Karol Nowina, popularly known as “The Count”, was a Polish Catch Wrestler and Pro-Wrestler born on May 24, 1904 in Kraków, Poland.
He was nephew of Pro-Wrestling Legends Stanislaus and Wladek Zbyszko.
Nowina was a true renaissance man with a wide range of accomplishments in different fields. He was a lawyer, decorated Royal Air Force (RAF) Polish Division pilot, and a well known polyglot, fluent in the following languages: Polish, German, Russian, English, Italian, French, Czech and Spanish among others. Besides Grappling, the Count found success in different sports that ranged from Gymnastics and Fencing to Tennis.
Wrestling, Catch Wrestling and Pro-Wrestling:
Nowina wrestled for his University and became a National Wrestling Champion in Poland. He learned Catch As Catch Can Wrestling from his uncles, and spent several years in the US refining his technique. He was an expert of flying submissions, specially the flying double wrist lock, and many of his wins came by leglock. He was constantly praised by the media for his flawless technical execution, and was regarded in many articles as the most technical grappler of his generation. He had Catch Wrestling and Pro-Wrestling matches in the US, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, India, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Egypt, Holland and South Africa.
Titles:
Light Heavyweight Catch Wrestling Champion – 1927 (Defeated Sam Claphan).
Matches against Jim Londos:
Nowina faced Jim Londos a total of 4 times, resulting in two losses, one draw and one win in 1937 in South Africa.
The George Gracie Match that didn’t take place:
A match against George Gracie was scheduled for October 06, 1934 in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. The match was cancelled. Nowina faced Renato Gardini instead and the match resulted in a draw. That same night George Gracie faced Nowina’s uncle: Wladek Zbyszko. The result of the match was Zbyszko defeating George Gracie by submission (Armlock).
Greatest Grapplers in the World:
In Karol Nowina’s opinion, the greatest grapplers of modern times were: Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Ben Roller, Strangler Lewis, Jim Londos and his uncles, the Zbyszko brothers.
