Abbotsford’s Navdeep Toor continued his stellar year on the mat at the Asics Cadet/Juvenile National Wrestling Championships in Calgary on April 17.
Toor cleaned up in the juvenile 54 kilogram division at the event, winning all three matches he competed in.
He opened with an 11-0 win over Ontario’s Viduran Thanarajah, and then was scored on for the first time this season in round two. He beat Jacob Torres-Alexadner 14-3 to advance to the final, the only match that he has allowed points in this season. Toor then defeated Ontario’s Marco Palermo 10-0 to win the national title in his division.
“He dominated,” said Toor’s head coach Sucha Mann, who runs the Miri Piri Wrestling Club in Abbotsford. “The guy [Palermo] he beat in the final he has faced the last three finals and Navdeep has beat him every time. That guy dominates the rest of Canada but Navdeep has his number.”
Toor cut from 57 kg to 54 kg for the event, and Mann said he looked faster and comfortable at the weight. According to Mann, coaches from other clubs were impressed with Toor’s efforts, and there is considerable interest from post secondary schools for the Grade 11 Rick Hansen Secondary School student.
“People are keeping an eye on him,” he said.
Toor previously won gold medals at the nationals in his division in both 2014 and 2015. He also earned a bronze medal at the Pan-Am Games last summer, and has won several regional and provincial tournaments. More recently, he won his division at the BC high school wrestling championships in March.
Toor has several tournaments lined up in the U.S. later this year, and will continue training several times a week at the club.
Miri Piri also had two other medal winners from the event, with Pritpaul Johal winning bronze in the boys 50 kg division, and Gurleen Kaler earning bronze in the 70 kg girls division.
Johal opened with a 7-0 win over Sam Patton, but then fell to eventual gold medal winner Patrik Leder 8-4 in round two. He then posted a 9-2 victory over Samuel Jean and a 10-0 win over Nicolae Gandrabura to place third.
Kaler kicked off the tournament with a 12-1 win over Hannah Hubley, and then lost 4-0 to gold medal winner Cassie Fischer. She bounced back with a 10-0 win over Courtney Gallagher and a 6-1 win over Sharon Mallett to finish third.
The event also saw Mission wrestlers sisters Alexia Seal and Victoria Seal continue their strong wrestling season, with wins in the 43 kg and 52 kg divisions respectively.
Alexia was also named national female cadet wrestler of the year at the event. For complete details from the event, visit wrestling.ca.
