Marcel W. Perren (text) and Benjamin Soland (photos)
This rate is really remarkable. Although only 1300 people live in St. Stephan, the farming village in the Obersimmental has produced two top athletes. One is ski racer Lars Rösti, who became junior world champion in the downhill in 2019 and thundered into the top 15 in his second World Cup appearance (14th place in Soldeu). The other is wrestler Patrick Gobeli. The trained carpenter competed in five wreath festivals this year and was classified in the wreath ranks four times. Gobeli and Rösti completed the 7th to 9th grades together in the Moos upper school building.
Lars remembers the cooking class with a mischievous grin: “If we knew that the teacher would eat with us, we often enriched the meals with extra salt.” And Patrick reveals: “We were both good at math, but Lars was significantly better than me in German class. But I was really bad at singing. If I sang something to my teacher, I was usually punished with an unsatisfactory grade.”
He almost ended up in the yodelling club
Nevertheless, the burly son of a farmer was almost selected for one of the most famous yodelling clubs in the country. You have to know that the Mozart of yodeling lives in St. Stephan. His name: Ueli Moor. The yodel hiking trail was inaugurated in his honor last summer. And this Ueli Moor became aware of Gobeli on the occasion of a student concert.
«Because I hardly hit a note, I only sang very softly in the class choir, but opened my mouth particularly wide. That’s why Ueli probably had the feeling from a distance that I was a talented singer. In any case, he asked me if I would be interested in joining the yodelling club. But then I was able to quickly make it clear to him that I was completely unsuitable for his top-class club.”
The fact that the meanwhile 24-year-old developed in a grandiose manner in the sawdust is also due to a story in this newspaper. Before the Federal 2019 in Zug, Blick listed the athletes, who are referred to as “swellings” in Swiss wrestling. What is meant by this are the wrestlers, who are limited in attack, but with their outstanding defensive qualities, can tie back any king contender with a “set”. Gobeli belonged to this category at the time. «After reading this article, it was clear to me that I had to change the way I vibrated. After all, I didn’t want to go down in history as a cancer.”
Training with Matthias Glarner
The fact that Gobeli is now one of the attractions in the Bernese sawdust rings is also due to the cooperation with Matthias Glarner – since last autumn the 110-kilo man has been training under the guidance of the 2016 wrestling king and his long-standing strength-endurance trainer Roland Fuchs.
One of the biggest fans of the Gobeli, which is only 1.78 meters tall, is Matthias Sempach, the 2013 Swiss wrestler king. “I’m always impressed by Patrick’s enormous speed. I’m pretty sure that he will be one of the most important pillars of the Bern team at the federal in Pratteln.”
On Sunday in the Bernese Oberland, Patrick Gobeli is aiming for his second final participation in a wreath festival in Oey-Diemtigen. His classmate Lars Rösti will give him moral support from the stands.
Top pairings, 1st gear
Aargau cantonal Beinwil
Andreas Döbeli-Pirmin Reichmuth
Nick Alpiger – Adrian Odermatt
Patrick Räbmatter – Marco Nägeli
David Schmid – Dominik Waser
Joel Strebel – Thomas Studeli
Rigi-Schwinget
Joel Wicki – Armon Orlik
Nötzli Challenge –Marcel Räbsamen
Sven Schurtenberger-Werner Schlegel
Mike Muellstein-Lario Kramer
Marc Lustenberger – Benjamin Gapany
Marcel Bieri – Steve Duplan
Bernese Oberland, Oey-Diemtigen
Kilian Wenger – Adrian Walther
Killian v. Weissenfluh-Michael Ledermann
Fabian Staudenmann – Patrick Gobeli
Curdin Orlik – Urs Doppmann
Bernhard Kampf – Dominik Gasser
Thomas Sempach-Severin Schwander
Aargau cantonal Beinwil
Andreas Döbeli-Pirmin Reichmuth
Nick Alpiger – Adrian Odermatt
Patrick Räbmatter – Marco Nägeli
David Schmid – Dominik Waser
Joel Strebel – Thomas Studeli
Rigi-Schwinget
Joel Wicki – Armon Orlik
Nötzli Challenge –Marcel Räbsamen
Sven Schurtenberger-Werner Schlegel
Mike Muellstein-Lario Kramer
Marc Lustenberger – Benjamin Gapany
Marcel Bieri – Steve Duplan
Bernese Oberland, Oey-Diemtigen
Kilian Wenger – Adrian Walther
Killian v. Weissenfluh-Michael Ledermann
Fabian Staudenmann – Patrick Gobeli
Curdin Orlik – Urs Doppmann
Bernhard Kampf – Dominik Gasser
Thomas Sempach-Severin Schwander