Esquimalt High School wrestler Erin Geddie went from novice to a national bronze medalist in just two years.
Coach MikeThompson made a recruiting trip to Rockheights Middle School when Geddie was in Grade 8 and his talk on wrestling captured her interest.
Prior to that event the only exposure to any sort of wrestling had been watching WWE matches on TV with her father.
Thompson said that she was one of the first in her class to sign up for wrestling and that “her potential was evident from the first moment she stepped on the mat.”
The Grade 10 student is committed to her new sport. She practises with the wrestling team two nights a week and on Mondays her parents drive her to train with the Cowichan Valley Wrestling club near Duncan.
While she does some weight training away from wrestling practices, Geddie keeps her fitness levels high because she is a member of the school’s Rugby Academy and trains on the rugby field at least four days a week.
She also attends hip hop dance lessons once a week and plays lacrosse in the off-season. She used to dance competitively but gave that up due to her wrestling commitments.
Asked what appeal wrestling has, Geddie said she “just loves it, loves the fact you have to be both mentally and physically tough”.
The teen has her sights sets on the 2015 nationals where she hopes to go for gold.
Her first visit to the nationals last April was a success with the bronze medal but was not without some learning moments.
“It was overwhelming” said Geddie, who arrived to find she was a kilo over weight for her weight class which meant she had to run for an hour on the treadmill to lose the weight. She ended up weighing in at 69.3 for her 70 kilo class.
Geddie hopes to find a scholarship opportunity after high school at a university with a strong wrestling program, but for now the lone girl on the Esquimalt wrestling team is busy honing her skills on the mats in the school gym.
