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Adolph Ernst (April 7, 1887 – November 10, 1966), better known for his ring name Ad Santel, was a German-American professional wrestler, considered one of the greatest practitioners of catch wrestling. He was a World Light Heavyweight Champion for several years. Santel also billed himself as the World Judo Champion during his feud with the Kodokan judo school.
In October 1914, Santel came to Seattle and challenged resident judo master Taro Miyake, who Santel had already met in a draw. Santel won with such a powerful half nelson slam that Miyake remained dizzy for half an hour after the match. Seeing this as a new offense, judo founder Jigoro Kano sent 5th degree black belt Daisuke Sakai to avenge his defeat, but Santel again got over him, submitting Sakai twice with a biceps slicer.Jordan Breen, Ad-Santel and Catching Our History, Sherdog.com
As the Kodokan school did not send more challengers, Santel decided to travel to Japan to challenge them in their own ground. He assembled a team with fellow wrestlers Henry Weber and Manjiro "Matty" Matsuda, the latter being a judo black belt who had turned to catch wrestling years before.Hayward Nishioka, Judo's Forgotten Pioneer, Black belt magazine, May 1971John S. Nash, The Forgotten Golden Age of MMA – Part IV: Ultimate Fighting of the Belle Époque Their travel was possible thanks to Kodokan member Heita Okabe, who helped to host a series of matches between Santel's team and the Kodokan.Raul Sanchez Garcia, The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts Though Kano refused to sanction the event and threatened his students with expulsion if they fought, six of them accepted the challenge nonetheless, among them 5th degree black belts Hikoo Shoji and Reijiro Nakata. It was decided the bouts would be contested under neutral rules that demanded judogi jackets yet allowed all sorts of holds.Nate Wilcox, Really Old School: Catch Wrestling vs Judo 1921, Bloodyelbow.com In front of a crowd of 10.000 at the Yasukuni shrine, Santel defeated Nagata by TKO after a devastating headlock, and the next day he had a 60 minutes draw with Shoji, who left the mat so battered that Santel himself had to help him out of the arena. Later, Santel would defeat another judoka, Hitoshi Shimizu, to avenge Shimizu's victory over Weber.
The impact of these performances on Japan was immense. The Japanese were fascinated by the submissions taught in catch wrestling, and Japanese fighters traveled to Europe in order to either participate in various tournaments or to learn catch wrestling at European schools such as Billy Riley's school in Wigan, UK. Okabe and the judo challengers were effectively expelled from Kodokan, but some of them followed Santel to the United States to train with him, among them Hikoo Shoji, who became a freestyle wrestling pioneer in Japan.
In 1925, Santel faced a new judoka, this time Tsutao Higami, a 165-pound lighter but highly renowned groundwork expert who had trained under Ito and Miyake.Thomas H. Makiyama, Rubberman meets a giant: Hawaiian Recalls Gattle between Giant Grappler and Tiny Judoman, Black Belt magazine, September 1967 The match had two falls as in professional wrestling and was refereed by judoka Hiroshi Kitayama. Santel won the first fall, scoring a takedown and transitioning into a neckscissors hold that choked Higami out. After being revived, Higami proceeded to win the second fall, going through a back and forth round and locking a juji-gatame which Kitayama called on his favor. With the two falls evenly scored, the match ended in a draw, although Higami decided to learn wrestling shortly after. Tsutao “Rubberman” Higami In 1926, Santel would face Setsuzo Ota, drawing again. On the Defeat of Tokugoro Ito in North America
1911-1-18 Yakima Herald times
1911-2-6 RI Argus
1911-8-23 Bridgeport Evening Farmer
1911-9-3 The Richmond Times-Dispatch
1912-1-6 Topeka State Journal
Santel, along with George Tragos, Peter Sauer and Ed Lewis, trained Lou Thesz in the art of catch wrestling. Thesz studied under Santel for six intensive months and, throughout his career, continued to train under him whenever he was in the California area. Thesz considered his training with the German to be an "incredible gift".
Late career
Years after the famous 1911 match between Frank Gotch and Georg Hackenschmidt, Santel told Lou Thesz that he was paid $5,000 by Gotch's backers to cripple Hackenschmidt in training, and make it look like an accident.Thesz, Lou, & Kit Bauman, Mike Chapman, Editor, Hooker, The Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling (Wrestling Channel Press, 1995-2000), p. 67 According to Hackenschmidt himself, the injury was accidentally inflicted by his sparring partner, Dr. Roller, when trying to hold Hackenschmidt down onto his knees and Roller's right foot striking Hackenschmidt's right knee; his sparring partners were Jacobus Koch, Wladek Zbyszko and Ben Roller. Ad Santel is not mentioned in any account of Hackenschmidt's training by either Hackenschmidt or Roller, both of whom offered their insights and accounts.Fleischer, Nat, From Milo to Londos (The Ring, Inc., 1936), p. 122-24. However, Ad Santel was Hackenschmidt's head trainer and sparring partner using his real name of Adolph Ernst for about a year prior and right up until the second Gotch match when he was replaced with Dr Roller. Ernst was listed in almost every newspaper story on Hackenschmidt in the months prior to the Gotch rematch. It's believed Hackenshmidt put out the Roller story in hopes of Gotch and Burns refusing to pay Santel.1911-1-17 Washington Times
(2025). 9780984409044, Crowbar Press. ISBN 9780984409044
Career highlights
Championships and accomplishments
External links
Categories: 1887 Births, 1966 Deaths, American Catch Wrestlers, American Male Professional Wrestlers, German Male Professional Wrestlers, People Associated With Physical Culture, Sportspeople From Dresden, 20th-century Male Professional Wrestlers, Emigrants From The German Empire To The United States
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