The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-02-04
JOE STEGHER s.
REAL WONDER n !! .E!|..!:!..
He Comes From the West
And Has Earned Pub
les Gonfd ence.

II - 49, q ,.Ilr
NEW YORK. Feb! The Eastern
wrestling skeptics asked ito be shown,
whereupon SOC stecher, the western
wonder, dsspiayed his wares and CON
winced everyone In GOTHAM town that
he NJ one cf the greatest grapplers
since tho days when Frank Gotch
was hi htg prime.
steciier came to New York for his
bout With Mort Henderson, the Mask
ed Muryel, fouted as q whirlwind on
the mat Gotham didn't believe It
but he does now. The way In which
Stecher toyed with u henderson was
revelation.
Oddly enough, stecher was never
tntored by o professional wrestler:
Some reports have It that Farmer
Burns inttnducedS1 him to the rudiments
OF the game These are erroneous.
Stecherss only Instructor has been his
older brother; Anton, who knows only
q little more about the wrestling game
than Joe did when the boys began
graphing back In their home town In
Dodge, Neb.
Five years ago the stecher boys
BECAME interested in wrestling while
Attending the q. NJ. IA. in Fremont,
Neb. When theysTeturned to the farm
they continued grappling in their odd
moments. No one told them anything
about the tricks In the wrestling game.
WheneFer they could find the time to
do So they would d go!t to some wrestling
1natch III which prof ssionals were in
voiyed. TheYEWou1d match the tricks
uncovered by the profs and then go
horne and Try hem on each other.
out In Dodge they fdolize Joe-and
we'll they should Not only has Joe
risen 70 height that should make
Dodge proud that it pro duced him, but
inoid ental1Y Joe made some OF the
Dodge boys rather wealthy.
ABOUT three years ago Joe blossom
Cd out ia public as q wrestler He
showed up wonde rful1Y among the am
ateurs, no PINNED every man
whom he tack1ed. That made the ctti-
lgens of Dodge quite boastful about
The and his ability. Those boasts
seeped out into the world, whereupon
several different punches OF gamblers
IN Omaha decided to clean up Dodge
,nd tie immediate vicinity.
When Stechers won with ease all Of
his eariy matches the town Of Dodge
issued q def TO the effect that Stech-
er could meet anyone In the country,
catch.assyou:cans style. That was the
1unlmons Tor the gamblers. They
aenba tew emfssarie down Dodge way
who boosted about so:and.so who was
Ereat wrestler: The Dodge folks
.grabbed at the bait.
ne may be good n but he's not as
gopds Steche rSpS announced Dodge In
one voice. IA 4.
Nhere6pon, d match was made, the
Rambters brought a ringer" and coax
cd the Dodge folks to bet on stecher.
Il wasn't hard To- coax those fellows;
they were only too willing to back
Stecher to the limit Of their bank
rolls. And Stecher won.
Time ana again the gamblers
BROUGHT famous Wrestlers &c. Dodge
ana the vicinity, und err assumed name,
and matched them against Stecher.
OH each and every occasion the gam.
blers plunged reckl essly, feeling sure
Gat this VAS the time that Stecher
would be beaten! But 5stecher wasn't.
He heat every man the gamblers pitt
ted against him, and the Dodge boys
who pyramid led their bets on him ran
4 few doIiara Into the thousands.
When Stecher made his early APP
pearance In Omaha here was a GER
tain clique that scotted him. 1t had.
heard about tsWond ersn before; 1t was
not going to be ken IN" again. But
stecher kent on stling, kept on do.
Ing his best at II all times, kept on win
ming and soon Omaha and all the
west awakened to the fact that It
had produced a. grapp1er who knows
no peer aE the cate h.as.catch-can style.
steeher, who is 5Iof Bohemian paren.
eage. is 8 feet II, wei hs 200 pounds,
aud has g wond erfuls physical develop
ment, Stecher's legs and arms are
Impressive almost to- the point Of be-
ing nncanny His farms are long and
sinewy and his legs show muscular
Development beyond anything ever
seen "a New York: Stecher has the
most powerful pair of legs ever owned
BY any wrestler and it Is largely be.
Gauge Of this he has been so sue
ceaatti.
The seisaors hold long regarded as
one Of tho most ettectiye on the mat,
has boon perfected to il the highest point
BY 5teoheE He iBsass fast as a streak
OF lightning on the mat and when he
necures his SCISSORS hold It Is only a
matter Of seconds before he has pin.
ned hin should gs& to the mat.
stecher broke in upon New York
nfter Il had experience three solid
months o. wrestling. That tournament
enabled tie ians To ."'get a line" on
READ wraBtlers and ord inary wrestlers.
And those WHO saw every one. OF the
internationaI gTapplerss and then saw
steclier afe uIiinanimous in declaring
Tstecher rs the greatest of them ALL"