Queen of Angels School ruled the junior boys division and Cowichan Secondary won the senior girls class at the Campbell River Invitational wrestling meet last weekend.
The Q of A junior boys won their division with 132 points, 91 more than second-place Alberni. Drinkwater was fourth with 24 points, just one point out of third, and Cowichan Secondary finished sixth with 21 points, also not far from third place.
Dylan Battye dominated the 39-41kg weight class, which saw Q of A wrestlers fill out the top three spots — Paul Belcourt finished second and Joran Branting was third. Other Q of A wrestlers to win their classes included Ethan Mellings in the 43-47kg class, Frazer Wilmot at 47-50kg, Ashton Combdon at 50-53kg. Rory Brennan, William Rithaler and Lyle Samson all had second-place finishes for Q of A, and Noah Bird, Zachary Simon, Mattias Zachary, Josh Joe-Campbell, Dylan Weaselhead and Myles Paige all placed third in their classes.
Owen MacKenzie of Cowichan Secondary won the 55-59kg class and Aidan Dyer-Price of Drinkwater was first in the 59-63kg class. Other second-place finishes went to Levi Peters of Drinkwater (36-39kg), Joshua Wong of Kelsey (47-50kg), Caleb Battye of Cowichan Secondary (50-53kg), and Caleb Fraser of Cobble Hill (55-59kg).
Cowichan Secondary School had just two wrestlers in the senior girls division, but second-place finishes for both Andrea Morris in the 49-54kg division and Stephanie Mould in the 58-59kg division gave the school first place.
Morris has had the unenviable position of wrestling against her Cowichan Valley Wrestling Club teammate Hannah Tuplin of Chemainus Secondary, a two-time national champion, and every meet seems to come down to Morris facing Tuplin for gold in their weight class, as was the case in Campbell River.
“For Andrea it’s tough,” CVWC head coach Nick Zuback acknowledged. “She gives it her all, but Hannah’s just at the next level.”
Tuplin finished first in the 49-54kg class, then won a special challenge match set up by the tournament director against Kiana Shew of SIDES, an accomplished wrestler in her own right who won the weight class just below.
“Hannah just decimated her,” Zuback said.
Also in the senior girls ranks, Kora Paige of Q of A was second in the 42-46kg class, and Hayley Bye-Pace placed fourth in the 58-59kg class.
In the junior girls ranks, Rosie Klatt-LaBlanc of Crofton won the 65-74kg class, edging out Alexis Joe of Q of A. Charlie Roberts of Q of A was second at 39-43kg, and Kennedy Aleck, also from Q of A, finished third at 42-43kg.
Talon Hird of Q of A won the senior boys 48-52kg class, and Caelem Gray, also from Q of A, placed second at 38-43kg. In the 64-69kg class, Ryan Kuruvita of Cowichan Secondary was second, and Aidan Tuplin of Duncan Christian was fourth.
The CVWC will take a contingent to the huge Port Alberni invitational this weekend, followed by a weekend off before the wrestlers head to the Island championships in Esquimalt.
