Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Daily Herald
It was a good news-bad news day for local wrestlers on Tuesday.
The good news was that the St. Mary Wrestling Club hosted a very successful Dual Meet; the bad news was that a planned trip to Cuba for 18 local wrestlers later this week has been grounded due to the present uncertainty surrounding flights to and from the Caribbean nation.
“We got 100 per cent confirmation this morning (Tuesday) that there are no flights,” said Roxanne Richards, one of the chief organizers for the training session in Cuba. “We will look at alternate locations later, but right now Cuba is out.”
It was to be the second straight year that a local group headed south for intense training sessions while also enjoying some recreational activities. Richards said most costs will be recouped, but there will be some funds left on the table due to the cancellation.
Meanwhile, the fourth annual Dual Meet went as planned with St. Mary hosting a full slate of matches that also featured wrestlers from Carlton Comprehensive High School, Meadow Lake, Nipawin and Carrot River.
“We are not so much focused on best-on-best, but for everyone to gain experience and have fun,” said St. Mary coach Tate McDougall. “It gives us something to prepare for regionals.”
There were a total of 38 bouts where points were awarded to the winners. St. Mary had participants in each match and in some cases even had members going head-to-head to fill the cards. A series of exhibition matches where wrestlers could choose their own opponent rounded out the busy afternoon.
“We graduated a huge class last year so we are a much younger team,” noted McDougall of his St. Mary team, which numbers in the mid-40s for membership. “Our commitment is to get back to the basics and continuously grow.”
Regional competitions will be held in Moose Jaw on Mar. 6-7 with the provincial high school championships scheduled for the following weekend in Saskatoon.
McDougall says wrestling continues to grow in popularity throughout the province and by judging from the response of the large crowd taking in the action it is also a fan favorite.
