Ed Lewis
Robert Friedrich started building his strength while a boy in Nekoosa.
He became so strong that, under the name of Ed "Strangler" Lewis, he
dominated the sport of wrestling from 1914 until he retired in 1940.
During his career, Lewis held the uncrowned heavyweight championship
five times.
Lewis claimed to have never been defeated during his 26
years and to have passed along the title to others for promotional
reasons. Records of the era are too sketchy to confirm this claim, but
it is known Lewis beat the likes of Joe Stecher, Yussuf Hussane and
other greats of the era.