Although they didn’t have the numbers that some of the other clubs have, the Prince Albert Wrestling Club made their presence felt at this year’s provincial club championships.
The 10-member team picked up a bevy of medals on March 16 in Saskatoon and ended up in fourth place overall in the team category behind the Saskatoon Wrestling Club, the Saskatoon Junior Huskies and the Regina Advanced Wrestling Academy.
“To be able to do that with just 10 competitors on our team is really impressive,” said Cody Souter, who is one of the coaches at the club.
“I’m pretty sure one of the Saskatoon teams had 60 competitor alone at the meet, so to be up there with them at the Under 19 and Under 17 level really says a lot about the wrestlers in our community.”
When asked what he thought led to the team’s strong showing, under-19 competitor Chad Bannerman believes that it was the group’s consistency that stood out from the pack.
“We’ve all improved a lot from the start of the season to get to this point, especially with all of the work that we have put in,” Bannerman, who finished in fifth place in the Under 19 division, said.
“It was a pretty good weekend for all of us.”
Donovan Neudorf pulled double duty at the meet as he ended up with gold medals in the U17 and U19 events.
Logan Campbell and Angel Besskaystare won silver medals in the Under 17 division, while Tamica Hallet captured a bronze medal.
Danike Lalonde joined Neudorf at the top of the podium in the Under 19 division, with Syndy Natomagan earned a silver medal and bronze medals going to Josh Jensen, Shay Sather and Colby Thomas.
Cole Sanderson won a gold medal in the junior division and a silver medal in the senior category.
“They all amaze me with what they can do at each tournament that we go to do,” Souter said.
“There is always something that happens during the course of a meet that shocks the heck out of me.”
The PAWC coaches also took to the mat as Souter won a silver medal in the senior division and Trevor Bannerman captured a pair of silvers in the junior and senior events.
“The team likes to razz us a bit when we’re out there, but it’s all in good fun,” Souter said. “We have a pretty close group here.”
Bannerman also picked up a gold medal in the Greco-Roman competition at a national event in Saskatoon last weekend, which saw Prince Albert wrestler and current Saskatchewan Huskies team member Kalin Langford earn a bronze medal.
Eight members of the team are now gearing up to take part in the U17 and U19 nationals, which will be held in Fredericton, N.B. from April 5-7.
