Anton Koolmann (11 September 1899 – 29 June 1953) was a

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

and coach from

Kuusalu Parish Kuusalu Parish ( et, Kuusalu vald) is a rural municipality in northern Estonia, the largest in Harju County. After joining with the adjacent Loksa Parish in 2005, the municipality has now a population of 6,863 (as of 1 January 2009) and covers an ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

who took part at the 1924 Summer Olympics in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Career

1924 after winning Estonian Greco-Roman wrestling championships he participated at the 1924 Summer Olympics in

: Men's Greco-Roman bantamweight (-58 kg) :* First round – defeated French champion Georges Appruzeze by fall 13min 10s. :* Second round – lost to 1932 Summer Olympics champion Giovanni Gozzi with points. :* Third round – lost to 1921 world champion and later Med 3

Bronze medalist Väinö V. Ikonen with points. (→ did not advance, 13.-16. place) Men's freestyle featherweight (-61 kg) :* 1/8 Final round – lost to later Med 1

Gold medalist

Robin Reed Robin Reed (October 20, 1899 – December 20, 1978) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, and wrestling coach. Throughout his amateur career he never lost a wrestling match, official or unofficial, to anyone at any weight class. ...

:* Tournament to 2nd place - First round – lost to later Med 2

Silver medalist Chester Newton . (→ did not advance, 10. place) After Olympics he didn't return to home, but arrived, according to The Estonian Archives in Australia (EAA), 16 February 1925 from Campbeltown to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Australia on the four-masted

Barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

''"Carthpool"'' (Sister ship of ''

Lawhill ''Lawhill'' was a steel-hulled four-masted barque rigged in "jubilee" or "baldheaded" fashion, i.e. without royal sails over the top-gallant sails, active in the early part of the 20th century. Although her career was not especially remarkable, ...

''). In Australia within the first fortnight of his career as a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

Koolmann won in seven successive championship matches, two state championships, three

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n and two

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

n amateur championships. He won Australian middleweight championstitle from Hughie Whitman.The Argus., Saturday 26 June 192
p.20
/ref> 15 October 1928 he moved to New Zealand and got

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

in 1933. 1934 he wrestled against former

NWA World Heavyweight Champion The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...

Gus "The Goat" Sonnenberg. In the late 1930s, he trained many New Zealand wrestling champions in his Koolman's Gym in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. Among them Ernie "Kiwi" Kingston and from 1951 Maori professional heavyweight wrestler Keita Meretana of Wairoa. He died suddenly in his home at age 53 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Sport achievements

References

*
A little piece of San Francisco in Wellington!
- former Koolman's Wrestling Gym in 171 Cuba Street, Wellington

External links

Koolman's Correct Wrestling - Plates 45-48, series reprinted from an early wrestling bookKoolman's Correct Wrestling - Plates 57 and 58Anton Koolmann`s descendantsFamily business
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koolmann, Anton 1899 births 1953 deaths Olympic wrestlers of Estonia People from Kuusalu Parish New Zealand male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Estonian male sport wrestlers Estonian emigrants to New Zealand Sportspeople from Wellington City