Sask. wrestlers shine at regional tournament in Carrot River

St. Mary’s came away with nine gold medals, eight silver, and three bronze. With five more wrestlers picking up fourth place finishes, St. Mary’s will send 25 of the 33 wrestlers that competed to provincials next weekend.

The other Prince Albert team from Carlton sent eight wrestlers, picking up three gold, one silver, and two fourth places finishes to send six of their eight wrestlers from provincials.

Most weight brackets are a double elimination bracket, but some brackets are round robin brackets due to only having five wrestlers or less.

Female 44kg: Gold: Eris Worm (Stanley Mission)

Worm was the only wrestler in the lightest weight class of the tournament and was awarded gold. She’ll face wrestlers from Saskatoon and Regina.

Female 50kg: Gold: Emily Groves (St. Mary’s), 5th: Brooklyn Lapratt (Waterhen Lake)

With five wrestlers in the bracket, the bracket was done in a round robin style with each wrestler getting four matches. For Lapratt, she had her bye through the first round. Lapratt lost her first match to Groves, and was pinned in the first round of all three of her matches after.

Groves never got a rest during her tournament, wrestling her matches in the first four rounds. She pinned her first three opponents in the first round, and in the fourth round she met the eventual silver medalist from Weyburn. Groves took the first two points on a takedown, but Weyburn’s wrestler got a four point takedown and took control. Groves managed a two point takedown to tie it at four before the end of the first. Groves then took two more takedowns in the second where she earned her fourth pin of the tournament.

Female 53kg: Gold: Syndey Rumbosa (St. Mary’s)

With only three wrestlers in the pool, Rumbosa only had two matches in the tournament. She won both of her matches via a 10-0 score before the end of the first round, earning the gold.

Female 60kg: Gold: Emma Forseth (Carlton), Fourth: Deborah Aikoye (St. Mary’s), Fifth: Jade Venn (Unity), Savannah Harder (Carrot River), Gabriella Puentespina (St. Mary’s)

With eight total wrestlers, this was a double elimination bracket. In the first round, Carlton’s Forseth went up 6-0 before pinning St. Mary’s Aikoye in 54 seconds. Unity’s Jade Venn would win her first match with a 24 second pin over Carrot River’s Harder, and St. Mary’s Puentespina had a 9-8 lead in the final 47 seconds of the match, but her opponent would finish a takedown with 11 seconds left to send Puentespina down to the loser’s bracket.

In the second round, Forseth and Venn would face each other with a chance to go to the gold medal match, and Forseth would go up 8-0 before earning the pin in just one minute. Aikoye and Harder met after their first round losses, and Aikoye would earn a pin 1:44 in to end Harder’s tournament. Puentespina would lose her second round match in similar fashion to her first.

In loser’s side bracket, Aikoye would earn pinfall wins in the first round of both her third and fourth matches to earn a spot in the bronze medal match and a spot at provincials. After losing to Forseth in the winner’s side bracket, Venn lost her match, dropping her to the fifth place match where she won in 19 seconds.

In the goal medal match, Forseth met with a wrestler from Notre Dame. Forseth won her match via pinfall right before the end of the first period after going up 8-0. Forseth won all three of her matches and didn’t surrender a single point the entire tournament.

Female 64kg: Gold: Nelly Charles (St. Mary’s), Bronze: Natalee Ironstand (Wilkie), Fourth: Mila Eckert (St. Mary’s)

With six wrestlers in the weight class, both Eckert and Ironstand both got byes in the first round. Charles however would pickup a pinfall over a wrestler from Hague in 41 seconds.

In the second round on the winner’s side, Charles would meet Ironstand, and Charles would earn the win in 51 seconds. For Eckert, she earned the first takedown before going down 8-2 and being pinned at 2:25.

On the loser’s bracket, Eckert and Ironstand would both pick up pinfall wins in the first minute, meaning they would meet for the bronze medal. Ironstand would get three takedowns to go up 6-0 before converting to a pin in the first round. Both wrestlers will head to provincials.

In the gold medal final, Charles met Dakota Hurl from Swift Current. Charles would get a point early for pushing Hurl out of bounds. Hurl would fail to engage and get two warnings for being passive which would’ve resulted in penalties if Hurl had a point. Hurl closed out the first round with a four point takedown to end the first round. In the second, Charles took over again with a four point takedown, then two more two point takedowns to go up 9-4 before earning the pin and the gold.

