The Most Famous

WRESTLERS from Türkiye

This page contains a list of the greatest Turkish Wrestlers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,027 Wrestlers, 21 of which were born in Türkiye. This makes Türkiye the birth place of the 12th most number of Wrestlers behind Germany, and Brazil.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Turkish Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Turkish Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Turkish Wrestlers.

1. Mustafa Dağıstanlı (1931 - 2022)

With an HPI of 58.51, Mustafa Dağıstanlı is the most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Mustafa Dağıstanlı (11 April 1931 – 18 September 2022) was a Turkish wrestler. He had his best achievements in freestyle wrestling, winning gold medals at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and 1954, 1957, and 1959 world championships. In Greco-Roman wrestling he won a gold medal at the 1955 Mediterranean Games. He is credited with 389 wins and 4 draws in 393 matches.

2. Yaşar Doğu (1913 - 1961)

With an HPI of 56.69, Yaşar Doğu is the 2nd most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Yaşar Doğu (1913 – 8 January 1961) was a Turkish wrestler. He competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, winning gold at the Olympic, world, and European championships.

3. Hamit Kaplan (1934 - 1976)

With an HPI of 56.34, Hamit Kaplan is the 3rd most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Hamit Kaplan (20 September 1934 – 5 January 1976) was a Turkish World and Olympic champion sports wrestler of Circassian descent in the Heavyweight class. He won the gold, silver and bronze medal in men's freestyle wrestling at three consecutive Olympic Games in 1956, 1960 and 1964. Born in Hamamözü town in Amasya Province, he began wrestling as a youngster in the traditional Turkish sport Yağlı güreş (oil wrestling). Soon, he switched over to sports wrestling and became juniors champion in the Heavyweight class. Hamit Kaplan was admitted to the national team in 1954 and was trained by the renowned wrestler Celal Atik for his skill. Already at his age of 22, he represented Turkey at the World Championships held in Karlsruhe, Germany and ranked 3rd in the Greco-Roman style. Besides three Olympic medals, he won many more titles at international competitions both in freestyle and Greco-Roman category. Hamit Kaplan, weighing 100 kg at his 1.90 m height, was a defensive wrestler, who finished much of his matches in draw. Hamit Kaplan resigned after the 1964 Olympics, because he was no more match for his strong opponents like Hungarian István Kozma, Soviet Russians Aleksandr Ivanitsky and Aleksandr Medved. He was 175 times international for his country. He died on 5 January 1976 at the age of 41 following a traffic accident in Çorum. He was laid to rest in his hometown Hamamözü. A sports hall with 1,000 seats in Amasya and another small one in Hamamözü are named after him.

4. Mahmut Atalay (1934 - 2004)

With an HPI of 55.53, Mahmut Atalay is the 4th most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Mahmut Atalay (30 March 1934 – 4 December 2004) was a Turkish freestyle wrestler and coach. He competed at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics and won a gold medal in 1968, placing fourth in 1964.

5. Mithat Bayrak (1929 - 2014)

With an HPI of 55.27, Mithat Bayrak is the 5th most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Mithat Bayrak (3 March 1929 – 20 April 2014) was a Turkish sports wrestler and trainer, who won two consecutive gold medals in the Welterweight class of Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling at the 1956 Olympics and 1960 Olympics.

6. Bayram Şit (1930 - 2019)

With an HPI of 55.05, Bayram Şit is the 6th most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Bayram Şit (1930 – 29 May 2019) was a Turkish featherweight freestyle wrestler and coach. He competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won a gold medal in 1952, placing fourth in 1956. He also won a silver medal at the 1954 World Championships.

7. İsmail Ogan (1933 - 2022)

With an HPI of 54.57, İsmail Ogan is the 7th most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

İsmail Ogan (5 March 1933 – 26 April 2022) was a Turkish freestyle wrestler and coach. He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a silver and a gold medal, respectively. He also collected three medals at the world championships between 1957 and 1963.

8. Tevfik Kış (1934 - 2019)

With an HPI of 53.19, Tevfik Kış is the 8th most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Tevfik Kış (10 August 1934 – 4 September 2019) was a Turkish European, World and Olympic champion sports wrestler in the Light heavyweight class (87 kg) and a trainer. He won the gold medal in men's Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1960 Olympics. Born 1934 in the village of Pelitçik in the Kargı district in the Çorum Province, he began wrestling in 1956. Competing in Greco-Roman style, Kış became a gold medalist in wrestling at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He won later World and European championships. After his unsuccessful participation at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he retired from the active sports and served then as trainer of his country's national team. Kış was a co-founder of the Turkish Wrestling Foundation and was active on its board. He was married with two children and lived in Ankara running a restaurant.

9. Yaşar Erkan (1911 - 1986)

With an HPI of 52.47, Yaşar Erkan is the 9th most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Yaşar Erkan (30 April 1911 – 18 May 1986) was a Turkish sports wrestler, who won the first ever Olympic gold medal for Turkey in the Featherweight class of Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling. Yaşar Erkan is the first Olympic champion in Turkish history.

10. Ahmet Kireççi (1914 - 1979)

With an HPI of 52.04, Ahmet Kireççi is the 10th most famous Turkish Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ahmet Kireççi (aka Ahmet Mersinli, 27 October 1914 in Mersin – 17 August 1978 in Mersin, Turkey), was a Turkish sports wrestler, who won the Olympic medal twice, the bronze medal in the Middleweight class of Men's Freestyle Wrestling at the 1936 Olympics and the gold medal in the Heavyweight class of Men's Greco-Roman category at the 1948 Olympics. Born in the southern city of Mersin, he began first boxing and then continued in athletics. He switched over to wrestling and took part in a yağlı güreş (oil wrestling) competition in Tarsus, where he became champion. Ahmet Kireççi was sent to Istanbul to join the Wrestling Club of Kumkapı. In 1931, he was admitted to the national team, of which he was a member 17 years long. At 18 years of age, he became Balkan champion, a title he repeated twice more. With his bronze medal gathered at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, he was the debut Turkish freestyle wrestler medallist and be an Olympic medallist in both wrestling styles. Following President İsmet İnönü's suggestion at a reception after his return, Ahmet Kireççi accepted to change his family name officially to Mersinli, which was his nickname. He died on 17 August 1978, following a traffic accident in his hometown. A statue of him erected in a corner near the harbour of Mersin commemorates the successful and popular wrestler.

People

Pantheon has 21 people classified as Turkish wrestlers born between 1911 and 1996. Of these 21, 11 (52.38%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Turkish wrestlers include Taha Akgül, Rıza Kayaalp, and Hamza Yerlikaya. The most famous deceased Turkish wrestlers include Mustafa Dağıstanlı, Yaşar Doğu, and Hamit Kaplan. As of April 2024, 7 new Turkish wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including Mahmut Atalay, İsmail Ogan, and Ahmet Kireççi.