János Reznák

János Reznák medal table
Wrestler
Hungary
World Championship
bronze	1963 Sofia	Heavy

János Reznák (born December 12, 1930 in Cegléd ; † June 11, 1988 ibid) was a Hungarian wrestler .

Career

János Reznák started wrestling as a teenager. At the beginning of his career he worked in both styles, the free and the Greco-Roman style. From 1947 to 1966 he belonged to the sports club Ceglédi Vasutas Sportegyes . He was only 1.78 meters tall and weighed as a heavyweight about 110 kg.

He was able to attract attention for the first time as a wrestler in 1955, when he was already 24 years old and took 3rd place at the Hungarian championship in the Greco-Roman style in the light heavyweight division behind Gyula Kovács and János Solyom. From this point on he was part of the wider circle of the Hungarian national team of wrestlers.

In July 1956 he achieved remarkable success at an international tournament in Budapest. He won there in the Greco-Roman style in the light heavyweight division before the Swedish Olympic champion of 1948 Karl-Erik Nilsson and the strong Turkish Adil Atan . In 1957 he switched from light heavyweight to heavyweight and in the same year became Hungarian champions in both styles. In November 1957 he wrestled in Budapest in an international match between Hungary and Sweden against multiple world champion Bertil Antonsson and was defeated on points. In November 1957 he wrestled, again in Budapest, in an international match between Hungary and the Federal Republic of Germany in the Greco-Roman style in the heavyweight division against Wilfried Dietrich , but was shouldered by him after 7 minutes. The regular fight time at that time was 15 minutes.

1958 János Reznák was again Hungarian champion in both styles in the heavyweight division. In the same year he was also used for the first time at an international championship, the World Championship in Budapest, in the Greco-Roman style in heavyweight. He won there over Lazar Bujor from Romania, then fought against Hamit Kaplan from Turkey and Iwan Bogdan from the Soviet Union and lost in his fourth fight against Lyutwi Dschiber Akhmedov from Bulgaria. He finished 5th.

In 1959, a new star appeared on the Hungarian heavyweight wrestling mat, namely István Kozma . In 1959 he was the first Hungarian heavyweight champion in the Greco-Roman style and later became an Olympic champion and multiple world champion. János Reznák could not defeat Kozma. However, since Kozma concentrated on the Greco-Roman style, at least at the international championships, Janos Reznak only wrestled in the free style. In 1959 he was again Hungarian heavyweight champion in this style. He won this title in 1960, 1963 and 1964. At the 1959 World Cup, which was held in Tehran that year in free style, he was not used. But in 1959 he still wrestled in two comparative fights between Hungary and RSFSR (part of the USSR) in free style against Sawkuds Dzaboyevich Dzarasov and against Boris Kulayev , but was defeated by both.

In 1960 he competed in heavyweight free style at the Olympic Games in Rome. He won in Rome against Bill Kerslake from the United States, then fought against Ray Mitchell from Australia, won his third fight against Kenneth Richmond from Great Britain and then wrestled against Lyutvi Dzhiber Akhmedov. Since he had thus scored 6 missing points, he was eliminated and reached a respectable 6th place. Olympic champion in this weight class in free style was Wilfried Dietrich in Rome.

At the 1961 World Cup in Yokohama, János Reznák won against Hossein Noori from Iran, then wrestled with Wilfried Dietrich, won over Bishwanat Singh from India and was defeated by Alexander Medwed from the Soviet Union, who was still very young and had a fabulously successful career . Medvedev became world champion for the first time and Janos Reznak took a respectable 4th place.

At the 1962 World Cup in Toledo / USA, János Reznák wrestled again in the heavyweight division in free style. He won there over Jiro Seki from Japan, then wrestled against Ragnar Svensson from Sweden, defeated the American Merrell Solowin and finally lost to his old rival Lyutwi Dschiber Akhmedov. He was eliminated and came in 5th place.

At the 1963 World Championships in Sofia, János Reznák won his first and only medal in the heavyweight division at an international championship. He won the bronze medal in Sofia with a victory over Aziz Keyani from Iran, a draw against Wilfried Dietrich and Bohumil Kubát from the CSSR, he lost to Alexander Ivanitsky from the Soviet Union, but he was again a draw against Lutwi Dschiber Akhmedov.