Female 68kg: Gold: Denaya Neudorf (St. Mary’s), Silver: Cecilia Wilson (St. Mary’s), Bronze: Taylor Bantle (Wilkie), Fourth: Kylie Weber (Wilkie)

With five wrestlers total, this was another round robin bracket. In the first round, the two teammates from either team met right away. In the St. Mary’s matchup, Neudorf won via pinfall over Wilson at the end of the first round, and Bantle would beat Weber via pinfall in 27 seconds.

Bantle won her second match with a pin at the end of the first round, and Wilson would pin Weber in 32 seconds. In the third round, Weber won via pinfall 1:31 in, and Neudorf would pin Bantle at the 2:00 mark.

In the fourth round, Neudorf would pin the wrestler from Swift Current in 23 seconds, and Wilson would earn a pin over Bantle at the 1:59 mark. In the final round of the tournament, Neudorf would wrestle Weber with Neudorf earning her fourth straight pin and the gold. Wilson needed a win to earn silver, and she won via pinfall in 55 seconds over the wrestler from Swift Current.

Neudorf, Wilson, Bantle, and Weber will all go to provincials.

Female 73kg: Gold: Noah Remy (Carlton), Bronze: Anya Linn (Carlton)

Just three wrestlers meant three matches, with all three wrestlers guaranteed a spot in provincials. In the first match, Linn wrestled Carlyle’s Kylie George, and Linn was taken down twice before escaping on the ground directly into a pinfall win in only 29 seconds.

In the second round, it was Noah Remy faced off with George, and Remy managed a domination victory with five straight takedowns to win 10-0 in just 1:32.

In the final match, the teammates Lin and Remy would battle. Remy being the veteran while Linn is only in her first year, Remy would turn a four point takedown over her sparing partner before turning it into a pin in 31 seconds.

Female 80kg: Gold: Jessika Harder (Carrot River), Silver: Levynn Toney, Bronze: Kierra Babchuk (McLurg), Fourth: Avi’endha Beaugrand (McLurg), Fifth Kali Banting (St. Mary’s), Sophia Harder (Carrot River)

In their first round, Babchuk would meet Banting with Babchuk earning the win after turning her only four point takedown into a pinfall in 1:07. Jessika Harder won her first match via pin in 51 seconds, while Sophia Harder would fall to Beaugrand in 1:12. Toney was given a bye out of the first round.

In the second round, Toney and Beaugrand would wrestle a great match where Beaugrand went up 10-0 after two throws and a takedown, which would normally end the match, but Toney was able to roll through the second throw into a two point reversal. The first round ended 10-5 Beaugrand, but Toney would fight back in the second to win 13-10 by the end of time. Babchuk and Jessika Harder would meet with Harder picking up the win in 41 seconds.

On the loser’s bracket, Banting won her first match with a late pin, setting up a match between Banting and Beaugrand dropped down. Sophia Harder would get a by which set her up for a match with Babchuk, and Babchuk earned a 21 second pin.

In the medal matches, the two Wilkie wrestlers Beaugrand and Babchuk would meet, and Babchuk would go up 6-2 before getting a pinfall win.

In the gold medal match between Jessika Harder and Toney, Harder earned the first takedown, but Toney would get a four point throw to go up 4-2. Harder had two more takedowns after, and harder would earn the win at the 1:33 mark.

Female 90kg: Gold: Kinslee Cousins (Carlton), Silver: Denzara Crawford (Meadow Lake), Bronze: Davina Okonkwo (St. Mary’s), Fourth: Ava Edwards (Carrot River)

In the first round, Edwards was given a bye. Cousins and Okonkwo met with Cousins earning a pin in 56 seconds. Crawford also had a manage match in the first round, and Crawford had to battle to earn a 15-9 win at the end of the two periods.

In the second round, Crawford was already up 7-3 before her opponent was injured, moving on to the gold medal match. Cousins and Edwards would wrestle, and Cousins earned the pinfall at 1:33 after going up 8-0.

Okonkwo would get a bye through her third and fourth matches which took her to the bronze medal match. Edwards would win her only loser’s bracket match in 1:55 via pinfall, meaning Edwards and Okonkwo would fight for bronze. In that match, Okonkwo would take a 10-0 win 34 seconds into the second round.

