Paul Datwyler

Paul Daetwyler (* 13. March 1916 in Lyss , Canton Bern ; † 25. July 1984 ) was a Swiss wrestler and oscillators . He won a bronze medal in the middleweight division in freestyle wrestling at the European Championships in Munich in 1937 .

Career

Paul Dätwyler began wrestling and swinging as a teenager in Moudon . Swinging, a Swiss national sport, is similar to freestyle wrestling because leg attacks are allowed in both sports. Paul Dätwyler practiced these two sports side by side very successfully. He was active as a wrestler from 1934 to 1945 and won many prizes at many major Swiss tournaments. But he could never become king of wrestling.

In wrestling, he was the first Swiss champion in free style in 1935 in the light heavyweight division . In the same year he started at the European Championships in freestyle wrestling in Brussels in the same weight class. There he defeated Fritz Oberländer from Austria and Erich Siebert from Germany , but then lost to August Neo from Estonia and Ede Virágh-Ebner from Hungary and finished in 5th place.

In 1936 he was also at the light heavyweight division at the Olympic Games in Berlin . He lost his first fight there against the American Ray Clemons, then defeated Mustafa Çakmak from Turkey and Hubert Prokop from Czechoslovakia , but then lost again to August Neo. With the 4th place he just missed an Olympic medal in the final bill.

At the European Free Style Championship in Munich in 1937 , Paul Dätwyler started in the middleweight division. He lost there in his opening fight against the experienced Frenchman Jean Jourlin on points, but then won against Drzymala from Poland, Jan Pelikan from Czechoslovakia and János Rihetzky from Hungary. In the final round, however, he was defeated by the Swedish wrestling king Ivar Johansson , but still won the bronze medal.

In 1937 there was an international match in freestyle wrestling between Switzerland and Germany. Paul Datwyler won the middleweight division over the German freestyle champion of this weight class Albert Laudien from Wilhelmshaven on points.

After the Second World War, Paul Dätwyler continued his international wrestling career. But he had no luck, because he retired at the European Middleweight Championship in Stockholm in 1946 after a loss to Eino Virtanen from Finland due to injury. He was also unlucky at the 1948 Olympic Games in London . He won there in the middleweight division, first over Anton Vogel from Austria and Jean-Baptist Benoy from Belgium , but then had to give up in the fight against André Brunaud from France due to an injury and could not continue the tournament.

International success as a wrestler

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1935	5.	EM in Brussels	Semi-difficult	after victories over Fritz Oberländer, Austria, and Erich Siebert , Germany, and defeats against August Neo , Estonia, and Ede Virágh-Ebner , Hungary
1936	4th	OS in Berlin	Semi-difficult	after a defeat against Ray Clemons, USA, victories against Mustafa Çakmak , Turkey, and Hubert Prokop, Czechoslovakia, and a defeat against August Neo
1937	3.	EM in Munich	medium	after a loss to Jean Jourlin , France, victories over Dzymala, Poland, Jan Pelikan, Czechoslovakia, and János Rihetzky , Hungary, and a loss to Ivar Johansson , Sweden
1946	unpl.	EM in Stockholm	medium	injury-related retirement against Eino Virtanen , Finland
1948	unpl.	OS in London	medium	after victories over Anton Vogel, Austria, and Jean-Baptist Benoy, Belgium, retired from André Brunaud, France, due to injury

Explanations

• all free style competitions
• OS = Olympic Games, EM = European Championship
• Middleweight, weight class at that time up to 79 kg, light heavyweight up to 87 kg body weight

literature

• Professional magazines athletics and strength training .
• Olle Larsson, Peter Irdén: Documentation of International Wrestling Championships 1896–1976. FILA, Lausanne 1976.

Web links

• Paul Dätwyler in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Profile of Paul Dätwyler at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Paul Dätwyler ( Memento from November 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) on sportalbum (Paul Dätwyler's successes as a wrestler )
• The wrestlers Willy Lardon, Court, and Paul Dätwyler, Moutier, around 1935 on mémreg (photo)