Kilchberg Schwinget: Four Bernese Wrestlers Lead at Lunch

Four wrestlers from Bern led the Kilchberg Schwinget at the lunch break after the third round reshaped the top of the standings.

The previous leading trio all suffered defeats. Fabian Staudenmann’s win over Joel Strebel was expected, but Samuel Giger’s loss to Michael Ledermann and Damian Ott’s defeat by Lars Zaugg came as surprises. Ledermann prevailed after a spectacular bout with Giger, who had also been close to winning. Zaugg threw Ott into the sawdust on the first move.

Ledermann and Zaugg now share first place with Bernese colleagues Matthieu Burger and Bernhard Kämpf. Fabian Staudenmann, Nick Alpiger, Werner Schlegel, defending Schwing king Armon Orlik and Giger remain a quarter-point behind and still have strong chances of winning the festival. Michael Moser, Ott, Strebel and Marcel Bieri are another quarter-point back in a shared third place.

Lukas Bissig, regarded as the strongest hope from central Switzerland, has fallen out of contention after losing to Burger. He had already lost to Ott in the opening round.

The Kilchberg Schwinget, held every six years at the Uf Stocken estate on Lake Zurich, is the season’s peak event. The 18th edition brings together the country’s top 60 wrestlers. Five years ago, after the event was postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Giger, Ott and Staudenmann recorded the tradition’s first three-way victory. All three are again among this year’s favorites.