich's resignation after the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, he had the opportunity to prove himself successfully on the international wrestling mat, even though he was over 30 years old.

He won bronze medals at the 1974 European Championships in Madrid and at the 1975 World Championships in Minsk in free style in the heavyweight division, after having already finished fifth at the 1974 World Cup in Istanbul in free style. 1976 Eichelbaum took part in the Summer Olympics in Montreal and reached an 11th place.

At 23 German championships he was among the top three winners and won four German championship titles.

In the course of his long career he fought for the following clubs: KSV Styrum 1911, KSV Oberhausen, KSV Duisdorf, ASV Heros Dortmund and KSV Witten.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, F = free style, GR = Greco-Roman style, Hs = light heavyweight, S = heavyweight, SS = super heavyweight, back then up to 87 kg or over 87 kg or over 100 kg body weight)

• 1967, 2nd place , "Klippan" tournament in Klippan / Sweden , GR, S, behind Ragnar Svensson , Sweden and ahead of Roman Bierła , Poland and Stig Svensson, Sweden;
• 1972, 9th place , EM in Katowice , GR, S, after defeats against Leif Norström, Sweden and Nicolae Martinescu , Romania ;
• 1974, 3rd place , EM in Madrid , F, SS, with victory over Sergio Carlesi, Italy , a draw against Bojan Boew , Bulgaria and defeats against Ladislau Șimon , Romania and Soslan Andijew , USSR ;
• 1974 5th place , World Championship in Istanbul , F, SS, with victory over Lasong Snoracks, Cuba a draw against Peter Germer , GDR and defeats against Bojew and Șimon;
• 1975, 3rd place , World Championship in Minsk , F, SS, with victories over Yorihido Isogai, Japan and Michael McCready , USA and one defeat against Roland Gehrke , GDR ;
• 1976, 11th place , OS in Montreal , F, Ss, after defeats against Nikola Dinew , Bulgaria and Roland Gehrke

In 1998 and 1999, Heinz Eichelbaum was also senior world champion (age group 55–60 years).

German championships

• 1959, 3rd place, GR, Hs, behind Horst Heß , Dortmund and Erich Wörner, Langendiebach ,
• 1959, 1st place, F, Hs, in front of Johann Sterr , Neuaubing and Erich Wörner,
• 1960, 3rd place, F, Hs, behind Ernst Ganßert , Frankfurt am Main and Fritz Dirscherl , Kelheim ,
• 1962, 2nd place, GR, Hs, behind Manfred Spohr, Hanover and in front of Heinz Kiehl , Oggersheim ,
• 1962, 2nd place, F, Hs, behind Josef Hucker, Unterelchingen and in front of Alfons Jakoby, Ludwigshafen,
• 1964, 2nd place, GR, S, behind Wilfried Dietrich , Schifferstadt and in front of Karl-Heinz Gerdsmeier , Aschaffenburg ,
• 1965, 2nd place, GR, S, behind Wilfried Dietrich and in front of Josef Gammel, Neuaubing,
• 1965, 3rd place, F, S, behind Wilfried Dietrich and Roland Bock , Stuttgart-Feuerbach ,
• 1966, 3rd place, GR, S, behind Wilfried Dietrich and Roland Bock,
• 1967, 3rd place, GR, S, behind Wilfried Dietrich and Horst Schwarz , Untertürkheim ,
• 1967, 3rd place, F, S, behind Wilfried Dietrich and Gerd Volz, Köllerbach,
• 1968, 1st place, GR, S, in front of Horst Schwarz and Roland Bock,
• 1968, 3rd place, F, S, behind Roland Bock and Josef Gammel,
• 1969, 2nd place, F, S, behind Roland Bock and in front of Gerd Volz,
• 1970, 3rd place, GR, S, behind Heinz Kiehl, Schifferstadt and Alfons Hecher , Hallbergmoos ,
• 1970, 2nd place, F, SS, behind Wilfried Dietrich and in front of Emil Neunkirchen Rheydt,
• 1971, 3rd place, GR, S, behind Lorenz Hecher , Hallbergmoos and Alfons Hecher,
• 1972, 1st place, GR, S, ahead of Georg Vorbuchner, Anger and Heinz Schäfer, Erkenschwick,
• 1973, 2nd place, F, SS, behind Wilfried Dietrich and in front of Gerd Volz,
• 1974, 2nd place, F, SS, behind Alfons Hecher and in front of Gerd Volz,
• 1975, 1st place, F, SS, in front of Alfons Hecher and Helmut Löw, Nuremberg ,
• 1976, 2nd place, F, SS, behind Georg Vorbuchner and in front of Wolfram Gentzen,
• 1977, 2nd place, F, SS, behind Richard Wolff , Reichenhall and in front of Eckhard Knodel, Wiesental

literature

• Yearbook of the German Wrestling Federation 1972, Athletik-Verlag Karlsruhe, 1972
• One hundred years of wrestling in Germany , Der Ringer Verlag, Niedernberg, 1991, page 176
• various issues of the specialist magazines "Athletik" and "Der Ringer" from 1958 to 1977

Web links

• Profile of Heinz Eichelbaum at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Heinz Eichelbaum in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Article about Heinz Eichelbaum from 2018