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Werner Schlegel (right) and Damian Ott in the final bout of the 2026 St. Gallen Cantonal Schwing Festival in Schmerikon
Keystone
The Stoos Schwinget kicks off the mountain wrestling festival season on Sunday. In the absence of last year’s winner, Fabian Staudenmann, the opening round will feature high-profile matchups between Swiss national champions.
Among the top matchups in the first round, the duel between Werner Schlegel and Nick Alpiger stands out in particular. Damian Ott and Sinisha Lüscher, two other Swiss national champions, will also face off.
Following Samuel Giger’s injury-related withdrawal, the hopes of northeastern Switzerland rest on Schlegel and Ott. The two St. Gallen natives have already proven they can win mountain wrestling festivals.
In addition to Alpiger and Lüscher, the team from Northwestern Switzerland has other contenders for victory in its ranks in the form of Joel Strebel and Marius Frank. Frank will team up with Marcel Bieri, another wrestler from Central Switzerland, in the opening round, just as Strebel will team up with Michael Gwerder.
On Saturday, two cantonal tournaments will take place—the Bündner-Glarner and the Jurassische—and in addition to the Stoos-Schwinget, the Oberländische will also be held in Gstaad on Sunday. In the Bernese Oberland, the opening match between last year’s winner Fabian Staudenmann and Michael Moser promises to be a thrilling showdown. At the Bündner-Glarner tournament on the Motta Naluns above Scuol, Swiss wrestling champion Armon Orlik and Thurgau’s Domenic Schneider will face off in the opening round.
12.06.2026, 13:16
