He won the silver medal in the light heavyweight class. In a remarkable final, he wrestled for nine hours against the other finalist, the Swedish wrestler Anders Ahlgren, before it was declared a draw. The judges refused to award a gold medal, stating that the champion had to have won the final match. Thus they both were given second place and no gold medal was awarded.[3]
Böhling won the 1914 Unofficial European title in the light-heavyweight division, and four national titles: two in light-heavyweight (1911 and 1913) and two in heavyweight (1915 and 1916). He then turned professional, and retired in 1920.[2]