CHAMPION OF NEWFOUNDLAND

Bill Whelan

2026 03 02

The Great Wrestling March – Otto Oppelt versus Young Olson.   This was the main event for the St. John’s newspapers in January of 1911. The winner of that match in the Church Lads Brigade Armory would be Champion of Newfoundland.

Otto Oppelt was WD Reid’s chauffeur.   Mr WD Reid owned the Newfoundland Railway, perhaps an unwise investment.  No doubt Oppelt came to Newfoundland with Reid when that Canadian gentleman came to oversee his business. The press referred to Oppelt as The Chauffeur.

The papers referred to Olson as Young Olson. He was Thorwald Olaf Olson, a gymnast and a world class wrestler. He was a teacher in St John’s, as part of Dr Grenfell’s work there. He won the Police Gazette Belt, a major wrestling prize, in St John’s, and went on to win the World Middleweight title in London. Wrestling was a serious and demanding sport.

The Great Wrestling Match lasted 2 hours and 16 minutes.  That was the time to the first fall.  Olson was unable to continue, due to a severely strained shoulder. Otto Oppelt was Champion of Newfoundland. The fans went to their homes in the Newfoundland way, through a howling blizzard.

What became of Oppelt and Olson? One year later Oppelt was in London with WD Reid and will wrestle with some celebrities in his own class there, according to a St John’s paper.   He said in a letter that he would go on to the continent with WD Reid and would bring along a 90 hp auto of the most modern type on his return to St John’s.   And he went up in an airship.

The St John’s papers mentioned Young Olson again 23 years later.   Although he had long since left Newfoundland, he still had friends in St John’s.   He wrote in 1934, saying that he hoped to visit the city soon to renew old acquaintances.   He was now more than 50 years old and had been a trainer at the University of Ohio for years.

And what became of the Champion of Newfoundland? Did he return to Germany and perhaps join the army and fight in the Great War? No, Otto went to the USA and entered the automobile industry. Yes, the Champion of Newfoundland went on to sell cars in New York, according to the St John’s Daily Star of 16 April 1919.

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