At the Emmental, anniversary winner Fabio Hiltbrunner faces a tough opponent on his comeback. The top pairings in Central Switzerland are also tough. King Wicki meets explosive wrestler Schlegel.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Fabio Hiltbrunner is competing for the first time since his victory at the Federal Jubilee Wrestling Festival last September.
- Hiltbrunner returns to the Emmental in Langnau and will be up against Adrian Walther in the first round.
- At the Central Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival, Joel Wicki, Pirmin Reichmuth, Samuel Giger and Werner Schlegel are four contenders for the title.
Fabio Hiltbrunner last stood in the sawdust at the end of September 2024. Back then, he was shouldered by his teammates together with Fabian Staudenmann. The 19-year-old's victory at the Federal Jubilee Wrestling Festival in Appenzell was a surprise.
Since then, things have been quiet around Hiltbrunner, especially as he was unable to swing. A shoulder injury slowed the young Bernese down at the beginning of the year. He deliberately postponed the start of the season in order to be ready for the Swiss Wrestling Festival in Mollis.
Top pairings from the Emmental Wrestling Festival
- Adrian Walther - Fabio Hiltbrunner
- Michael Moser - Christian Biäsch
- Matthias Aeschbacher - Dominik Roth
- Christian Gerber - Ruedi Roschi
- Bernhard Kämpf - Sandro Galli
- Thomas Sempach - Nicolas Zimmermann
- Severin Schwander - Lars Zaugg
- Patrick Schenk - Reto Thöni
Next Sunday, Hiltbrunner is back in the sawdust and will be anything but spared at his first festival of the season. In the 1st round of the Emmentalischen in Langnau, he will be up against heavyweight Adrian Walther. The two have faced each other twice so far, with Hiltbrunner losing out twice and having to have the sawdust wiped off his back.
The big absentee is Fabian Staudenmann. After his victory in the Oberland, the top wrestler decided not to take part and recharge his batteries.
Strong field of participants at the Innerschweizer
At the Central Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival, the really bad guys will be competing. Wrestling king Joel Wicki is back in action after a six-week absence. "I'm back!", writes the Lucerne native on Instagram.
Wicki will have to be ready from second one in the first round. He will face Werner Schlegel, who won his first wreath festival of the season last weekend at the NOS. Schlegel returned from injury and competed in his first competition since the end of March.
Samuel Giger from north-eastern Switzerland will also be competing in Seedorf. The Thurgau native will face Pirmin Reichmuth in the first round.
Top pairings from Central Switzerland
- Joel Wicki - Werner Schlegel
- Pirmin Reichmuth - Samuel Giger
- Joel Ambühl - Andreas Döbeli
- Christian Schuler - Lars Voggensperger
- Sven Schurtenberger - Jonas Burch
- Marc Lustenberger - Lario Kramer
- Lukas Bissig - Philipp Roth
- Marco Reichmuth - Alex Schuler
- Matthias Herger - Adrian Klossner
- Noe Van Messel - Paul Tornare
