It was a successful weekend of wrestling for seven Campbell River athletes who competed at the BC Secondary Schools Provincial Wrestling Championships held at the Port Alberni Multiplex on March 2 and 3.
Ecole Phoenix grade 8 student, Sadie Dowler, had a very successful first provincial championship, winning a number of matches to pick up a fifth place podium finish.
“It was a great finish for Sadie,” said Phoenix coach Mike Munsie. “She has a great ‘never quit’ kind of attitude, and I’m glad to see her get such a strong result at her first championship.”
Grade 11 Timberline students Joel House and Kyle MacDonald also had strong tournaments. MacDonald went 3-and-2, to just finish out off the podium.
“Kyle wrestled great, and with this only being his second trip to Provincials, I’m sure the experience will further motivate him as he enters his grade 12 year,” said Timberline coach, Paul Murphy.
House, a silver medalist in last year’s Cadet National Championships, had a very strong provincial tournament, winning all but one match, bringing home a bronze medal.
“Joel can be proud of this result. He looked very strong, and he wrestled smart,” said Murphy.
Carihi had a contingent of four athletes compete at the championship. Grade 9 student Alex Anderson wrestled well, but finished just off the podium. Grade 10 athlete, Quinn Golobar, had some highlight reel moments at the tournament, finishing 2-and-3, and just out of a top six finish.
Returning podium finishers from the 2017 championship, Scott Assu and Kaitlyn Jinda, again had very strong finishes in Alberni. Assu, a grade 9 student, suffered an early loss, only to run the table with consecutive wins for the remainder of the tournament, earning a bronze medal.
“I’m sure Scotty would love to have that match he lost back, but he rebounded and showed everyone that he will be one of the province’s best for years to come,” said Carihi wrestling coach Jason Kerluck.
Jinda dominated her weight class, going undefeated, and earning the title of Provincial Champion.
“Kaitlyn really brought her best this past weekend,” said Kerluck. “She dominated the competition.”
In front of a nearly sold out crowd at the multiplex, Jinda earned a very loud cheer from her large contingent of fans, when she pinned her opponent in less than a minute in the final.
“This puts Kaitlyn in some exclusive company, as very few wrestlers from Campbell River have won a provincial championship at such a young age (grade 10),” replied Kerluck.
Over the next few weeks, six of the grade 9-12 wrestlers will continue their training, as they prepare for the National Championships being held in Edmonton in early April.