For Queen Elizabeth Secondary school wrestler Jason Bains, his last year as a high school wrestler proved to be solid gold.
Bains recently returned home from the 2016 Asics Cadet/Juvenile Canadian Wrestling Championships at the University of Calgary April 15-17 with a gold medal in the 100kg (220 lbs.) Juvenile Mens freestyle division.
For the 6’2” Bains, wrestling is in his blood, with his uncle, father and two older brothers all successful wrestlers in both Canada and India.
“I used to watch my two older brothers wrestle on the living room carpet when I was a kid,” said the hulking grappler. “So when I was in Grade 4, I decided to give wrestling a try.”
Bains has grown a little since his first few tournaments as a 49kg (108 lbs.) youngster, but time on the mat and in the weight room has allowed the 18 year-old Grade 12 student to travel around the world competing in the sport he loves.
Despite suffering an ankle injury two weeks earlier, Bains surrendered only two points throughout the tournament with no match lasting the full two rounds, winning the final over Arjun Sahota of Ontario with a 10-0 technical decision.
This is the third national title for Bains, previously winning gold in 2013 and 2014.
At the 2015 national tournament in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Bains placed second to fellow B.C. wrestler Nishan Randhawa. However since Randhawa was a second-year juvenile, Bains was able to take first place in the United World Wrestling (UWW) Cadet National team trial (Grades 9-11), placing him on the Canadian National Cadet team for the third time.
Bains then travelled with Team Canada to Guadalajara, Mexico for the Cadet Pam-Am Championships, winning silver, and to the Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia Hertzegovina.
“I faced a wrestler from Iran in my first match (at the world championships) and I remember being very nervous,” said Bains. “I changed my game plan and started taking leg shots and he was able to get behind me and score.”
However the experience he gained on the world stage has helped mold Bains into the wrestler he is today.
During the high school wrestling season Bains trains up to three times a day, five days a week with both the Queen Elizabeth Royals high school team Khalsa Wrestling, his club team.
His day begins at 5:30 a.m. with breakfast at home and then to the weight room. In the afternoon it’s school practice, then club practice, with homework squeezed in between.
Weekends are spent competing in tournaments throughout the Lower Mainland and Washington.
“Watching my brothers have so much fun wrestling, it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Bains. “I really love to travel and wrestling is different everywhere. Being able to travel to Bosnia or Serbia, it’s not somewhere people would think to travel but the more you travel, the more you see different types of wrestling.”
In March, Bains placed second at the Junior National tournament UWW National Team Trial and will be traveling to Barinas, Venezuela in June for the Junior Pam-Am Championships and possibly the Junior World Championships in Macon, France in August.
His plan is to study criminology in university, however Bains has yet to commit to one specific school, although plenty have shown interest.
“I’m looking at both Oregon State and SFU, but I haven’t fully decided yet.”
Other Surrey wrestlers who placed at the the National tournament were Samsher Sidhu (first, 76kg Cadet Boys), Arjot Gill (first, 100kg Cadet Boys), Ali Raguzar (third, 58kg Cadet Boys), Harmonjot Deol (fourth, 100kg Greco) and Harjot Judge (fifth, 100kg Greco).
