Can the king defend his title? Nöldi Forrer: "Joel Wicki lacks the team behind him"

Joel Wicki is aiming to win the title of king again at the Swiss National Championships in Mollis. In an interview with blue Sport, Nöldi Forrer and Daniel Bösch agree: they have a lot of faith in the Entlebuch native, but see a shortcoming.

In discussions about the contenders for the title of king, there is no getting past Joel Wicki. The man from Sörenberg is one of the big favorites at the Swiss National Championships in Mollis. The 2022 wrestling king is aiming to defend his title in Glarnerland.

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Together with Samuel Giger and Fabian Staudenmann, Wicki forms the top trio, closely followed by six other athletes. The initial question marks surrounding Wicki's fitness at the start of the season have certainly been dispelled.

Strong return after surgery

In June, the Lucerne native had to go under the knife. Due to an incident during training, he decided to have an operation on his knee. He missed the Stoos-Schwinget and the Uri Cantonal Championships. He made a comeback at the Innerschweizer at the beginning of July - and how. In Seedorf, he sensationally took his first wreath victory of the season.

"Wicki came back stronger than expected from his injury break," recalls Nöldi Forrer in an interview with blue Sport, which took place as part of the "Fascination of Wrestling" dialog forum at the Verrucano in Mels. Wicki came back so strongly that he didn't let the victory at the Brünig be taken away from him and put Matthias Aeschbacher on his back in the final round.

Unspunnen winner Bösch: "Wicki is always a force to be reckoned with"

Wicki won the title of king against the very same Aeschbacher in Pratteln in 2022, after failing to beat Christian Stucki in Zug three years earlier. Can Wicki make it to his third final round in a row in Mollis and defend his title?

"I have a lot of faith in him," says Forrer. It sounds the same for Daniel Bösch. The 2011 Unspunnen winner tells blue Sport: "Wicki is always a force to be reckoned with. His form build-up and training have shown that he is ready for day X again."

The team as a possible weak point for Wicki?

Forrer and Bösch nevertheless see a tiny shortcoming in Wicki: the Central Swiss team. "What he lacks is the team behind him," says Forrer. While the north-east Swiss and Bernese teams travel to Mollis with some top athletes, the ISV squad is sparsely populated.

However, the breadth of the squad will hardly stop Wicki from wanting to cause a sensation at the ESAF. Bösch agrees with this: "If he swings like he has recently, he'll get a lot of things going on his own."

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