In the gold medal match, Cousins and Crawford would meet. Cousins would get a four point takedown, taking it directly into a pin in 1:03 for the gold medal.

Female 105kg: Gold: Sarah Murphy (St. Mary’s), Silver: Paola Paniagua-Berigu (Carrot River)

With just the two of them wrestling each other, the two wrestlers would jockey for position in the first 1:11, but Paniagua-Berigu would get a four point takedown first. Murphy would then tie it up with two takedowns after, and Murphy would use that second takedown into a pin at the 2:29 mark.

Female 105kg+: Gold: Andreea Tatarciuc (Wilkie), Silver: Alphie Wolfe (St. Mary’s)

Another two wrestler weight class, Wolfe would go up 6-0 after a takedown followed up by a four point takedown. Tatarciuc would battle back with two of her own two point takedowns, still down 6-4, but Tatarciuc would use that takedown to earn a pin at the 2:16 mark.

Male 47kg: Bronze: Konrad Geerts (Meadow Lake)

In a three person weight class, Geerts had two Swift Current teammates to contend against. In that match, Geerts was pinned twice, but with only three wrestlers in the class he’d still get bronze and a spot at provincials.

Male 50kg: Gold: John Hutcheson (Big River)

As the only wrestler from Big River and the only wrestler from Big River, Hutcheson would get the gold medal.

Male 56kg: Fourth: Nickolas Henderson (St. Mary’s), Fifth: Ping Bowden (St. Mary’s)

In a five wrestler round robin, both Henderson and Bowden would lose all three of their matches. They’d meet in the third round, and the two would put on a great back and forth match with Bowden picking up a 19-12 lead, but Henderson would pin him to take fourth place and a spot at provincials.

Male 59kg: Silver: Grant Fillion (Meadow Lake), Fourth: Yonathan Kiflay (Carlton), Sixth: Ashton Weber (Wilkie), Tony Luciano (Carrot River), Ashton Heffernan (St. Mary’s), Bo Domind (Loon Lake)

In the first round, Weber and Luciano would battle with Weber winning via pin at 1:16, and Fillion would win 10-0 over Heffernan in 1:37. Dimond lost his first match in 31 seconds via pinfall, and Kiflay picked up a 2:29 pinfall win.

In the second round of the winner’s bracket, Weber and Fillion would meet with Fillion picking up an 11-0 win finished off with a four point takedown. Kiflay would wrestle next for a chance at gold, but he was defeated by the eventual gold medalist in 24 seconds.

On the loser’s bracket, a wrestler from Swift Current would end Dimond and Weber’s tournaments in consecutive matches to go to the bronze medal match. Kiflay would meet Luciano, and Kiflay would pin him in 25 seconds.

In the bronze medal match, Kiflay would battle Quinton Hir from Swift Current. In that match, Kiflay would get the first takedown but would end the first period down 6-3. In the second, Kiflay fought back to tie it, but Hir would get two takedowns and take the last into a pin. Kiflay and Hir will both go to playoffs.

Finally in the gold, Fillion would battle for gold against Chris Dayaan from Weyburn, but Dayaan dominated to a 10-0 win in 1:44.

Male 62kg: Gold: Daniel Meijer (Humboldt), Silver: Emmet Creurer (St. Mary’s), Sixth: River McLeod (Stanley Mission)

Meijer would pick up a 10-0 win in just 1:13, while Creurer and McLeod would both get byes through their first round. Meijer would pin McLeod in 11 seconds in the second round, and Creurer would earn a pinfall in 2:01, setting up a Creurer and Meijer final.

In the gold medal match, Creurer went up 8-2 off of two four point takedowns into the first minute. Then Meijer would finish a four point takedown of his own right into a pinfall win for Meijer.

McLeod would lose his next two matches, finishing sixth.

Male 65kg: Gold: Hayden Cyr (St. Mary’s), Silver: Bryce Miller (St. Mary’s), Bronze: Scott Fillion (Meadow Lake), Fourth: Jude Bray (Carlton), Fifth: Darren Schellenberg (Carlton)

With nine wrestlers in the weight class, Cyr, Schellenberg, Fillion, and Bray all had byes through the first round. In the only match of the first round, Miller wrestled Nagy in the first round with Miller picked up a 12-2 win in the second period.

