Actually, it should have come to a purely domestic Swiss final: Pirmin Reichmuth had actually won his 7th course once morest Berhard Kämpf, but the judges did not give the result and so Kkampf got another chance, which he used a little later by winning Reichmuth laid on his back.
For his part, Aeschbacher defeated Adrian Odermatt, a young surprise man from Northwest Switzerland, with a flat throw and temporarily took over the lead. In the final bout of 7th gear, Fabian Staudenmann brought Joel Wicki close to defeat twice, but Wicki also attacked several times himself. The draw was enough for him to move into the final with a small lead.
Even before the 7th course, one had to realize that the strong north-eastern Swiss association would emerge as the big loser from the federal festival. Samuel Giger was the big favorite in the whole field, Armon Orlik, Werner Schlegel and the Kilchberg co-winner Damian Ott were highly regarded as candidates for the final round participation. But already following the 6th gear none of the four still had a real chance in the race. It was particularly bitter for Samuel Giger that – just like in Zug 2016 – he was practically out of the question as a wrestler king following the third course.
Armon Orlik, one of the most gifted wrestlers, is now 27 years old. He’s getting closer and closer to the critical age following which it becomes difficult to become a wrestler. Also in Pratteln it will be nothing for the Maienfelder. After the draw in the 4th gear once morest wrestling king Kilian Wenger, he also allowed himself to be forced into a position by the Aargau Confederate David Schmid.
