Fabian Staudenmann and Damian Ott will clash on Sunday morning at the second Bergkranzfest of the season at Schwarzsee. It is the eagerly awaited top duel in the first swing.
Staudenmann, the serial winner from Bern, and Ott from Eastern Switzerland, who has regained his strength, will be competing against each other for the first time among the active wrestlers. The only previous duel between the two 25-year-olds took place in 2015 at the Swiss Young Wrestlers' Day in Aarburg and ended without a winner.
Staudenmann has already won two wreath festivals this season, including the first mountain festival on Stoos. In 2023, the man from the Mittelland won at Schwarzsee. Last year, he finished no higher than 4th place in the Fribourg Alps.
Ott was particularly impressive this season at the Basellandschaftliche, which he won. On Whit Monday, the St. Gallen native was in the final round of the Glarner-Bündner, which he lost to Armon Orlik. Ott succeeded in 2021 after defeating Samuel Giger at Schwarzsee.
In the first round, there will be five more duels between two Swiss nationals. Matthias Aeschbacher will face Samir Leuppi, local Lario Kramer Dominik Gasser and Romain Collaud Severin Schwander. Curdin Orlik, winner of the Bündner-Glarner Fest a week ago, will be up against Marcel Räbsamen, while eastern Swiss heavyweight Domenic Schneider will face Philipp Roth. In addition, the Bernese talent Michael Moser, who has been so convincing of late, will face Mario Schneider, who is a member of the Swiss federation.