Extra, Extra, Read All About It…

(Article by Don Rice)

Sask. Rules the Mat…

REGINA — The lightweights carried a heavy load for Saskatchewan’s women’s wrestling team this week.  And in the end, they all walked away with some hardware.

In addition to the team silver they won Wednesday night at the Canada Summer Games, Saskatoon’s Pamela Ewanishin (52-kilogram weight class) and Allysa Krahn (48 kg) earned gold medals in the women’s individual competition Thursday.

Jasmine Slinn (44 kg) added a silver and Annie Quangtakoune (40 kg), also from Regina, won bronze.  As the four lightest girls on the team, they train together, are rooming together at the athletes village and have developed a close bond.  “The four of us we’ve always got along together really well,” said Krahn. “When you’re together and sharing a (dorm room) here and you’re spending all this time here and travelling down to the States, you just get really close. We’re just always there for each other.”

Krahn and Ewanishin, both 18, have also taken on the role as mentors to Quangtakoune, 16, and Slinn, 15.  “Allysa and I are veterans and I think we push the two girls who are lighter than us,” said Ewanishin. “I think we did pretty well in training them and brought them up to our level. They’ve improved so much over the summer, I can’t believe how well they did.”  “I guess we’re more experienced them so we like to support them and give them advice whenever we can just to help them so our team can be as good as it possibly can,” added Krahn.

For Quangtakoune, seeing her teachers come out on top was almost as special as winning her own medal.  “Pam and Allysa are both national champions and for me and Jasmine just to have the chance to train with them and be on the same team has been amazing,” she said. “And for them to win a gold medal here with us is just tremendous. It’s just a great opportunity to be here with them.”

Slinn said having Ewanishin and Krahn there for her has stepped up her game.  “They’re older and more experienced,” she said. “It’s helped me a lot.

Saskatchewan coach Kim Bergey Kaip said those four have a tough role and have brought a lot to the team during the entire competition.  “There’s a lot of pressure on them in the dual meets because they start the trend, they’ve got to start off strong.” she said. “They’ve come out and they’ve performed every match.”

Not that the middle and heavyweights were slacking off.  Regina’s Samantha McKay (75kg and over), Saskatoon’s Stephany Dergo (56kg) and Saskatoon’s Beth Thompson (75kg) added silver medals and Regina’s Nicole Daum (65kg) earned a bronze, bringing the women’s team total to eight individual medals — two gold, four silver and two bronze.  In all out of the 10 weight classes, Saskatchewan women were fighting for nine of them. Sarah Mercer lost out in the 70kg bronze-medal match and Caileigh Beckman, also from the Queen City, finished fifth in the 60kg weight class.

Bodnarchuk gets gold…

In men’s wrestling, Mitch Bodnarchuk of Saskatoon led a five-medal parade by the Saskatchewan team with a gold in the 58-kilogram division  Daniel Olver (74 kg) of Saskatoon won silver and Spencer Adams (63 kg) of Saskatoon, Calvin Daum (68 kg) of Regina and Bryan Blackwell (50 kg) of Saskatoon won bronze.  Chris Hobman (81 kg) of Saskatoon, Kirk Ackerman (46 kg) of Regina and Ryan Myrfield (54 kg) of Saskatoon were fourth

(REGINA LEADER-POST)

Men go to Mat to Capture Gold…

By TIM SWITZER

Leader-Post

Saskatchewan’s men’s wrestling team started and finished just the way it wanted.  Regina’s Kirk Ackerman and Swift Current’s Bradley Peters both recorded pins in helping Saskatchewan to a gold medal in the team competition versus Alberta.  Ackerman, wrestling in the lowest weight class at 46 kilograms, said that was part of his game plan.  “I wanted to start out with a big bang, get my team really roared up to go,” he said, describing his double leg slam into a pin that gave him the victory. I felt a lot of pressure but I’m glad to have it turn out the way it did.  “You spend the whole summer and years and years training for this. When it finally comes and you get what you wanted. It’s the greatest feeling.

Peters, the team’s heaviest wrestler, didn’t even have to win his match but iced it for the gold medal anyway, putting the Alberta wrestler into a pinning predicament right off the bat.  “I’d watched him wrestle and it seemed like I could beat him.” he said.  Peters’ training came in handy again a few seconds later as he deftly avoided a pile-on by his 10 teammates.  “I made sure to duck when I saw them coming high on me.” he laughed.

“Huge, huge,” said Saskatchewan coach Ron Gonzales of the men’s performance. “The boys wanted it really bad and the boys did it. I’m really happy for them. What more can you say? They deserve it, they’re strong kids, absolutely elite athletes.”  While Alberta came away with silver medals, Ontario defeated B.C. to win the bronze.

While the men were tasting sweet success, the women suffered bitter defeat losing their final match versus B.C. by one point to wind up with the silver.  Ontario took the bronze there as well.

After starting off strong by taking their first four matches, Saskatchewan, seeded first on the women’s side, went on to lose five straight, leaving Regina’s Samantha McKay needing a pin to win gold  While she did win the match, her points weren’t enough to overcome B.C.  “I was pretty scared but I just talked to myself. said I had it and I just didn’t pin her but it felt pretty good. McKay said. “We worked so hard during the summer and I’m glad we even came out in the top two.”

Saskatoon’s Alyssa Krahn, who recorded Saskatchewan’s only pin during the match. didn’t see the medal as a silver lining  “Losing by one point, having it so close just made the loss so much worse,” she said. “We trained all summer for it, this is what we wanted. It’s kind of all or nothing to me at least.” Gonzales said in time, it won’t seem so tough.  “Being second in the country when they wake up (today) won’t feel that bad,” he said.

