The Timberline wrestling team hosted the third annual Campbell River Invitational Wrestling tournament last weekend.
Thirty two local wrestlers finished in the top six of their respective weight categories including Phoenix team captains Keigan Smith (who wrestled up a division in 49 kg) and Mike Herman (48 kg) who had outstanding performances on their way to claiming gold. Their leadership sparked the Firebirds who went on to win the team title in the girls division for the third straight year, with the boys finishing not far behind in a respectable third place.
Other Phoenix individual results include: at 43 kg Hailey Dean (gold), Ally Cyr (4th), Larissa Melville (5th) and Katrina Climie (6th). At 47 kg: Renate Bluschick (4th) and Christina Kelly (6th), at 51 kg Megan Nuttal (2nd) and Gena Bannerman (4th), along with Ali McPhee (64 kg) and Greta Hamilton (69kg) who both finished in 4th place. The top Phoenix boys were: at 45 kg Ty French (5th) and Dawson Jordan (6th), at 51kg Duc Ngo (3rd), at 57kg Alex Jinda (2nd) and Petro Kindy-Olsen (54 kg) who finished in 4th place.
Southgate was equally impressive with gold medal performances by Brett Nelson (54 kg), Brooke Guindon (51 kg) and Dawson McKay (84kg). Southgate’s CJ Foy (35 kg) earned gold, Mitchell Hall (41 kg) silver, and at 45 kg Chris Klatt earned bronze. Rounding out the top six in the boys category, Liam Doherty finished in 4th place, while Aaron Bennett (84kg) with a bronze medal. These solid placings ultimately led to a solid second place finish, only two points behind the top team, and a 5th place finish in the girls category.
With lower numbers, the senior schools athletes did equally well. Timberline’s Ashley Osachuck and Cory Cossenas (54kg) went undefeated earning their first gold medals of the year, while teammate Hunter McKay (70kg) lost a close match in the finals settling for silver. The individual results led to a 4th place finish in the girls category and 6th place for the boys. Carihi girls Emily McIsaac (49 kg) and Olivia Carter (56 kg) claimed silver medals, while Talise Lindenbach (56 kg) wrestled to a bronze place finish. These results led to a second place finish overall in the girls team standings. Carihi’s team captain Jose Figueroa claimed gold in the 84 kg division, while not giving up a point throughout the entire tournament.