Edward Richard Scarf (3 November 1908 – 7 January 1980) was an Australian wrestler and boxer. He was Olympic bronze medalist in Freestyle wrestling in 1932,[1] and also competed at the 1936 Olympics.[1]
In February 1938, Scarf won the wrestling gold medal at the Empire Games in Sydney in the light heavyweight division.[3] His victory came in spite of pulling a muscle in his right thigh during the preliminary rounds.[4] In November that year he turned professional and moved up to the heavyweight class in order to compete in a competition sponsored by Stadiums Limited to determine the heavyweight professional champion of Australia.[5] He had been training with American wrestlers, Ray Steele, Dean Detton, and Bobby Roberts.[5] He was crowned professional champion by defeating Jim Bartlett of New Zealand one fall to nil in four rounds.[6] He retained hs title the following year.[7] In 1940, he famously beat Chief Little Wolf on points, using Little Wolf's signature move, the Indian deathlock against him.[8]
On 29 April 1941 Scarf enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force as a storekeeper.[2] He served with the Parachute Training Unit from 1943 and in 1944 participated in an exhibition wrestling match with Jerry Visscher during a boxing tournament in Madang, New Guinea.[9] He was discharged from the R.A.A.F. on 7 February 1945.[2]
^ abcdefgSear, Tom. "Scarf, Edward Richard (1908–1980)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
^"AT THE GAMES". Cairns Post. No. 11, 236. Queensland, Australia. 17 February 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 23 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"EDDIE SCARF". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 238. New South Wales, Australia. 14 February 1938. p. 15. Retrieved 23 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"EDDIE SCARF". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 465. New South Wales, Australia. 5 November 1938. p. 15. Retrieved 22 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.