Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
Momentum will be on their side as both St. Mary High School and Carlton Comprehensive High School had strong showings at regional competitions heading into this weekend’s Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association’s provincial wrestling championships in Saskatoon.
St. Mary qualified 24 wrestlers from the regional event held in Moose Jaw while Carlton had 11 resulting in both schools finishing in the top three in both the boy’s and girl’s divisions. St. Mary ran away with the girl’s title outdistancing Carlton 69-36 in total points while St. Mary was second, behind Swift Current, in the boy’s field and Carlton finished in third.
“We are going to be one of the largest groups there (at provincials),” said St. Mary coach Tate McDougall. “We graduated a lot of kids last year, but this group has really stepped up.”
Carlton’s coach Ryer Garrison echoed McDougall’s assessment for his group’s efforts.
“I’m in my first year at Carlton and we basically had to re-start the program from the ground up,” explained Garrison. “I’m really happy with the way things have gone.”
Competitions will be held in a variety of weight classes with both coaches expecting medal performances. Finishing first in their respective divisions at regionals were: Noah Remy (Carlton – female 68 kg); Emily Groves (St. Mary – female 53 kg); Denaya Neudorf (St. Mary – female 73 kg); Kinslee Cousins (Carlton – female 90 kg); Stella Capistrano (St. Mary – female 44 kg); Alexis Campeau (St. Mary – female 105+ kg); Jason Warner (Carlton – male 56kg); Hayden Cyr (St. Mary – male 65 kg); Trent Robillard (St. Mary – male 100 kg); Aksel Paulsen (St. Mary – male 90 kg); Denis Orsar (St. Mary – male 115 kg).
Several others will also have high expectations after finishing either second or third in their weight classes at regionals and while getting a medal is the ultimate goal both coaches feel there is more to gain from the provincial event.
“You always want to achieve your best result and I know it’s an individual sport, but I always look at it as a team competition,” says McDougall. “As a team you can always build each other up.”
“It’s a team culture,” adds Garrison. “It’s all about sportsmanship, resiliency and mental toughness.”
After months of training that began with pre-season camps and went through a number of tournaments it all comes down to one final weekend. While standing on the podium is a crowning glory it looks like both coaches have their teams gaining much more than that.
