Marshall Wallace Esteppe (March 1, 1909 - January 18, 1989) was an American

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He wrestled primarily throughout the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

where he became a three-time World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Following his retirement from professional wrestling, Esteppe became wrestling coach at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. He coached four years voluntarily and is remembered by the university through their "Marshall Esteppe Most Outstanding Freshman" wrestler award, for his role in relaunching M.U.'s wrestling program.

Biography

Esteppe was born March 1, 1909, to Bourbon and Mary Esteppe. He played basketball at Centralia High School and was a member of the 1926-27 team that finished 26-1. Following a successful high school wrestling tenure in the late 1920s, Esteppe was invited to watch professional wrestlers

George Tragos George Tragos (Greek: Γεώργιος Τράγος; 14 March 1897 – 5 September 1955) was a Greek-American amateur wrestler, professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Tragos notably trained three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thes ...

, Lloyd Carter and World Middleweight Champion Chris Jordan at Carter's Globe Hotel in Centralia. He would eventually join in the workouts, training under their tutelage. Carter arranged for Esteppe to compete in shoot matches at carnivals. He had his first professional bout, under the ring name Marshall Carter in 1933 and married his wife Ruth one year later. He would wrestle for the following 21 years, relocating several times throughout the United States. He won his first title by defeating Gus Kallios for the NWA Middleweight title in 1935 and went on to win the 175-pound title three years later by defeating Jesse James. In 1945 he again moved weight class and won the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Ken Fenelon in Des Moines, Iowa. Although he did not capture World Heavyweight Championship, he had notable victories over Heavyweight Champions

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 ...

Orville Brown Orville Brown (March 10, 1908 – January 24, 1981) was an American professional wrestler. He is a thirteen-time world champion and was recognized as the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1948. Brown's professional wrestling career end ...

Leroy McGuirk Leroy Michael McGuirk (December 13, 1910 – September 9, 1988) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, and wrestling promoter. He was involved in professional wrestling for more than fifty years. As one of the longest surviving memb ...

and Ed "Strangler" Lewis. He retired in 1953, having wrestle approximately 3,000 matches throughout the USA. Esteppe returned to wrestling in 1959, accepting a role as wrestling coach at the University of Missouri and playing a pivotal role in the re-creation of the college's wrestling programme, which had been discontinued in the mid-1930s. He coached four years without pay, starting the University of Missouri's journey to prominence in collegiate wrestling. He retired from this role in 1964. In his retirement, he became President of the Centralia Country Club and the club champion in 1956. He also became President of the Missouri Sand Greens Golf Association and continued to attend M.U. wrestling events until his passing in 1989. He is remembered by the University of Missouri through their "Marshall Esteppe Most Outstanding Freshman" wrestler award, for his role in relaunching M.U.'s wrestling program.

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

* Missouri high school state champion * Head Coach,

wrestling program

Professional wrestling

Midwest Wrestling Association Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc., operating as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebr ...

**MWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship ''(Missouri version)'' (2 times) *

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Created in 1943, the title is competed for by junior heavyweight wrestlers. History The first NWA World J ...

(3 times)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Esteppe, Marshall 1909 births 1989 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers Amateur wrestlers American male professional wrestlers People from Centralia, Missouri Professional wrestlers from Missouri University of Missouri staff NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champions