Gold, Silver, Bronze And Pink Are On The Line As High School Wrestlers Compete In Provincials
Moose Jaw high school wrestling coach Rob Villeneuve says he never likes to make predictions on how the team will perform at an event but if the team does well Friday and Saturday at the provincial championships in Saskatoon there could well be medals and even the possibilty one of his fellow coaches might be sporting a new pink hairdo come Sunday.
The team headed to the provincial championships has differing hopes on how well they will do but they all are hoping to do their best.
With 12 out of 16 wrestlers who made the trip to regionals earning the opportunity to go to provincials it was an improvement over 2019 when 25 – 30 wrestlers managed to garner eight provincial final qualifiers.
“We took the least amount of kids to regionals and had the highest amount of qualifiers this year,” he said.
PROVINCIAL QUALIFIERS - Moose Jaw High School Wrestling (Both Peacock & Central Wrestlers) - Front row Left to right. Matthew Knox, Alexis Bradish, Liam Vargo, Nigel Fang, Kayce Owens. Back Row Left to right Connor Rowsell, Alyssa Roney, Sydnee Christmann, Makayla Holmes, Paige Lidberg, Ulrik Tondevold - submitted photo
Despite the smaller team size in 2020 versus 2019 A E Peacock Collegiate captured the Regional boys team championship this year because of the team composition.
In 2019 the team had no boy's competitors in the lighter weight divisions and did not pick up points in those weight divisions while other schools did.
In 2020 two lower weight division boys - Matthew Knox in the 41 kg weight class, Kayce Owens in the 47 kgs weight class - made the trip to Regionals in Prince Albert helping to score points to win the team championship.
“Either one of those smaller boys were essential to helping the team win the championship.”
Despite his reluctance to make a prediction on the final outcome in Saskatoon he said the athletes heading to Provincials could do well with the possibility of picking up the boy’s Provincial team championship.
“It is just a case of showing up and performing,” he said.
Four Wrestlers Featured
As part of coverage four wrestlers randomly selected were interviewed.
Conner Rowsell is a grade 11 Peacock Collegiate student in his third year of wrestling. In two previous attempts at Regionals he did not qualify for Provincials but in 2020 he placed third in 90 kg weight class qualifying for the trip to Saskatoon.
“It played out pretty well at Regionals I placed third. I lost my first match but I started building up from there and won my last two…I have been training really hard and just really wanted to make Provincials this year. I trained pretty hard. I have been showing up at all of the practices and going to the gym on my own time,” Rowsell said.
“It (wrestling) is a really big commitment. You have to put in all of the work. You cannot miss too many parctices. You have got to eat really well and work really hard.”
He is a multi-sport athlete participating at track and football as well as wrestling with wrestling helping him do better in the two other sports. He started wrestling after a friend on the football team asked him to come out and give it a try.
“This year in football I noticed a big difference in my endurance and strength…it has helped me with my mental and physical state.” he said. “It has helped me with having confidence in myself and having better body image.”
Asked about his expectations at Provincials he said “I am just hoping to have fun and do the best I can.”
Regarding medalling Rowsell said it is a possibility.
“I would be a little bit disappointed if I didn’t medal. But it is my first time at Provincials and I just do not know the competition.”
Central Collegiate’s Alexis Bradish, wrestling in the 68 kg class, may be the school’s lone female wrestler but it has not stopped her from grappling her way to Provincials both years she has been wrestling.
“There was some tough competition. There were some girls that are good. There was the girl I lost to she was really, really tough but ‘I will be looking forward to wrestling her at Provincials,” Bradish said.
Asked about how much harder it was being in her second year of wrestling compared to her last year she said it was a mixed bag.
“In year two it is easier to wresting the newbies at Regionals and in year one it was tough all around as everyone is older than you.”
“I put in a lot of work this year. I worked harder especially in training. My partner that I work with Vargo, Vargo he pushes me really hard during practices. He pushed me harder in wrestling and continuous drilling,” she said.
Bradish said she decided to take up wrestling because she had two older brothers whom she had wrestled with.
“In grade nine I thought it was a good thing to try and I was right and it was a lot of fun this year and a lot of fun this year to…I have two older brothers that have wrestled with me before so I thought it might be good. It was just like playfighting at home.”
Wrestling helps with the other sport she paricipates in, badminton.
“It doesn’t really fit in. Wrestling helps with badminton. It helps with my reflexes and stuff…whe I go to hit the birdie and stuff when I am wrestling I have to react very quickly to my opponents moves and that helps me with badminton because if the birdie goes all of the way across the court I have to be quick to get to it,” she said.
