School News:
Warrior Wrestlers Qualify for Ontario Winter Games
Legendary wrestler Dan Gable once said, “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They are made of sweat, determination and a hard to find alloy called guts,” and there is absolutely no shortage of this miraculous alloy in these Warrior Wrestlers. The Rieno Neimi Memorial tournament was held on December 18th, at St. Ignatius High School in Thunder Bay. The tournament was an Ontario Winter Games qualifier for grades 7-10 and a stand-alone tournament for grades 11 and 12. Five athletes qualified to represent the region at the Winter Games to be held in Barrie, Ontario in February. Evan Burch, Kiana Barker, Keegan Wesley, Ashton Lapworth, and Omi Sakamoto all qualified for the Games. All athletes earned gold in their respective divisions with the exception of Omega Sakamoto who wrestled in one of the most stacked weight classes of the tournament, and earned her spot on the merit of her skill level and performance. Omi said, “It was a really tough competition, but everyone pulled through and did their best.” Coach Melnichuk stated, “It is a very young team, but one filled with potential. I really love coaching them!”
We are especially proud of our elementary wrestlers’ performances. Grade seven athlete Jakob Kakepetum-Spade competed in the 95kg category and showed absolutely no fear battling against his much older high-school opponents. Jakob wrestled like a true Warrior taking out a grade ten athlete, losing a close match, and giving fits to everyone else in his weight class. He will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. Ryder Boisonneault, another hard-nosed grade seven wrestler, earned a victory against one of his high school opponents and took it to every wrestler he faced. Evan Burch, also grade seven, was 4kg undersized in the lightest division of the tournament and went up another weight class to challenge his substantially larger opponent. Although Evan came up short, his grittiness and mental toughness are an inspiration to us all. Kiana Barker also went up a division and pinned her opponent. Rookie wrestler Keegan Wesley went undefeated showing controlled aggression with unrelenting offence in the first round and securing the pin in the second of his gold medal match. Although all athletes had fantastic performances, we are especially proud of Ethan Nadeau who dismantled an opponent from former OFSAA championship team, St. Ignatius. Ethan is in his fourth year of wrestling and has had difficulty finding success, but his mental toughness, perseverance, and inability to give up has made him a role model for the team. He has stuck with it, pushed through, and now as a result of his hard work and resiliency, it is finally his turn to shine. Veteran Serena Anderson is a completely new animal this year and has become the favorite in her division. Chloe Lavalee and Ashton Lapworth had very good first performances with Ashton also moving up a weight category to challenge a much larger opponent. Ashton is a wrestler with a ton of potential and with experience will become the dominant wrestler we all know he can be.
Gold
Keegan Wesley (Ontario Winter Games) Kiana Barker (Ontario Winter Games) Serena Anderson Evan Burch (Ontario Winter Games) Ashton Lapworth (Ontario Winter Games)
Silver
Chloe Lavalee Ethan Nadeau Ryder Boisonneault
Bronze
Jakob Kapepetum-Spade Omi Sakamoto (Ontario Winter Games)
Congratulations all Warrior Wrestlers!
Coaches
Sakamoto, Cospito, Melnichuk, Tornholm, Keating, and Burch
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