A trio of athletes representing the 100 Mile House Wrestling Club rolled into Mackenzie and locked up some hardware and top qualifying spots for provincials at the end of February.
Mackenzie Secondary School hosted the Zone 8 Wrestling Championship on Feb. 15, where Kody Kennedy, Tianna Dykstra and Heather Wolfear earned two golds and a silver medal, respectively.
Overall, coach Phil Johnston says all three wrestlers did well and are looking forward to the 2014 British Columbia Secondary Schools Wrestling Championships in Prince George, starting on Feb. 27.
At a team practice in 100 Mile House a few days before zones and following the 31st Annual Alberni Invitational Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 7, Dykstra and Kennedy discussed the season and their recent results.
Dykstra finished first in Port Alberni while Kennedy placed sixth.
Kennedy competes at 51 kilograms. He won his first match in Port Alberni before going up against opponents he says were physically stronger, and he made some mistakes.
Johnston says sixth place was good for Kennedy in Port Alberni, which draws some good level wrestlers from the Lower Mainland.
“It’s really his first big tournament of the year. He’s first-year cadet, so he’s in the next age bracket. He’s starting to learn he needs to work a little bit harder.”
Kennedy says he was looking to improve for zones on the things he didn’t do well in Port Alberni. And if that first-place standing in Mackenzie is any indication, it looks like he succeeded.
Kennedy says win or lose, though, it doesn’t matter to him.
“I just like to wrestle.”
Dykstra, a nationally-ranked competitor and bronze medallist at the 2013 Canada Summer Games, wrestles at 43 kg. In Port Alberni, she was facing girls from the 40-kg class. However, “they were good little fighters,” she says.
Dykstra beat Karah Bulaqui 4-0 in the finals. Bulaqui is a national champion from Vancouver who wrestled with her on Team B.C.
For Dykstra, the goal this year is medalling again at the national level, explains Johnston.
Of course, they want to win provincials, he adds, but Dykstra is almost expected to win.
“Everybody is shooting for her. She is the top seed at her weight class.”
Dykstra has a bit of a laugh when she’s asked about other wrestlers gunning for her top spot.
“They’re out to get me,” she jokes. But really, she then concedes, there is “just a bit” more pressure being No. 1.
“You have to know (opponents are) going to give it their all. They’re not going to quit.”
Dykstra says she expected zones to go the way it did, but adds provincials are “probably going to be tough.”
Is she worried about wrestling anybody in particular?
“No.”