In 1964 he was again at the Olympic Games, which took place in Tokyo, at the start. He came there in the heavyweight division in free style after a defeat against Lyutwi Dschiber Akhmedov, a victory over Tserendomoin Sanyaa from Mongolia and a defeat against Alexander Ivanitsky only on the 11th place.

János Reznák was then also at the 1965 World Cup in Manchester. He wrestled there against Roland Bock from the Federal Republic of Germany, won over Stefan Stingu from Romania and then lost to Larry Kristoff from the United States and against Ljutwi Dschiber Akhmedov. He finished 6th in Manchester.

In 1966 he also started at the European Championship, which was reintroduced that year (previously the last European Championship in 1949) in Karlsruhe. He lost in Karlsruhe to both Giyasettin Yilmaz from Turkey and Alexander Medwed and ended up in 8th place.

Then he ended his international wrestling career, in which he stood between 1958 and 1966 with almost the entire world elite (at least in free style) on the mat and always achieved respectable results.

International success

year	space	competition	style	Weight class	Results
1956	1.	Intern. Tournament in Budapest	GR	HS	before Karl-Erik Nilsson , Sweden and Adil Atan, Turkey
1958	5.	World Cup in Budapest	GR	S.	after a victory over Lazar Bujor, Romania, a draw against Hamit Kaplan , Turkey and Iwan Bogdan , USSR and a defeat against Lyutvi Dzhiber Akhmedov , Bulgaria
1960	6th	OS in Rome	F.	S.	after a win over Bill Kerslake, USA, a draw against Ray Mitchell, Australia, a win over Kenneth Richmond , Great Britain and a draw against Lyutvi Djiber Akhmedov
1961	4th	World Cup in Yokohama	F.	S.	after a win over Hossein Noori, Iran, a draw against Wilfried Dietrich, Germany, a win over Bishwana Singh, India and a defeat against Alexander Medwed , USSR
1962	3.	"Dan-Kolew" Memorial in Sofia	F.	S.	behind Lyutvi Dschiber Akhmedov and Yussein Mechmedow, both Bulgaria
1962	5.	World Cup in Toledo / USA	F.	S.	after a 'win over Jiro Seki, Japan, a draw against Ragnar Svensson , Sweden, a win over Merrell Solowin, USA and a loss against Lyutvi Dchiber Akhmedov
1963	3.	World Cup in Sofia	F.	S.	after a victory over Aziz Keyani, Iran, a draw against Wilfried Dietrich and Bohumil Kubát , CSSR, a defeat against Alexander Ivanitsky, USSR and a draw against Lyutvi Dziber Akhmedov
1964	11.	OS in Tokyo	F.	S.	after a defeat against Lyutvi Djiber Akhmedov, a victory over Tserendonoin Sanyaa, Mongolia and a defeat against Alexander Ivanitsky, USSR
1965	6th	World Cup in Manchester	F.	S.	after a draw against Roland Bock , Federal Republic of Germany, a win over Stefan Stingu, Romania and defeats against Larry Kristoff , USA and Lyutwi Dschiber Achmedow
1966	8th.	EM in Karlsruhe	F.	S.	after losing to Giyasettin Yilmaz, Turkey and Alexander Medwed

Hungarian championships

János Reznák was Hungarian champion in the Greco-Roman style in 1957 and 1958 and in 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1964 in the free style, each in the heavyweight division

Explanations

• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship
• GR = Greco-Roman style, F = free style
• Weight classes: light heavy weight, up to 1961 up to 87 kg, from 1962 up to 97 kg body weight; Heavy weight, up to 1961 over 87 kg and from 1962 over 97 kg

literature

• Athletics magazine
• Documentation of International Wrestling Championships 1896 to 1976; Published by: FILA (World Wrestling Federation), 1976

Web links

• Profile of János Reznák at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• János Reznák in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Article about wrestling in Cegléd with photo by János Reznák