In the second round, Schellenberg would wrestle Miller with Miller winning 57 seconds in with a pin. Cyr picked up a 10-0 win in his first match of the day, and Fillion and Bray would meet in the second round with Fillion earning a 10-0 win.

In the third round, Cyr and Fillion wrestled with Cyr picking up a 13-3 win in the second period. Miller would join Cyr in the gold medal match after he picked up a pin at the 1:10 mark of the second period.

On the loser’s bracket side, Bray needed to win three matches to get to the bronze medal match, and he earned a pin in the first period of his first round, and then the next two wins he picked up were second period pins. Fillion only had one match to win to get to the bronze medal match, and Fillion pinned Schellenberg in 1:26 to get there.

That set up a rematch between Fillion and Bray. Fillion would battle to a 10-0 win in the first round to earn bronze, and both wrestlers earned a spot in provincials.

In the gold medal match between Cyr and Miller, Cyr threw Miller for a four point takedown and a pin in just 50 seconds to take gold.

Male 69kg: Gold: Nathan Kowal (St. Mary’s), Brandon Arabejo (St. Mary’s), Ethan Famulak (St. Mary’s)

In the first round, Nathan Kowal would pick up a 10-0 win in the first round while his teammate Famaluk earned a 12-8 decision. Arabejo was pinned in 1:53, dropping to the loser’s side.

In the second round, Kowal and Famaluk would battle with Kowal picking up a 12-2 win 1:23 into the first period.

In the loser’s bracket, Arabejo and Famaluk were eliminated in consecutive matches by the same wrestler who would finish fourth.

Kowal would battle take a 8-2 lead into the second period with two takedowns and a four point takedown. The second period saw Kowal earn another two point takedown, then another four point takedown to go up 14-4. The match would end there, but with a chance to pin his opponent the match would continue. While Kowal couldn’t pin his opponent’s shoulders, he did expose them towards the mat to pick up another two points and a 16-4 win.

Male 73kg: Silver: Jamal Starchief (Unity), Bronze: Donte Chaboyer (St. Mary’s), Fifth: Kash Smith (Wilkie), Sixth: Cole Friesen (Carrot River), Layne Coverchuk (Meadow Lake), Dominick Ragan (St. Mary’s), Jacob Lefebvre (Carrot River), Wyatt Charters (St. Mary’s), Justin Theoret (St. Mary’s),

In one of the busiest brackets of the tournament, there were 15 wrestlers active.

For Jamal Starchief, he went undefeated through his first three matches in a row with an injury and two domination wins 10-0 and 12-2 to go to the gold medal match.

For Chaboyer, he won his first two matches with a 12-2 win over Smith and a 1:18 pinfall over Friesen. In his third match, Chaboyer lost 10-0 to the eventual gold medalist.

In the loser’s brackets, Smith had to battle through two matches where he won by pinfall before running into Chaboyer again. This time Chaboyer won via pinfall in 54 seconds, giving Chaboyer a shot at bronze.

Lefebvre lost his first match but would earn two pins in his next matches. Friesen had a bye in his first round before losing to Chaboyer, and Friesen had to wrestle with Lefebvre, and Friesen would win via pinfall. Friesen would lose his match to get into the bronze medal match, instead dropping to fight Smith for fifth and sixth.

Smith won via pinfall in 1:49 in the battle for fifth. In the bronze medal match, Chaboyer would go up 8-0 before finishing off with a pin in just 2:14.

With Starchief in the gold medal match, he’d go up 6-0 after the first period. In the second, Starchief would get pushed out of bounds, but then he’d do the same and add another takedown. In the final minute though, Starchief would get taken down and turned twice but still had a 9-7 lead. He’d get another takedown to go up 11-7 with 39 seconds left, but his opponent would land a four point takedown to tie it at 11-11 with 11 seconds left. With the score tied and his opponent landing score, Starchief would lose the match in an 11-11 decision.

Male 77kg: Silver: Tymofiy Kvashulko (St. Mary’s), Bronze: Nathaniel Rodger (Meadow Lake), Fourth: Marcus Corrigal (St. Mary’s), Spencer Larson (St. Mary’s), Kaedyn Floberg (Meadow Lake), Whitmore Galbraith (St. Mary’s)

Another busy weightclass with 14 wrestlers, Kvashulko and Floberg were the only two wrestlers with a bye in the first round. Rodger won his first match over Larson with a domination 10-0, Corrigal won his first match via pin in 1:13, and Galbraith would lose his first match to the eventual gold medalist in 23 seconds.

