Johann Trestler

Austrian wrestler Johann Trestler trained as a plumber but moved to Germany at the beginning of the 1910s to start his amateur wrestling career. He then returned to Wien (Vienna) and participated in several international competitions.

Trestler won a silver medal at the 1913 World Championships, and also won a bronze medal at the 1911 Unofficial World Championships and a gold medal at the 1912 Unofficial European Championships. At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics he was eliminated in the second round of the Greco-Roman middleweight class.

Trestler fought in World War I in the No. 4 Infantry Regiment “Hoch- und Deutschmeister”. For entertainment purposes, and as a distraction from everyday life at the front, he occasionally organized wrestling matches between wrestlers from the No. 4 and No. 84 regiments. Trestler was shot in the left forearm in December 1914 on the Russian Front, and in May 1916 returned to his unit.

After the war, Trestler turned to professional wrestling for financial reasons. He competed in Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Italy, and North Africa. From 1924 he toured through Germany and South America. In 1926, Testler received a knee injury during a tournament at Frankfurt am Main. Doctors wanted to amputate his leg. He returned to Wien (Vienna), however, where he died from complications to his injuries.