The teams from Ruggell and Romont met in Brugg AG on Saturday. It was nothing less than promotion to the National League B.
The men’s team from JC Ruggells represented Region 3 and the team from Romont represented Region 1. Region 2 could not provide a team, so the two teams fought each other. The teams each fielded one fighter in the weight classes -66kg, -73kg, -81kg, -90kg and +90kg (the team that can get three wins in this match will get promoted).
The Unterlanders arrived early so that they could prepare well and be able to give 100% right away when the fight started. There were also a few fans who created a good atmosphere early on.
Leandro Brühlmann made the start of this encounter for the Ruggellers in the -81kg weight class. Brühlmann dominated his opponent right from the start and was able to get him into a holding technique early on, whereby his opponent was able to free himself quickly. Brühlmann followed suit and was able to achieve a Waza-Ari rating with one throw. He held this until the end of the fighting time and was able to win the first victory in this encounter for Unterländer. Reto Enderlin immediately started in the -90kg weight class. After some good attempts, Enderlin managed to get his opponent into a hold technique and pinned him for 20 seconds. That was the second win for the Ruggellers! A win was still missing and promotion would be certain.
David Büchel got ready to fight in the +90kg weight class. Büchel fought tactically and kept his opponent moving for the entire duration of the fight, so that he got tired. In the golden score – the overtime – the two went down and Büchel was able to force him to give up with an arm lock. This was the third victory and promotion for the Ruggeller. The tension eased, but the lowlands stayed focused. There were still two fights to be fought. Tristan Frei fought in the -66kg weight class and was soon able to defeat his opponent with a counterattack. Fabian Tischhauser graduated for the Ruggellers in the -73kg weight class. He fought well and was able to put his opponent under pressure a few times, but luck was not on his side in the competition, he was thrown twice and lost the fight. The JC Ruggells men’s team secured a strong 8-2 win over the Romont team.
The joy was great and the fans who had traveled with them celebrated the team with standing ovations.
Ruggeller coach Reo Hamaya was probably the most nervous that day. But the tension eased after the five fights and he was overjoyed that the team had made it into National League B. The team season for the Ruggeller starts on April 23, 2022 in Lausanne. There they meet the teams Judo Kwai Lausanne and Nippon St. Gallen.