In the second round, Floberg and Corrigal would meet with Corrigal earning a 10-0 win to get to the semi final. Corrigal would lose his next match, also dropping him down to the loser’s bracket. For Kvashulko, he’d win his first match 10-0, then his second over Rodger with a 12-0 score.

In the loser’s bracket, Rodger only needed one win to get to the bronze medal match, and he did that in 46 seconds. Corrigal also only needed one win, and he did that with a pin in 1:25. For the other wrestlers, Larson was elimnated in his first loser’s bracket match, Floberg won one match before losing in his next, and Galbraith would lose his first match.

In the bronze medal match, Rodger started with a four point takedown before Corrigal came back with a push out of bounds and a four point takedown to give Corrigal a 5-4 lead before the halfway mark. Rodger would escape and take back control two seconds later, then add another turn to go up 8-5. Rodger finished it off with a pin at the 1:32 mark.

In the gold medal final Kvashulko continued his dominante streak by going up 7-0 at the end of the first period. From there though, his opponent would fire back with 12 straight points off of four takedowns. In the final seconds, Kvashulko would force his opponent out of bounds, but couldn’t get the comeback going and lost 12-8.

Male 82kg: Bronze: Sam Geerdts (Meadow Lake), Fifth: Odin Kent (Wilkie), Joshua Abogrunrin (St. Mary’s), John Krentz (Unity), Brody Smith (Wilkie), Jeremy Gallant (Wilkie)

Kent came in as the provincial silver medalist from last year, he was surprised in his first match with a 12-5 decision loss that dropped him down to the loser’s bracket. Also in the first round, Geerdts pinned his opponent in 2:50, Abogrunrin pinned his opponent in 1:19, and Smith and Gallant were both defeated. Krentz advanced from the first round thanks to a first round bye.

In the second round, Geerdts was defeated 10-0 by the eventual silver medalist. Krentz and Abogrunrin were both defeated in their matches as well.

On the loser’s bracket, Krentz would eliminate Smith, and Geerdts would eliminate both Abogrunrin and Krentz in consecutive matches. Geerdts would win one more match to get him to the bronze medal final.

Kent would win three straight matches before heading to the loser’s bracket semi final, pinning all three of his opponents in less than 44 seconds. In the match he needed to win to get to bronze, Kent lost 12-1. He’d finish in fifth place, short of a spot in provincials, but because of an injury in the bronze medal match, he may still get a spot at provincials.

In the bronze medal final, Geerdts’ opponent would end up with an injury 15 seconds in, giving Geerdts the bronze medal.

Male 90kg: Silver: Brady Thesen (Carrot River), Bronze: Kaylan Mackie (St. Mary’s), Fourth: Parker Gobeil (St. Mary’s), Sixth: Aksel Paulsen (St. Mary’s), Denis Orsar (St. Mary’s), Jackson Brandrick (St. Mary’s), Brayson Michel-Merasty (St. Mary’s), Daniel Daigneault (St. Mary’s), Dylan Kathloff (Meadow Lake), Joshua Gomes (St. Mary’s), Reid Ducherer (Unity), Seth Vermette (Carlton)

With 15 wrestlers, the 90kg weight class was one of the busiest. The first round matchups saw Orsar get pinned in 1:07. Mackie pinned his opponent in 32 seconds, Micehl-Merasty was defeated in 40 seconds, Daigneault beat Kathloff in a 12-0 domination win, Thesen defeated Gomes via pinfall in 2:46, Paulsen picked up a second round pinfall win over Ducherer, and Gobeil pinned Vermette in 1:25. Brandrick was the only wrestler with a bye into the second round.

On the winner’s side in the second round, Mackie was pinned by the eventual gold medal winner. Brandrick lost his first match after his first round bye. Daigneault met Thesen in a great back and forth match which ended 24 seconds into the second period with a Thesen pinfall win, and Paulsen beat Gobeil in a 10-0 defeat.

