Ad Santel

Adolph Ernst (April 7, 1887–November 10, 1966), better known for his ring name Ad Santel, was an American professional wrestler, considered one of the greatest practitioners of catch wrestling ever. He is known for his feud with the Kodokan judo school.

Career

Ad Santel fought one of the early clash-of-the-styles matches in modern martial arts history against Tokugoro Ito, a 5th degree black belt in Judo from Japan. Santel defeated Ito when a slamming takedown rendered the Judoka unable to continue the point and proclaimed himself the World Judo Champion. Tokugoro Ito went on to avenge the loss a few months later on June 10, 1916 by defeating Santel with a choke hold, being one of very few to ever defeat Santel. The two had a third match, which ended in a draw.