The Lake City Falcons grades 7-12 wrestling team recently returned from two provincial competitions: the University of the Fraser Valley’s Western Canada Age Class Tournament and Edmonton’s Golden Bears High School Invitational.
Coach Ian Pare, who co-coaches the team alongside Tyler Scaiano, said it was an outstanding showing for six of the team’s young grapplers at the age class event, held in Abbotsford Jan. 19-20, followed up by more great performances this past weekend in Edmonton.
“We have a young team with quite a bit of experience and they were both good tournaments for them,” Pare said. “They’re getting a lot of recognition from outside coaches, outside clubs and it’s good to see that.
“When you get competing schools coming up to you praising your athletes on not only their abilities but their attitudes and sportsmanship it’s a pretty good feeling.”
READ MORE: Falcons grapplers ready to hit mat for 2018/19 season
Western Age Class Tournament
Two sisters, Adrienne Brommit and Shailynn Brommit, siblings Kalub Scaiano and Tyleen Scaiano, Caen Passeri and Klay-Lynn Pare represented the Falcons at the event.
Adrienne wrestled in the 38-kilogram, grade 7-8 division, and battled to a gold medal result.
Her sister, Shailynn, wrestled at 34 kilograms in the grade 7-8 division, and placed fourth.
“She ended up wrestling all boys in her division because they didn’t have any girls in her category, but she was happy to take on the boys,” Pare said. “They had more experience than her, but she did amazing for that class. It was probably the hardest weight class at that age. She tested the boys, came in as the underrated underdog and put up a great fight in just her third tournament.”
Kalub Scaiano, meanwhile, in the 41-kilogram grade 7-8 division, was dominant in a first-place finish.
Klay-Lynn, competing in the 43 kilogram grades 7-8 class, also dominated.
“What we’re seeing now is their experience,” Pare said. “Both Kalub and Klay started when they were seven or eight years old and that’s paying off.”
Newcomer to the team Caen Passeri also showed great improvement, Pare said, as he wrestled in the 38 kilogram grade 7-8 division, placing fifth.
“He was killing it,” Pare said. “It was his first tournament and I was really impressed. He’s so strong with his hockey background, and he tried his hardest all day long and ended up winning a match.”
Tyleen Scaiano, the team’s most veteran grappler, competed in the 54 kilogram grade 10-12 division, where she placed second.
“She’s got some tough competition in there,” Pare said. “It was a really, really close match in the final, and Tyleen did really well in there.”
Golden Bears High School Invitational
This past weekend the team was at the University of Edmonton for the Golden Bears High School Invitational.
Six athletes travelled to the competition, however, due to two girls dropping out, only four of the club’s wrestlers competed.
Kalub, Klay-Lynn, Adrienne and Shailynn represented the Falcons at the tournament, all posting more solid results.
Both Kalub and Klay-Lynn, in the 40kg and 45kg classes, respectively, placed first.
“Neither of them had any points scored against them the whole tournament,” Pare said.
Adrienne, in the 42 kilogram grades 7-9 class, placed second — a result Pare said was impressive.
“It’s a big tournament and we had all the competition from western Canada there, and she’s quite an athlete,” Pare said.
“This is her first year and she’s pretty dominant. She wrestled four good matches all against older, bigger girls and it’s been her best tournament so far. The girl she lost to is probably the best in Canada in her weight class at that age.”
Shailynn, meanwhile, wrestled up a weight class at 42 kilograms.
“I think the most impressive thing with Shailynn is her comfort level keeps going up, and she’s getting stronger and stronger in there,” Pare said.
READ MORE: Grapplers hit mat for first tournament of season
“She was in every match. She didn’t win any, but she was competitive against everyone she wrestled, and she just keeps getting better. Once she starts wrestling against people in her category she’s going to dominate.”
Pare said he and coach Scaiano are looking forward to what the future holds for their athletes.
“Our team going into high school next year, all the Grade 8s, I’m excited for that,” Pare said.
“Tyler and I kind of came into the season saying we’re going to go to tournaments and be better athletes, but also get noticed, which is what our athletes are doing out there every day and it’s good to see that.”
The Falcons will now travel to the zone championships this weekend in Prince George, before heading off to Langley in two weeks time for the provincial championships.
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