In his 12 years on the wrestling stage, Abraham Lincoln was hailed as a legend, losing only once in 300 matches.

Before being assassinated at the age of 56 and before his career as a lawyer, US President Abraham Lincoln was an outstanding wrestler.

At that time, Lincoln was just an employee at a department store in a remote border town.

At that time, the people of New Salem town were tired of Jack Armstrong, the leader of the Clary's Grove Boys group specializing in causing trouble, "destroying the village".

Putting his faith in Lincoln, the townspeople found a way for him to "fight" with Armstrong.

Before fighting Armstrong, Lincoln is said to have wrestled with about 300 other people.

On the day of his confrontation with ice leader Clary's Grove Boys, Lincoln made only one rule that the winning side would be the side to throw the opponent out of the ring instead of pinning the other to the ground.

"The two opponents circled each other very cautiously for a while," describes the research site Abraham Lincoln, based on material from the Library of Congress.

Knowing that he was about to fail, Armstrong had to play badly with the ability to block his opponent.

Lincoln tried to push the crowd away from him, saying that he would fight each of them fairly.

New Salem store employee Bill Green, after witnessing Lincoln's match in 1831 with a group of newcomers, asserted that he could "beat, knock, knock" any opponent at

"We can only find documentation of a recorded Lincoln loss in 12 years," said Bob Dellinger, honorary director of the US National Wrestling Hall of Fame museum in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

In the first campaigns Lincoln raced for the Senate seat in Illinois in 1858, his ring talent was known to the public.

Lincoln lost the Senate competition in 1858, but two years later, during the presidential campaign, it was his wrestling career that gave him a special advantage.

"He was an arrogant opponent but a modest athlete," commented cultural historian David Fleming.