In various pockets around Europe, and even here in North America, wrestling is beginning to arise from its forced slumber. Tournaments, camps, one-off events on streaming services…they are all gradually increasing. Things are still not normal, but they are a whole lot better than they were as recently as two months ago. Competitive opportunities are growing along with the hope that preambles like this one will cease to become necessary sooner rather than later.
One place where the sport is starting to perk up is Denmark, which actually led the way back during the spring by approving outdoor training sessions before most European nations. Fast-forward to tomorrow, and what you’ll find should offer even more encouragement.
Tomorrow at 3:00pm local time (9:00am ET), four delegations (the hosts, Germany, with Switzerland and Holland as a combined squad) will participate in a series of duals held at the Barbarian Arena in Nykøbing Falster. Titled “Fight Night”, all of the matches will stream live across the globe for free, giving hardcore international Greco fans something worthwhile to consume for the first time in over half a year.
“We will have a crowd of 300 people in attendance, the max due to COVID-19 restrictions,” said Brydeklubben Thor board member Peter Jensen. “All tickets were sold right away, so I guess people have missed wrestling in this area.” That’s probably an understatement.
For Denmark, Fight Night will showcase several up-and-coming competitors from their age-group system. Rasmus Ulriksen (60 kg) received attention last year when at 15 he managed to win the Danish Senior Cup. Two other BK Thor athletes appearing tomorrow, Jonas Møller (77 kg) and Marcel Hein (82 kg), also earned medals in that event despite their youth. ’18 Cadet World bronze (and younger brother of Euro star Rajbek) Turpal Bisultanov (87 kg) is checking in for a few matches, as well. Closing out some of the more recognizable names for the US audience is heavyweight Mathias Bak, who was a Senior Nordic Championships runner-up in ’18 before putting in a 5th-place showing at Pytlasinski later that year.
Following the dual series on Saturday, the wrestlers will reconvene for a multi-national training camp that will take them through the end of the week. In the meantime, the chance to catch some of Europe’s best rising stars get on the mat should provide enough stop-gap entertainment value until more events make their way onto the calendar.
2020 Fight Night
September 19 — Nykøbing Falster, DEN
3:00pm/9:00am ET
DUAL SCHEDULE
ROUND 1
POL (red) vs. GER (blue)
DEN (red) vs. SUI/NED (blue)
ROUND 2
POL (red) vs. SUI/NED (blue)
DEN (red) vs. GER (blue)
ROUND 3
SUI/NED (red) vs. GER (blue)
DEN (red) vs. POL (blue)
Team Rosters
Denmark (DEN)
55 kg: Fredrik Mathiesen
60 kg: William Reenberg
60 kg: Rasmus Ulriksen
60 kg/63 kg: Brian Kurt Santiago
63 kg/67 kg: Nikolai Mohammadi
72 kg: Oliver Jensen
77 kg: Oliver Kruger
77 kg: Jonas Møller
82 kg: Marcel Hein
87 kg: Turpal Bisultanov
97 kg/130 kg: Matthias Bak
Germany (GER)
55 kg: Janis Heinzelbecker
60 kg: Eugen Schell
63 kg: Johan Engelhardt
67 kg: Aaron Bellscheidt
67 kg: Marco Stoll
72 kg: Samuel Bellscheidt
72 kg: Nils Buschner
87 kg: Lucas Lazogianis
87 kg: Anton Vieweg
97 kg: Max Glok
130 kg: Karl Marbach
Poland (POL)
55 kg: Mairbek Salimov
60 kg: Mateusz Kaczor
60 kg: Milosz Kuznia
63 kg: Piotr Stolarczyk
67 kg: Piotr Lewandowski
77 kg: Maciej Czarnecki
77 kg: Aleksander Mielewczyk
82 kg: Arsen Mkrtchyan
87 kg: Adam Gardziola
97 kg: Jakub Antoszewski
97 kg: Kamil Zakrewski
130 kg: Dominik Krawczyk
Switzerland/Holland (SUI/NED)
55 kg: Mathias Martinetti
60 kg: Saya Brunner
60 kg: Jonas Muller
60 kg: Junior MacDonald
63 kg: Rasul Israpilov
77 kg: Yanik Bucher
77 kg/87 kg: Marcel Sterkenburg
82 kg: Tyrone Sterkenburg
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