| Stan Holek | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1933-04-04)April 4, 1933[1] Chatham,Ontario,Canada[1] |
| Died | November 28, 2015 (aged 82) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Stan Holek Stan Lisowski Stan Neilson Cowboy Elliott Hardy Stan Lutze |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 240 lb (110 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Trained by | Bert Ruby[1] Ed Farhat[1] Larry Shane[1] |
| Debut | 1951[1] |
Stan Holek (April 4, 1933 – November 28, 2015) was aCanadianprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring names,Stan Lisowski andStan Neilson. He became known for being part of two famous "brother" tag teams, the Lisowskis (withReggie Lisowski) and the Neilsons (with Art Neilson).
Holek originally got into wrestling after his older brother began wrestling in Detroit.[1] At age 18 in 1951, he debuted after training with Bert Rubi, The Sheik and Larry Shane in Detroit.[1] He then began teaming with Reggie Lisowski as the Lisowski Brothers.[1]
After the team split up, Holek began teaming with Lisowski's old partner Art Neilson.[1] Neilson and Holek became known as the Neilsons.[1] The Neilsons would becomeAWA World Tag Team Champions in 1962 defeating the team ofBob Geigel and Stan Kowalski. They lost the title later that year to Mr. High (Doug "Gilbert" Lindzy, no relation to the latterDoug Gilbert) and Mr. Low (Dick Steinborn).
In addition, Holek wrestled as Stan Lutze in New England in the 1950s.[1] He also toured Japan in the 1960s.[1]
Holek grew up on a farm inChatham, Ontario, and has an older brother named Laddie.[1] He moved to California in 1960 and later became an American citizen.[1] He then worked in the rodeo for 13 years and he worked in gold mines in Nevada.[1]
He was married twice.[1] He was married to his second wife for over 30 years, and they have two daughters.[1] He died on November 28, 2015, after a two year battle with colon cancer.[2]