Several favorites stumble on the first day of the Swiss Wrestling Festival in Mollis. Samuel Giger and Fabian Staudenmann were among those beaten.
30.08.2025, 19:55
SDA
It gets loud in the arena in Mollis, which is packed with 56,500 spectators. The exchange of blows between Samuel Giger and Michael Moser delights the audience. Both attack and are able to make their opponent stumble. Moser almost achieves the result with the last move of the course. But time is running out for the young Bernese player, and Giger at least saves the draw.
The big gap to the top
"It was an extremely intense gait. I felt good. Too bad it wasn't quite enough," said Moser. Samuel Giger, winner of the Unspunnen and Kilchberg, echoed similar sentiments: "I took a risk, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to win."
As thrilling as the 4th course between Giger and Moser was, the points split means that neither of them will have anything to do with the final course. The gap to Werner Schlegel, who led after the first day, is too big.
Moser, who lost out to King Joel Wicki in the first round, is 2.25 points behind the leader. Giger even has 2.5 points after two defeats and no maximum score. It takes the man from Thurgau a correspondingly long time to answer the question of an interim conclusion: "I still have to think about it. I did what I could in the courses."
"Hope dies last"
Giger shares 9th place with other prominent names, above all Fabian Staudenmann, who did not get up to speed as usual, lost to Giger at the start and was outmaneuvered by Schlegel in 4th gear.
In addition to the two top favorites, the co-favorites Adrian Walther and Damian Ott from St. Gallen are also tied back in 9th place and will most likely have to bury their hopes of reaching the final round. Pirmin Reichmuth certainly has nothing to do with the final round.
"It didn't go as I had imagined," said Ott, who was the only one of the defeated athletes besides Moser and Giger to answer the journalists' questions. "I make a misstep in third gear, it's over that quickly." But he wants to pull himself together again for the second day of the competition. "Hope dies last. But 90, 95 percent of the final round is over."