In the winner’s side semi final, Thesen pinned Paulsen in 56 seconds, sending Thesen to the gold medal match and Paulsen down to the loser’s bracket.

In the loser’s bracket, Vermette was eliminated in his next match in a 14-9 to Ducherer, but Ducherer was eliminated in his next match by Mackie. Gomes defeated Kathloff and Brandrick in two consecutive matches, but Gomes would also get elimnated by Mackie. On one side of the bronze medal semi final, Mackie met Paulsen, and Mackie was up 9-2 before earning a pin at the 5:13 mark.

On the other side of the loser’s bracket, Orsar won one match before being eliminated by Gobeil. Daigneault defeated Michel-Merasty, setting up a match between Gobeil and Daigneault which Gobeil won in a 58 second pinfall.

In the bronze medal final between Mackie and Gobeil, Gobeil opened with a four point takedown, but Mackie earned a regular takedown, another four point takedown, and then a turn on the ground to go up 8-4. Gobeil would push Mackie out of bounds for another point, but Mackie would get another takedown and turn it into a pin at the 2:50 mark of the first round.

In the gold medal final, Thesen scored the first takedown 10 seconds in over Swift Current’s Talon Tumback, but Tumback would take the next four and use the last one to earn the pinfall and the gold.

Male 100kg: Gold: Trent Robillard (St. Mary’s), Silver: Willem Hoogstad (Unity), Bronze: Ben Gallant (Wilkie), Sixth: Mathew Edwards (Carrot River), Uri Novotny (St. Mary’s)

Just seven wrestlers in the 100kg weight class. In the first round, Gallant earned a pin in 2:00, Hoogstad defeated Novotny via pinfall in 1:21, and Edwards lost his first match. Robillard’s opponent never showed up, giving him a bye to the second round.

In that second round, Hoogstad met Gallant in the gold semi final. Hoogstad would go up 6-0 in a slow burn of a match before getting the pin at 1:03 of the second period. In the other gold semi final, Robillard pinned his opponent in 39 seconds.

On the loser’s side, Novotny would lose his next match to end his tournament. Edwards would get a bye thanks to the wrestler that didn’t show up, putting Edwards up against Gallant. Gallant got the win in a 52 second pinfall win.

In the gold medal final, Hoogstad was beat 12-0 before the end of the first round, giving him the silver medal.

Male 115kg: Gold: Noah Penney (St. Mary’s), Silver: Casey Sanderson (St. Mary’s), Fifth: Matthew Fafard (St. Mary’s), Josh Bear (Meadow Lake)

In the first round of the eight man weight class, both Fafard and Penney earned 13 second pinfall wins. Sanderson pinned the other St. Mary’s wrestler Sanderson in just 10 seconds.

In the semi final on the winner’s side, Sanderson beat Fafard in a 6-0 decision after the full six minutes. On he other side, Penney got a second pinfall win in just 40 seconds, setting up a gold medal match between Sanderson and Penney.

On the loser’s side bracket, Bear won his first match via pinfall before being defeated by the eventual bronze medalist. Fafard dropped down to the loser’s bracket and lost his first match, but he’d win in the fifth place match to be a backup for provincials.

In the gold medal match, Penney landed five straight takedowns on Sanderson, taking a 10-0 win and gold for Penney, and silver for Sanderson.

Male 130kg: Silver: Theo Senga (St. Mary’s), Bronze: Landon Larson (Carrot River)

With just three people in the weight class, we’re back to round robins and everyone wrestling everyone. In the first match, Larson was defeated 10-0 in 48 seconds by the eventual gold medalist. Senga would meet that same wrestler in the third round, and Senga was pinned in 18 seconds.

That means the match between Senga and Larson in the second round would decide silver and bronze. In that match, Senga landed two takedowns and took the second one into a pin in 34 seconds to earn the silver medal.

Male 130kg+: Silver: Ik Ekpenike (St. Mary’s)

With just two wrestlers in the weight class, Ekpenike had one match against Caleb Pelletier from Notre Dame. Ekpenike landed the first takedown 17 seconds in, but couldn’t get the pin. From there, it was a defensive battle with Pelletier push Ekpenike out of bounds for one point, but then Pelletier landed a four point takedown to Ekpenike’s back, pinning him so Pelletier took gold and Ekpenike took silver.

nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Sask. wrestlers shine at regional tournament in Carrot River

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