Reto Bucher
Personal information
Full nameReto Bucher
Nationality  Switzerland
Born (1982-09-30) 30 September 1982
Mühlau, Aargau, Switzerland
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleGreco-Roman
ClubRingerstaffel Freiamt
CoachLeonz Küng (1997–2003)
Andrey Maltsev (2003–2009)
Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing   Switzerland
European Championships
Silver medal – second place2007 Varna74 kg

Reto Bucher (born September 30, 1982 in Mühlau, Aargau) is a retired amateur Swiss Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category.[1] He finished fourth in the 74-kg division at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and later took home a silver medal at the 2007 European Championships in Varna, Bulgaria. Before his wrestling career ended in 2009, Bucher trained as a member of the wrestling team for Ringerstaffel Freiamt in Aristau, under his personal coach Leonz Küng.[2][3]

A member of the Swiss wrestling squad, Bucher entered the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens as an underdog in the men's 74 kg class, after placing third and receiving a berth from the final Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[4] He opened his match by dominating Belarusian wrestler Aliaksandr Kikiniou with a 3–2 verdict, and then rallied for a 6–2 score over China's Sai Yinjiya in the prelim pool to move into the next round.[5] Bucher edged past his Kazakh rival Danil Khalimov in the quarterfinals, before being tamed by eventual silver medalist Marko Yli-Hannuksela of Finland at 3–0, leaving him with an ankle injury.[6] Fighting against Russia's Varteres Samurgashev for the bronze medal, Bucher could not endure a pain from his injury and easily lost the match to the Russian due to a 10–0 superiority limit.[7][8]

Bucher lost again to Yli-Hannuksela for the bronze medal in the same division at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, until his medal drought culminated with a silver at the European Championships in 2007.[9][10] He also sought to compete for his second Swiss team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but missed out a spot from the Olympic trials.[11] In 2009, Bucher announced his official retirement from the sport because of a right knee injury sustained from the Swiss championships.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Reto Bucher". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Ringen: Sense und Willisau in der Favoritenrolle" [Wrestling: Sense and Willisau are the favorites] (in German). News.ch. 18 September 2003. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Reto Bucher zieht Konsequenzen" [Reto Bucher draws to an end] (in German). Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Abbott, Gary (22 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men's Greco-Roman". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Reto Bucher in Dreier-Vorrundengruppe" [Reto Bucher in the third preliminary pool] (in German). News.ch. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Silver medal for Marko Yli-Hannuksela in Greco-Roman wrestling". Helsingin Sanomat. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Wrestling: Men's Greco-Roman 74kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ibrahim strikes Greco gold". BBC Sport. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Reto Bucher wird WM-Fünfter" [Reto Bucher finished fifth at World Championships] (in German). News.ch. 1 October 2005. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "EM-Silber für Reto Bucher" [Silver medal for Bucher at European Champs] (in German). 20 minutes (Switzerland). 20 August 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "Auch Reto Bucher nicht nach Peking" [Reto Bucher will also not be in Beijing] (in German). St. Galler Tagblatt. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2014.


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