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The Strong Boy and the Local Champion

Omer Marbet and Frans Unfried sign articles for a $500 catch-as-catch-can wrestling match at Turner Hall.

The story, cleaned up

A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.

Omer Marbet and Frans Unfried, the 'Strong Boy,' have agreed to a catch-as-catch-can wrestling match for the local championship. They met at the Post-Intelligencer office and signed articles of agreement to wrestle two falls out of three for a purse of $500. The winner takes 75 percent of the gate receipts. The match will take place on Saturday evening, April 29, at Turner Hall in Seattle. There will be no rules barring holds. Marbet and Unfried were accompanied by their respective backers, Charles Dietz and A. F. Able, who posted the money. The men are to wrestle at catch weights, though Unfried will strip at 170 pounds and Marbet somewhere between 170 and 175 pounds. Both men have gone into active training.

“Omer Marbet and Frans Unfried, the 'Strong Boy,' have agreed to a catch-as-catch-can wrestling match for the local championship.”

— Printed in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893
Then · 1893133 years apartNow · 2026

Turner Hall was a vital hub for German-American civic life and physical culture in Seattle. This event showcases the era's fascination with professional wrestling before it became the highly stylized spectacle it is today.

The original page

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-04-17. Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

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About this story

From
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, APR 17, 1893, Page 3
Rights
Public domain
Place
47.60323, -122.33028 · placed automatically
The paper in the Library of Congress catalog ↗