A rough ride for the Finns in the European wrestling championships – the head coach gave blunt feedback in the interview: “They were asleep”

Six games, six losses. That was the result list of Finnish wrestlers when the EC wrestling championships were held in Zagreb, Croatia last week.

Finland’s number one was a two-time EC medalist Elias Kuosmanen. Responsible coach of Greco-Roman wrestling Juha Lappalainen stated in the bulletin (you will switch to another service) before the Games, that we go to the European Championships with medal goals.

– Elias has the highest expectations, but other top-achieving athletes also have opportunities to fight for medals, Lappalainen mentioned.

Lappalainen didn’t go patting his own head or his athletes when the battles in Zagreb had stopped.

– It’s been a dark race and dreams have been few and far between. This matter has been thought about. Have you made any big mistakes in preparation? Clear things that had been gone through before the matches and the strengths of the opponents were known, yet the wrestlers were… can you say in a dream.

According to Lappalainen, the next step is to find out very precisely how it is possible that the athletes do not perform at their level, even though everything necessary has been done before the matches and it is known exactly what the opponent is trying to do.

Towards the World Championships – Kuosmanen or Mäenpää?

Elias Kuosmanen, 27, made a tough decision during the Tokyo Olympics. He switched from 97-kilogram to heavyweight when the 97-kilogram representative position went away Arvi Savolainen. At the Olympics, Kuosmanen lost both of his matches to clearly bigger opponents and hurt his hand. After the Olympics, Kuosmanen wondered if he would return to 97 kg or continue in the biggest men’s division.

What does Lappalainen think about Kuosmanen’s transfer now?

– Elias has done a good job of becoming a heavyweight wrestler. I think he is at medal level in Europe. The Norwegian beat him and took bronze. It was up to the little thing that Elias would have kept up with the pace.

Kuosmanen is aiming for a place in the fall World Championships and the Paris Olympics in 2024, but Lappalainen reminds that there is also a tough challenger from home, a couple of years younger Konsta Mäenpääwho wrestled in Budapest 2022 EC bronze.

– Both are motivated athletes. The fight for an Olympic place fuels both forward. We still clearly need to have our own ideology for fighting, that is what we are really going to get there.

Lappalainen stated that the junior European championships won’t really change the plans going towards the World Championships, which will be held in September in Belgrade.

– We need to get more training opponents to Finland for the basic weeks.

It is clear that the European Championships as a whole were a disappointment for the Finns.

– Of course this was a training competition. Now this showed where we were going. We’re a little behind.

Savolainen’s hard trials

Arvi Savolai, who has had enough trials, was not seen in the EC team. In the summer of 2021, he was fifth at the Tokyo Olympics. The 97-kilogram fighter suffered from cardiac arrhythmias, which led to heart surgery at the end of 2021.

The main goal of 2022, the World Cup, was missed by Savolainen when he injured his wrist at a training camp in Poland. Savolainen had to undergo surgery, which took half a year to recover from. Savolainen returned to Molski in March in Denmark and suffered a rib injury, which has caused him to miss the European Championship.

Savolainen’s next goal is the fall World Championships in Serbia, where they will also qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

– Arvi’s side was cut a couple of weeks ago. Now he is ready to train again and is slowly getting back into the group, Lappalainen said.

According to the coach, after his wrist surgery, Savolainen had done a good job and received praiseworthy physical training help from the Sports Academy of the Capital Region (Urhea).

– Arvi was physically ready, but I’m not sure if he was completely ready in terms of wrestling. It was more of a dream that he would have wrestled in the European Championships. Unfortunately, the side broke in the first match in the Danish tournament. In hindsight, you might think that maybe he wasn’t ready.

The European Championship team did not feature the under-23 European Championship champions who made history in March either Tino Ojalaa and Jonni from Sarkki. The duo, who are completing their conscript service at the Sports School of the Defense Forces, are focusing on training, as the most important goal for them this year is the World Youth Championships in Tampere in October.

In Lappalainen’s opinion, the level of both Ojala and Sarkkinen would have been enough for the European Championships for adults.

– But neither was ready to go to the Games. This spring’s main competition was the U23 European Championships and now the balloon was empty.