At the Oberaargauischen in Burgdorf, victory on the national holiday is likely to go to Fabian Staudenmann. In the first round, the native Bernese will clash with guest Domenic Schneider from Eastern Switzerland.
The record between last season's overwhelming winner and the Thurgau heavyweight is even. The two have met three times, resulting in one win and one defeat each. The last time this duel took place was three years ago. In Kilchberg, Staudenmann put Schneider in the sawdust on the way to his prestigious victory in the first round.
The other top pairings in the first round are as follows: Matthias Aeschbacher against Severin Schwander, Matthieu Burger against Michael Moser and Philipp Roth against Curdin Orlik.
The Oberaargau event marks the start of three wrestling festivals in Burgdorf. Eleven years after the Confederation, the Emmental Gauverband Festival will take place in the Emmental municipality on August 3 and the Bernese Cantonal Festival on August 11.