Wrestling Bundesliga

Wals secured 56th title in the club’s history at home

The old and new champions are AC Wals.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Inzing had high hopes after the home defeat in the final first leg of the wrestling Bundesliga. However, the Wals "empire" was too strong at home in the Walserfeldhalle, finally celebrating its first home win against the Tyroleans in the third final in a row. And thus successfully completed "Mission 56".

It was a worthy conclusion to an exciting Bundesliga season in the sold-out Walserfeldhalle. Without a preliminary match - the Juniors, pupils and youngsters from Salzburg had already won their leagues this year - the preliminary program was already a show. The premiere of the public weigh-in was followed by honors and glossy promotional videos. Before the Rainer March and the national anthem were played. 

Only the champion surprised at the line-up
Toni Marchl, the long-time former chairman of AC Wals, had said beforehand: "Inzing has to take risks. But we are prepared for that." He put the title chances at 60:40 after the 35:24 away win, but only the home side's coach Matthias Außerleitner was surprised by the line-up ("we are certainly better positioned in freestyle") and pulled debutant (!) Kerem Ozan out of the hat in Greco-Roman up to 57 kilos.

After a coach's challenge, the sickly runner-up Erik Szilvassy (above) defeated Inzing's Michael Wagner in the Greco-Roman.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Celebrities saw a convincing performance
The Tyroleans, whose plan was to take a clear lead in the Greco-Roman, were also ahead in front of the Walser political nomenclature, former national soccer player Stefan Ilsanker and former cross-country world champion Mikhail Botvinov, but the score was 14:14 at the break. The main difference to the first leg of the final, when this style had resulted in a 17:13 win for Inzing? This time Isa Bektemirov reversed Saurwein 3:1! In a way, that was already the preliminary decision. "Three wins should be enough now in freestyle," said the coach at the break.

"Sensational time and time again"
In the freestyle round - the Salzburg team had won an outstanding six of the seven fights away from home - the record champion's 56th title in the 72nd league season followed. The young Cikel (who injured his knee), Ragginger and Huber all lost. But with the victories of Olympic silver medalist Matcharashvili, Itschakaev, Marchl and Muhamed Bektemirov, the title was secured with a 32:24, a total of 67:48. "It's always sensational. You don't realize from the outside what goes on all week and how much you invest," said a delighted Außerleitner about his sixth title as a coach, his 21st as an active player and coach. Head of Sport Florian Marchl agreed with him: "World class! We are also particularly proud of the success of our young players." The reward for the proud record-breaking champ's first ever title quadruple: the traditional club trip to Wagrain in mid-December.