Dan Kolov - the invincible Bulgarian wrestler

Doncho Kolev Danev was born on December 27, 1892, in the village of Sennik, near Sevlievo. At the age of 17 he left from the port in Istanbul to America. There he worked as a docker, miner, railway worker and metallurgist. At that time, fights between the workers were often organized. The Bulgarian defeated all his opponents. Soon he was noticed by the director of the famous American traveling circus Victoria where the strong Bulgarian Doncho became the invincible Dan Kolov. In the tournaments organized by the circus, he met many popular wrestlers at that time - Jeff Lawrence, Jack Shirey, called The Flash Man, Rudy Dusek, Joe Stecher, Evan Lewis, Jim Browning and many others. However, none of them managed to beat Dan Kolov. He was invited to participate in the only tournament of its kind in Japan, where the wrestling had been a national sport for thousand years. In the final match Dan Kolov won against Jiki Higen - The Strangler, the idol of Japanese wrestling, defeated by no one. The Bulgarian wrestler participated in the big Catch tournament in Paris. There he overcame all his opponents, including Henry Deglan in the final - “The Man with the Thousand Locks”, European, World and Olympic champion. This victory brought the Bulgarian the title European Champion and The Diamond Belt. He was called King Kong, The King of the Catch and The Balkan Lion. Except for his sport successes, Doncho was remembered with his big heart, after helping many Bulgarians abroad. He gave almost all his money for charity and bought the first plane of the Bulgarian Posts. Doncho spent his last years in Bulgaria. On March 26, 1940 the invincible Bulgarian wrestler died of tuberculosis. At his request he was buried in his native village. In his honor every year in Sevlievo a free-style- wrestling tournament is organized.