| Reto Bucher | |
| Fullname: | Reto Bucher |
| Birth Date: | 30 September 1982 |
| Birth Place: | Mühlau, Aargau, Switzerland |
| Weight: | 740NaN0 |
| Style: | Greco-Roman |
| Club: | Ringerstaffel Freiamt |
| Coach: | Leonz Küng (1997–2003) Andrey Maltsev (2003–2009) |
| Show Medals: | yes |
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]