Frank Alvin Gotch was born April 27,
1878, on a farm three miles south of Humboldt. He was the last of nine
children of Frederick Rudolph and Amelia Gotch. His parents were married in
their native Germany in 1855 and immigrated to the United States in 1863. In
1864, Frederick enlisted in the Union Army, and served in 186th New York
Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out in 1865. He then journeyed to
Iowa, were he purchased land south of Humboldt.
The Gotch Home
Frank worked hard on the family farm.
Like many other kids of that time, he attended school mostly in the winter
months when he was needed to work on the farm. His favorite past time at
school was wrestling and boxing with the other boys. He had aspirations of
becoming a prizefighter, like John L. Sullivan.
As a teenager, Frank developed a
reputation as a tough guy, because of his "fun" wrestling matches with
others. On June 18, 1899, Frank was at a baseball game in LuVerne. It was
there that he answered the challenge to a wrestling match, by Dan McLeod.
McLeod was the former heavyweight champion of America. Frank was either
pretty confidante, or he was displaying the naiveté of a young Iowa farm
boy. The match lasted almost two hours before McLeod won the match.
McLeod was not the only winner that day, because Frank had so impressed him
that McLeod would later tell Farmer Burns that Frank Gotch had the makings
of a world champ.
To find out more about the career of
Frank Gotch, visit
Gotch An American Hero.
Frank with his wife Gladys
Gotch Day - 1908 - Humboldt, IA
Gotch died on
December 16, 1917 at the age of 41. A national hero, over 2,000 mourners
attended his funeral. Few men garnered the respect Gotch earned during his
time as champion, and for many years afterward, every champion that followed
him was invariably compared to the great Gotch, the "measuring stick" of
that era. The Ring Chronicle is proud to induct the man many consider to be
the 1st truly great World Wrestling Champion, Frank Gotch, into T. R. C. 's
pro wrestling Hall of Fame.
