Norway

Kure, Mukubu, Baldauf, & Marvik Win 2023 National Titles

By 5PM Staff

Posted on January 22, 2023

felix baldauf, 2023 norwegian championships, greco-roman

Felix Baldauf -- Photo: UWW

Dominance was the name of the game for most of the gold medalists on Saturday at Norway’s flagship domestic tournament in Fredrikstad, as a who’s-who of the country’s star athletes put on exemplary performances that resulted in lopsided scores en-route to victory.

Six of the nine weight categories contested were won by high-profile Norwegian Seniors. At 72 kilograms, Haavard Joergensen racked up three VSU’s in three bouts to come away triumphant while Per-Anders Kure (82 kg) also finished all four of his opponents; ’22 U23 World Champion Exauce Mukubu, now up at 87 kg, surrendered some points but scored a lot in return, as he, too, prevailed in each match via technical fall. 97 kingpin Felix Baldauf, a European Championships gold in ’17, likewise ran the table and experienced little resistance in doing so. The same was true of ’21 World bronze Oskar Marvik (130 kg), who continued his reign atop the sport’s heaviest weight class by notching three consecutive tech’s.

Sebastian Aak earned the title in the tournament’s deepest bracket, 77 kg. After having committed most of his competitive endeavors to non-Olympic 72 in recent years, Aak saw glimpses of challenge on Saturday, most notably from Kasper Overby, but still managed to walk away the winner of a 5-1 decision. In the gold-medal final, Aak got past William Svalestad via VSU (8-0).

As of press time, Aak, Joergensen, Kure, Mukubu, Baldauf, and Marvik are expected to compete early next month at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Zagreb, CRO (February 3-5). ’20 European Championships gold medalist Morten Thoresen (67 kg), whose last appearance saw him grab 72 kg gold at the Haparanda Cup (SWE), is also scheduled for the trip.

Notes:

Mukubu defeated his four opponents by a combined score of 46-8, for an average of 11.5 points per match.
Baldauf was awarded with the “King’s Cup” after competition concluded, signifying the best male performance.
Fredrikstad BK Atlas won the club title with 29 points. Sports Club 1909 finished second with 28, and Fearless Wrestling Club came in third with 15.