Karl Sarpolis (August 31, 1897 – May 28, 1967) was a professional wrestler and wrestling promoter in Texas. He was the promoter of the Amarillo,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

-based

Western States Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and ...

promotion.

Early life

Sarpolis was born in

Newport, Pennsylvania Newport is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,487 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg–Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle Harrisburg metro ...

, to Lithuanian immigrants. He had a love for music and could play several instruments. During his enrollment at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, he made money performing in a band.National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 310, Tim Hornbaker, ECW Press, 2007, He also played football for coach

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

. After serving in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he attended medical school at Rush College and in 1926 earned a medical degree from Loyola, following in his brother's footsteps.

Wrestling

He was recruited into wrestling by

Jack Pfefer Jack Pfefer (also commonly spelled as "Pfeffer"; December 10, 1894 – September 13, 1974) was an American professional wrestling promoter during the early-to-mid twentieth century. He pioneered an earlier form of sports entertainment, as he was ...

in 1926, who recommended that he emphasize his Lithuanian heritage. He wrestled

Jim Londos Christos Theofilou (; January 2, 1894 – August 19, 1975), better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos ( Greek: Τζιμ Λόντος), was a Greek American professional wrestler. Londos was one of the most popular stars on the professional ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on July 12, 1932. The match had an attendance of over 10,000. In 1933, he claimed the undisputed championship of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

by winning a tournament in Cleveland. During the Great Depression, Sarpolis would book in Dallas for Ed McLemore. He occasionally refereed and filled in for injured wrestlers and filled in for wrestlers who missed bookings. His nickname was "Doc", and he purchased one-third of the Texas Wrestling Agency with Sigel and Burke. The group would book grapplers into Dallas, San Antonio, and other cities in

. In April 1953, he sold his stake and jumped to McLemore’s anti-NWA outfit.

Amarillo

In 1955, Sarpolis and

Dory Funk Dorrance Wilhelm Funk (May 4, 1919 – June 3, 1973) was an American professional wrestler. He is the father of wrestlers Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, and was a promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion. Earl ...

bought out Dory Detton's

promotion in Amarillo for approximately $75,000. The West Texas territory had the Funk family as its headliners. Once known for junior heavyweights, the new ownership transformed Amarillo into an area featuring grapplers of all shapes and sizes. Although Funk was considered a potential replacement for Pat O’Connor as NWA world heavyweight champion, the NWA decided to go with Buddy Rogers as champion. The Amarillo office then chose to recognize

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he ...

as champion instead.National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 311, Tim Hornbaker, ECW Press, 2007, Sarpolis continued to pay membership dues and In August 1962 was elected president of the NWA. He became the first president to recognize a champion other than the NWA titleholder. Even after

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...

defeated Rogers for the NWA title in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Sarpolis continued to recognize Kiniski and then

Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the ...

as champion. At the August 1963 NWA convention in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, members worked to reach a solution and the Amarillo office agreed to recognize Thesz. Losses to The Shiek and Thesz led to the eventual phasing out of Dory Jr.’s championship.National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 215, Tim Hornbaker, ECW Press, 2007, Throughout the 1960s, Sarpolis and Funk, Sr. had working agreements with

Sam Muchnick Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commissio ...

Verne Gagne the Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling, Minnesota Golden Gophers Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne ( ; February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Amer ...

Bob Geigel Robert Frederick Geigel (October 1, 1924 – October 30, 2014) was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 19 ...

and Jim Barnett. The Amarillo production had Stanley Blackburn as its kayfabe commissioner, Shelton Key as the ring announcer, and the weekly TV shows were taped on Saturday afternoons from the studio of KVII-TV (Channel 7 in Amarillo). Sarpolis died of a heart attack on May 28, 1967, after a boating accident. The Sarpolis family would sell his shares in the Amarillo promotion to Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk.

Personal

Sarpolis married his first wife, Josephine (née Dzugas) on August 13, 1920. They had two sons: Karl Jr. died as an infant less than a year old. A second son also named Karl was born on November 20, 1924, lived in Chicago until his death on June 19, 1996. He was married on February 3, 1936, to Vivian Proctor with wrestler Ellis Bashara as his best man. He would marry a second time and had a daughter named Betty Jane on July 23, 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarpolis, Karl American male professional wrestlers American people of Lithuanian descent University of Chicago alumni Professional wrestling promoters American military personnel of World War I People from Newport, Pennsylvania People from Amarillo, Texas 1897 births 1967 deaths Western States Sports