Thanks to GDR cutters for the first wreath win in decades?: An “Ossi” gets the Valais people going

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The giant wrestling tree stopped long before the Lötschberg. Many Upper Valaisans have repeatedly fooled the “bad guys” with the same saying: “Here the cows fight – and the farmers watch. In Ausserschweiz, the cows watch while the farmers fight».

Cowfights in the Confederate Wild West are as sacred as the crucifix. The sport of wrestling is a by-product. Therefore, only one person from Upper Valais has so far won the crown of an ESAF – Albert Pollinger from St. Niklaus fought for the federal oak leaf in Zug in 1961. Pollinger’s son Ruedi is also at the forefront of the new wrestling movement in the Rhone Valley. In the summer of 2015, he climbed the Matterhorn together with three-time king Jörg Abderhalden.

The pastor blessed the rocking basement

During the climb to icy heights, they also discussed how wrestling could be revived in the region. The overshooter from Toggenburg was convinced from the start that his sport would also prevail here, despite the seemingly overwhelming cow fight. Abderhalden therefore organized the Gornergrat-Schwinget together with Pollinger Junior in the summer of 2016, in which the later king Matthias Glarner entered the ring against the strongest of Southwest Switzerland.

The response to this demonstration match was so good that the Oberwallis wrestling club was founded afterwards. In January 2017, Pastor Pascal Venetz blessed the new swinging cellar in Visp. In the meantime, 19 active and 18 young wrestlers train in this sawdust cathedral.

The mill from East Germany

Spicy: The descendant of Walliser Schwinger is trained by a former wrestler from East Germany. His name: Mario Stübe (41). The Mecklenburger, who became German junior champion in the Greco-Roman division in 1996, moved to Switzerland in 2007 for professional reasons. Stübe mutated from a wrestler into a wrestler, at the Südwestschweizerisches 2017 he was able to win three of the six courses.

The trained butcher and roofer has now completed his first successful career as a technical manager. His protégés Ramon Schmidt and Giulio Amstutz have already won several young wrestling days this year in southwest Switzerland and even dominated their age group in Central Switzerland. In April, thanks to Schmidt and Amstutz, there was a pure Valais finish in the ten to eleven year olds at the Urner Rangschwinget in Erstfeld, in which Schmidt was victorious.

Top immigration from Uri

But there are also historical things to report about the active members. Andy Murer took the first crown for the Oberwallis wrestling club in May with a fourth place in the canton of Vaud! Murer, who grew up in Seedorf, fought for the cantonal association of Uri until last year. Through marriage to a woman from Valais, the gymnast moved to Baltschieder in the district of Visp.

“Andy’s move from Urnerland to Valais is a pure blessing for wrestling in our region,” Ruedi Pollinger says happily. “Through Andy, our players have received the long-awaited indicator. And because they can keep up with him better and better in the training sessions, their self-confidence also grows. That’s why I think next year we will release more Kranzers besides Andy.”

It is possible that Murer will get the award for Wallis on Sunday, who twice missed Ruedi Pollinger by a quarter point – the prestigious Schwarzsee wreath. His father Albert Pollinger was the last to win from Valais in 1962.

Source : Blick