A pair of wrestlers from the Langley United Wrestling Club have returned from nationals with a silver and bronze medal, respectively, for their efforts.
Kamil Golowko picked up the silver medal in his weight class while Pritpaul Johal earned the bronze.
The pair, as well as Trevor Weltzin who finished fifth in his category, were competing April 15 at the 2016 cadet/juvenile Canadian wrestling championships in Calgary. The meet was held at the University of Calgary’s Jack Simpson Gymnasium.
“I wish I could have done better, I wish I could have won gold, but I am happy with silver,” Golowko said.
For Johal, medalling at nationals — as well as the gold he won at provincials — allowed him to have his most successful season yet.
“It felt good,” said the 15-year-old Grade 10 student at D.W. Poppy Secondary.
“It felt like I accomplished something this year.”
Last year, Johal didn’t place at provincials and finished fifth at nationals.
“Those losses motivated me,” Johal said, adding he trained even harder leading up to this season.
He wrestled in the 50-kg weight class and at nationals, went 4-1.
And in that lone loss — which came in the semifinal round — Johal gave up two points in the final 10 seconds to lose.
With two more years of high school eligibility, Johal has already set his sights on winning both provincials and nationals in 2017.
For Weltzin, a Grade 12 student at Brookswood Secondary who wrestled in the 70-kg weight class, he had entered nationals with a 25-0 mark before suffering his first defeat.
-by Gary Ahuja
