Marcel W. Perren (text) and Philipp Schmidli (photos)
The Bernese often joke about the Friborg people. Nobody makes fun of Michael Wiget, even though he comes from Wünnewil FR. People in the Bern area are grateful that the 22-year-old is fighting for their colors.
«My mother is from Bern. And because wrestling sport has always enjoyed a much higher priority in the canton of Bern than in southwestern Switzerland, I decided on this path as a child. ” And the son of a country musician develops into a real screamer in the “Bärengraben” – before a competition, Wiget begins to scream loudly. “I invest so much time in wrestling that I really want to be one hundred percent ready before my serious battles. That’s why these screams also act as a wake-up call, ”he explains.
He trained very hard
In 2019 these screams led to the desired success. At the Bernese Oberland in Interlaken, the 195 cm long, 115 kilo cross-border commuter, Kilian Wenger, landed a king for the first time. And after the final qualification on the Weissenstein, he won the Federal Wreath in Zug.
Remo Käser doesn’t know any other wrestler who has trained as hard in the meantime as «Michu»: «When we moved together in Magglingen, it happened several times that Wiget was absent for dinner because he was working an extra shift in the weight room.»
The question arises whether regeneration is not neglected with this zeal for training? Before the herniated disc two years ago, Wiget, who was also doing a distance learning law course, suffered a fatigue fracture in his shoulder in 2016. And this year he couldn’t compete from May to July because of a bursitis.
A horse for the sister
“It could well be that with more training breaks I would have suffered fewer injuries. On the other hand, I wouldn’t have been able to celebrate these successes if I hadn’t worked so hard on myself, ”believes Wiget, whose greatest role model is Matthias Sempach. “As a child, I was even a member of the Sempach fan club.”
Despite the admiration for Sempach, who took home the winning bull Fors vo dr Lueg after his triumph at the Swiss Confederation in 2013, Wiget does not want to win a Muni with all his might for the time being. «My sister is a passionate rider. But because she has not yet been able to afford her own horse, I would like to win a horse for her. “
Last Sunday, when he finished fifth at the Bernese Cantonal, he was already pretty close to the living price. This Sunday, Wiget is fighting for a four-legged friend on Schwägalp.
Top pairings Schwägalp-Schwinget
Samuel Giger – Christian Stucki
Werner Schlegel – Fabian Staudenmann
Bernhard Kämpf – Armon Orlik
Matthias Aeschbacher – Domenic Schneider
Lario Kramer – Damian Ott
Samir Leuppi – Michael Wiget
Fabian Kindlimann – Kilian von Weissenfluh
Thomas Inniger – Roger Rychen