Seven Cowichan Valley Wrestling Club athletes won their classes and Queen of Angels School placed second in the overall junior standings at the club’s own Cougar Invitational meet at Frances Kelsey Secondary School last Saturday.
Q of A wrestlers Talon Hird, Stephanie Mould and Hayley Bye-Pace won the junior male 43-45kg and junior female 53-56kg and 57-62kg classes, respectively. Kelsey’s Kayden Dorma and Aydan Claus finished atop the senior male 60-61kg and 75-78 classes, while Antonio Diaz of Cowichan Secondary won the junior male 46-48kg class and Hannah Tuplin of Chemainus Secondary won the senior female 51-53kg division.
“It went well from start to finish,” CVWC head coach Nick Zuback said. “It was a strong showing on the mats for our club. We had a good mix from the senior wrestlers all the way down.”
The host athletes were among nearly 200 wrestlers from all over the Island to compete at the CVWC’s annual event.
In addition to the seven gold medals, CVWC wrestlers also collected nine second-place finishes: Paul Belcourt (Q of A) in junior male 31-35kg, Ethan Giles (Q of A) in junior male 100-123kg, Sofia Klobucar (Q of A) in junior female 31-32kg, Jacqueline Wong-Bates (Q of A) in junior female 53-56kg, Kyla Van Ryk (Q of A) in junior female 62-64kg, Aidan Tuplin (Duncan Christian) in senior male 61-63kg, Blake Smith (CVOLC) in senior male 85-90kg, Andrea Morris (Cowichan) in senior female 51-53kg, and Rayne Hankins (CVOLC) in senior female 79-93kg.
Seven more athletes placed third: Caleb Battye (Tansor) in junior male 39-42kg, Christopher Gaw (Kelsey) in junior male 46-48kg, Owen Mackenzie (Q of A) in junior male 50-55kg, Charlie Roberts (Q of A) in junior female 35-40kg, Kora Paige (Q of A) in junior female 42-46kg, Grace George (Q of A) in junior female 57-62kg, and Catharine Jimmy (Q of A) in junior female 62-64kg.
Frazer Wilmot (Q of A) placed fourth in junior male 43-45kg, as did Jameson Hengslter (Q of A) in junior male 76-79kg. Three more local athletes finished sixth: William Rithaler (Q of A) in junior male 39-42kg, Ashton Combdon (Q of A) in junior male 43-45kg, and Aiden Sidhu (Lake Cowichan) in senior male 53-58kg.
The meet had been held at Cowichan Secondary in recent years, but Zuback was pleased with the move to Kelsey,
“We are definitely looking forward to going back to Kelsey next year,” he said. “We’re grateful to them for allowing us to host in their gymnasium.”
The club is taking seven novice wrestlers and 10 elites to the Mainland this weekend for the War on the Floor at Pinetree Secondary School in Coquitlam. The meet is one of a select few events where the top four finishers in each class are awarded seeding points for provincials.
