Alfons Hecher was the most successful heavyweight of SV Siegfried Hallbergmoos, who experienced his absolute sporting climax on the mat in 1969.
Hallbergmoos - It was 40 degrees in the shade, but Alfons Hecher was in top condition.
And that's exactly why it happened in Modena (Italy): The model athlete, who weighed 100 kilos at a height of 1.90 meters, won the bronze medal at the European Championships in 1969.
World championship bonus benefited him
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“Fonsi”, as he is called by his friends, can still remember it very well and still grins today when he thinks about the success: “I was in great shape at the time, but also a little lucky that the referees did well with me mistook the reigning Swedish world champion Svensson because we looked alike.
So I think I benefited from the so-called world championship bonus for some decisions. "Looking back, Hecher raves:" At the 1971 World Championships in Sofia, when I came in fifth, well over 20,000 wrestling fans watched. "
Lost against the "crane of Schifferstadt"
Alfons Hecher began his wrestling career in 1959 at SV Siegfried Hallbergmoos and also fought there in the Bundesliga team.
He then moved to the top German club ASV Schorndorf for four years and became German champion in 1975 with this season - his brother Lorenz also belonged to this season.
At that time Schorndorf won against ASV Mainz 88. In the final, Hecher lost to Wilfried Dietrich, the "crane of Schifferstadt".
The now 79-year-old then ended his career at SpVgg Freising.
18 fights in a row undefeated
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Even today he is very proud that he remained unbeaten 18 fights in a row during his time at Schorndorf.
That was certainly also due to his training partners.
“My strongest were the SVS wrestlers Gottfried Rampf and August Rötzer, who had already died.” Wilfried Dietrich († 1992) was his sparring partner in the national team.
Most of all, however, “Fonsi” enjoyed running together with his brother Lorenz, who was also a good mat fighter.
Alfons Hecher, who mastered both styles, which was more common at the time, preferred leg attacks in the free style and the arm drop grip in the classic style in order to get scores.
His great role model as a trainer was the Turk Talat Karman, who has now also died and "from whom I learned a lot".
Balanced duels with eternal rivals
At national level, the duels with eternal rivals Heinz Kiehl (VfK Schifferstadt) and Heinz Eichelbaum (KSV Witten) for the DM title in the difficult categories were always extremely exciting.
The outcome of the fight against these absolute class wrestlers was mostly open.
In 1967 Hecher lost the final for the national heavyweight title against Kiehl in Cologne, and three years later he was able to return the favor: Hecher put Kiehl in his place and became the German light heavyweight champion in Schifferstadt.
The duels with Heinz Eichelbaum were similar: in 1974 Alfons Hecher moved up to the super heavyweight division and won gold against him at the DM in Freiburg.
A year later - again competing in the super heavyweight division - he lost to Eichelbaum in the fight for the national crown in Schorndorf.
By bike to school and to training
Of course, there was also a life outside the mat for Alfons Hecher, who was born on October 16, 1943 in Giggenhausen.
He grew up in his home town with two sisters and a brother, attended elementary school in Giggenhausen and then went to the agricultural vocational school in Freising for a year.
He later switched saddles and learned the trade of mechanical fitter at the Binder company in Marzling.
Painful memory
He cycled the distances to the vocational school in Freising, to his workplace in Marzling, but also to training in Hallbergmoos until his father bought him a moped.
Speaking of training and a moped: Alfons Hecher has a very painful memory in this combination: “When I broke my collarbone during wrestling training, I had to go home on the moped.
I will never forget this pain in my whole life. "
He was an apprentice trainer for 18 years
Hecher worked for three years as a heating engineer at Wimmer in Hallbergmoos, then he moved to Linde in Lohhof, where he worked for 30 years until he retired.
There he was responsible for incoming goods and also acted as an apprentice trainer for 18 years.
In 1966 he married his Helene.
The newly wed couple moved to Mintraching, where the family - daughter Birgit and son Thomas emerged from the happy marriage - are still alive today.
Birgit is a doctor at the Freising Clinic, where she is responsible for pain therapy.
And Hecher is happy that his brother-in-law and longtime Siegfried wrestler, Willi Funk, is his neighbor in Mintraching.
As beautiful as with Wim Thoelke
Hecher had a second hobby: for a good 25 years he was in great demand as a wedding host - not only in the Freising district, but beyond.
The enthusiastic singer - he is still a member of the Giggenhausen men's choir - was able to make the most of it.
With his Gstanzln he made everyone laugh while singing out the guests.
He remembers that time only too fondly.
He explains that “at weddings there is actually nothing that does not exist”.
Once an old woman said goodbye to him with a handshake with the words: "Today it was as nice with you as it was with Wim Thoelke from television."
Now, at almost 80 years of age, Alfons Hecher has “gotten really lazy from a sporting point of view”.
This calm, however, should soon be over, "especially since our training camp in the basement for me and my family has already been completed".
His greatest successes:
1969: Third place in the European Championship in Modena (Italy)
1971: World Cup - fifth in Sofia (Bulgaria).
1972: Olympic participant in Munich.
Anton weld metal
6 x German single champion.
10 x German runner-up.