Born in May, 1904, Karol “The Count” Nowina was a Polish Catch Wrestler, Professional Wrestler and nephew of the Legendary Zbyszko brothers.

Brazilian Newspapers of the time describe him as a cultivated and educated man of impeccable character, renown for his distinct grappling style and flawless technical prowess.
He was also a lawyer, air force pilot, author, and a well known polyglot. He spoke Polish, his native language, German, Russian, English, Italian, French, Czech and Spanish among others.
The Count’s natural athletic talent helped him excel at several sports, that included track, tennis, gymnastics and fencing, but it was Catch Wrestling what he devoted his life to. He wrestled for his University, became a National Wrestling Champion, and traveled to the United States of America where he honed his Catch As Catch Can skills.
His first major title win came in 1927 at age 22, after battling Sam Claphan for 2 hours and 12 minutes in Chicago, for the Light Heavyweight World Championship.
He traveled the world taking on all comers, competing in The US, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, India and all over Europe both in Catch As Catch Can competitions and Pro-Wrestling shows.
One of the highlights of his career is his 1937 victory over Jim Londos in South Africa, whom he had previously lost to.
He took on some of the greatest grapplers of his generation, scoring spectacular wins.
He was scheduled to face George Gracie on October 06 1934, but the match didn’t take place and both ended up going against other opponents.
The Count was known for his powerful leglocks and flying holds. One of his signature moves was the flying double wrist lock.
In an interview he shared some of his fond memories, like traveling from New York to London on a ship where a ring was improvised. He participated in 4 matches not to waste time. One of them was against a sailor and old wrestler who lasted 47 minutes in the ring with the Count.
When asked who he thought were the greatest grapplers of modern times, his list included Frank Gotch, Hackenschmidt, Ben Roller and Strangler Lewis. He added that he wouldn’t know about the current greats since he had been away from the United States for 4 years.