About being the lone female member of the wrestling team at Central Collegiate Bradish says it gives her a bit of a tough girl mantra from a few of th other students at Central Collegiate but it is really not her.
“People think I am tough and whatever but I do not know about that.”
At provincials she would like to medal.
“I am hopefully placing in the top three because last year it was my first year and I only placed fifth. That is pretty good because most people don’t make it into Provincials in their first year…I think we have a strong team this year. All of the girls from Peacock they are pretty tough I wish we had more girls at Central.”
Nigel Fang is a grade nine student at Central Collegiate and in his first year of wrestling qualified for the Provincials by placing fourth in the 53 kg class at Regionals.
Fang has a relaxed attitude when it comes to wrestling.
“For me I took up wrestling I did it for fun. I always loved combat sports and I though hey this is a new opportunity and I want to try something new. A combat sport is a sport where people go one to one and they beat each other up,” he said.
Fang is involved in many other sports at the high school level - badminton, curling, cross country running and track and field. He is not involved in any other “combat sports.”
“It (wrestling) helps me out though because wrestling makes my body stronger and it makes me feel better although I am kind of sore some days. But I just feel stronger overall.”
Fang said he saw the trip to Regionals as “something to do for fun. I thought of it as wow this is an opportunity to learn something new. So I went out there and gave it my best. I gave it my all. I gave it my all because it was my first year. I also did not care if I lost because it is also my first year. So I just went out there out to have fun.”
Despite his parent’s trepidations of his being in a “combat sport” Fang said his parents were concerned he might get hurt because they were parents but they were on the fence but overall supportive of his choice to chose wrestling.
Asked about his chances at Provincials Fang is a realist but sees it as an opportunity to grow in the sport.
“I am going to get my butt kicked. But you never know about these things but it is my first year I am just going out there to go out there and learn something new and have some fun,” he said.
Fang said his participating in cross country running has helped his wrestling.
“I think cross country helps with my endurance and wrestling because most of the time I am able to gas out my opponents with my endurance and stamina. I can just last longer than them. Wrestling helps my legs get stronger. It helps me fight through the pain at the end of the race.”
When she isn’t backstopping the Moose Jaw Midget A Mavericks to victory Sydnee Christmann is busy working out in wrestling.
Wrestling in the 73 kg weight class the grade 10 Peacock Collegiate student has spent the past two season out grappling. In last year’s Regionals she placed fifth just short of qualifying for Provincials. This year’s fourth place finish at Regionals has her on the bus heading to Provincials in Saskatoon.
“In Regionals my goal was just make it to the top four. The whole entire time the whole thing I was thinking was just make it to the top four. For a second year I am pretty happy on how I competed. I could have done better I look back at all of my tapes on how I competed and I thought I could have beat that girl and I could have beat her but I am happy with it. It is good,” Christmann said.
In her second year she said the first year was basically an introduction but in the second year “it was a lot more difficult and you have to work hard at it.”
“Wrestling has complimented my hockey and the same way back with hockey complementing this. It has been good. It is a busy schedule for sure but it has been a really good season for sports for me.”
Asked which of the two sports - wrestling or hockey - she has focused on this year she said it has been grappling.
“This year I have focused a little bit more on wrestling. At the start I was focusing on hockey. On the days of hockey practice I would not show up at club practice. As soon as O’Neil (Titans Wrestling Classic on January 10th and 11th) where I got third Mom said I should be putting into Regionals. So I have been here and at hockey. I have been focused a little bit more here (at wrestling) I am not going to lie but don’t tell Mike (Botterill Moose Jaw Midget A Mavericks head coach). No I have been working a lot harder than last year and hopefully that just keeps going in elevation of practice,” she said.
She said the highlight if this year was the O’Neil tournament as she was really nervous but ended up placing third.
On Friday she will be missing from the Mavericks roster as they play the Regina Renegades in game two of their semi-final playoff series. Asked about Christmann missing her roatation to guard the Mavericks’ net Botterill said she made the right choice to go to the Provincials.
Pink Hair Dye Job
Christmann has a very unique motivator when it comes to Saskatoon and her quest to medal at Provincials.
“I made a bet with coach Devon if I placed top three he is going to dye his whole head pink. I am hoping for third, second and first just to see his hair turn pink.”
Asked about what she thought the odds were for a pink hairdo on her coach she said it was “prety good” adding it was a “little bit” of an incentive to win a medal.
“It would be like a cherry on top.”