Lauri Koskela

Lauri Koskela ( born May 16, 1907 in Lapua, † August 3, 1944 in Vuosalmi, Karelian Isthmus, Viipuri Province) was a Finnish wrestler.

Career

Lauri Koskela grew up in the Finnish town of Lapua. He was a laborer and was until 1931 the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation TUL, since he wrestled for the TUL Club " Lapuan Ponnistus ". Shortly before the 1932 Olympic Games, he joined the club Ringer " Lapuan Virkiä " and thus became a member of the official Finnish Ringer association which was affiliated to the Wrestling World Association. In this association, he became one of the most prominent wrestlers of the 1930s in the Greco-Roman world. He was Olympic champion and three times European champion. The European title was then actually the world title the same, since no world championships were held, the European wrestler in the Greco -Roman style, however, were the best in the world. His biggest rival was his compatriot Aarne Reini, who defeated him by the Finnish championships in 1935, 1937 and 1938. Lauri Koskela also fought several times in Germany and delivered to it with Wolfgang Ehrl, Weikart Fritz and Heinrich Nettesheim exciting and thrilling battles he won most.

Lauri Koskela died in 1944 at the age of 37 years.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, European Championship EM =, GR = Greco-Roman style, Fe = Featherweight, Lightweight = Le, then to 61 kg or 66 kg body weight)

Finnish Championships

( Greco-Roman style)