Singles matches take place today starting at 10 a.m. where it is believed Saskatchewan has 20 out of 21 wrestlers in semifinals that will eventually be competing for individual medals.

By TIM SWITZER

Leader-Post

They said it was going to be a war. It was.  The road to Wednesday’s team gold medal in men’s wrestling was no easy task with Saskatchewan’s athletes needing to get past B.C. to wind up in the gold medal match.  They did – barely.

Saskatchewan came in with a five-point advantage as B.C. had no one to wrestle Saskatchewan’s Bradley Peters in the 130-kilogram weight class. But the home team promptly dropped four of it’s first five matches to fall behind 13-12 in points.  Then came 15-year-old Calvin Daum of Regina.  After losing the first period to B.C.’s Arminder Virk, Daum came back with a thrilling pin in the dying seconds of the second to bring the pro-Saskatchewan crowd to its feet.  “It was very difficult, he was very strong,” said Daum. “I couldn’t get inside but got my one lucky throw. I’ve used it all year and it came in handy when I needed it.”

“That was definitely the turning point for us to get rolling again,” said Saskatchewan head coach Ron Gonzales. “Being one of the youngest kids on this team and wrestling a very tough B.C. competitor and beating him, it rises everybody else up to the occasion.”  The outcome was protested by B.C.’s coaches, who believed time had run out before the pin, but the challenge was denied.

The win by Daum seemed to fire up the rest of the heavyweights. Daniel Olver followed it up with a quick two-period win and Adam Kent, after a loss by Saskatoon’s Chris Hobman, took out B.C’s Roop Sadhra.  With a 23-19 score favouring Saskatchewan, it all came down to the final match: Craig Albert of Saskatoon versus Joseph Kalugin of Port Alberni.  After a few close calls, Albert prevailed in the second period, catapulting Saskatchewan into the gold-medal match.  “B.C.’s been talking so much, we just wanted to shut them up,” said Albert. “In the end there I was just so excited to contribute my part, I came out hard.”  “He was a better wrestler and the better wrestler won that day,” Kalugin said. “The fans out here are just crazy The support out there for them, it was really overwhelming for the B.C. team. I know that.”

When the dust settled the dual match had taken over two hours, included back-and-forth points all afternoon long, one result protest and several video reviews.  “Almost all those matches could have gone one way or the other You don’t get to see dual meets like that where every single match is just a dogfight,” said B.C. head coach James Messenger “I’m a little disappointed about the outcome but I think we wrestled really well, Saskatchewan wrestled really well.”

“We fired up all the kids for B.C. We’ve been talking about this dual meet for weeks,” said Gonzales. “For a dual meet to go (that long) you know each minute is being taken.”

By DARRELL DAVIS

Leader-Post

Craig Albert has new neighbours – about 2,400 of them.  Almost everyone else who was staying at the Canada Summer Games athletes’ village returned home during the weekend, having completed the sports that were scheduled during the first week of competition. They aren’t like Albert, a multitasking athlete from Saskatoon, who played rugby last week and is staying at the University of Regina so he can represent Saskatchewan this week in men’s wrestling. But he did have to switch rooms.  “I was surprised I was the only two-sport athlete in Saskatchewan because I know there’s a lot of people who could have made two teams, but I was the only one who chose to do it.” said Albert, 18.  “Because wrestling was the second week and it was my priority as an athlete, I thought i might get beaten up or injured during the first week. For awhile I thought I didn’t want to play rugby. My wrestling coach told me it was a good opportunity to showcase my abilities as an athlete, so I should stick with it. That made a lot of sense to me.”

Saskatchewan won three of its eight rugby games last week. Albert played flank, although he had talked about the situation with his coaches, who occasionally gave him a break. Still, he was limping before Sunday’s wrestling practice as he prepared for today’s opening of the wrestling competition.  “The rugby players kept asking how I was going to do it,” said Albert. “They told me there was no way they could compete two weeks in a row because they’re so beaten up. I’m used to playing two sports at the same time.

“The other night we played a big rugby game, then I went to a wrestling practice and it was a bad idea because the wrestling practice was too much. It killed my quads, I couldn’t even bend my knees for the next two games. I had to have a pregame massage, a postgame massage, pregame stretching, had to start off walking then slowly get into jogging before the game. For the last couple days they haven’t been so bad because I got some rest.”

Albert also plays football at Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School, where he is preparing for Grade 12. True to his nature he plays defensive end, offensive line and special teams, so he rarely gets off the field. An honours student who may pursue a degree in chemical engineering, Albert would like to earn a scholarship that allows him to continue playing university football.

Saskatchewan boasts a strong wrestling squad and could win the team championship, while Albert is also a gold medal contender in his 100kilogram weight class. Among his competition is Jason Cecchini of Sudbury, Ont, who defeated Albert in last year’s Canadian juvenile championships.

“He’s talented, he likes to win and he’s coachable,” said Ron Gonzales, one of Saskatchewan’s wrestling coaches  “Craig is a natural to be working at two sports. He’s the type of individual who will get lots of opportunities when he graduates.”

The only problem Albert faces is stabilizing his weight. At 6-foot-3, he arrived in Regina weighing 220 pounds, 10 pounds under his weight restriction, thinking he would at the very least maintain that condition while playing eight rugby games. Darned if he didn’t gain 13 pounds while enjoying the meals offered at the athletes’ village.  “The buffet killed me,” said Albert. “The pasta bar destroys me, I’ve gained five kilos since I’ve been here.  “I had to have a light meal pre-game, a big meal after games, a big meal the night before. It was just too much for me. Right now I’ve cut back, although one pound I don’t worry about. In my sleep I’ll drift that.”