Wrestling provincials recap

McLurg High School in Wilkie finished as the 3A champions, finishing with more medals than all 4A schools and even a few 5A schools. They finished with 11 pinfall wins and a total of 103 match points. Specifically for the women’s teams, McLurg is now the four time defending champions at the 3A level.

In provincials, every bracket is a double elimination bracket until the semi final. In the semi final, the wrestlers are re-seeded so that the top two wrestlers from the winner’s side bracket would take on the top wrestlers from the loser’s side. The winners of those semi final matches would wrestle for gold and silver, while the two losers would face off for bronze and fourth.

Female 50kg: Fourth: Emily Groves (St. Mary’s)

After winning gold at regionals, Groves would’ve been one of the favourites in the 50kg weight class. She was given a bye in her first round before wrestling a second round matchup with Elizabeth Qin from Holy Cross in Saskatoon. Groves and Qin exchanged takedowns in the first round, but Qin also picked up an extra point for pushing Groves out of bounds. That would give Qin the advantage she needed after a 4-4 second period, giving Qin the 7-6 decision.

Groves dropped to the loser’s bracket where she had to win three matches to get to the semi final, and she did so with a first round pinfall, a first round 12-2 domination victory, and a 9-4 decision to earn a spot in the medal rounds.

Groves wrestled another Holy Cross wrestler in the semi finals and was pinned in 22 seconds. That sent Groves to the bronze medal match, but she lost and finished fourth.

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

Rumbosa also came in as the rural Saskatchewan champion from regionals, and also had a bye in her first round. In the second round, she fought to a tough 7-5 victory over Elaine King from Walter Murray in Saskatoon, bringing her one match away from the semi final. Rumbosa got out to a 4-0 lead before she was taken down and pinned, dropping her down to the loser’s bracket.

Rumbosa dropped into the loser’s bracket only needing to win one more match to get into the medal rounds, and she did so with a 12-1 domination win in the first round.

In the medal round, Rumbosa faced off against Holy Cross’ Sofia Boutin, and Rumbosa was pinned in 2:18. That dropped Rumbosa to the bronze medal match in a rematch with King, but this time Rumbosa would lose to finish fourth.

Female 60kg: Emma Forseth (Carlton), Deborah Aikoye (St. Mary’s)

Forseth came in regional gold to her name while Aikoye finished fourth. Forseth had a bye through the first round but was pinned in her second round matchup, and Aikoye would lose her first match to drop both women to the loser’s side bracket.

Forseth needed to win three matches to get into the medal rounds but she was injured in her first to end her tournament. Aikoye was also eliminated in her first loser’s bracket match after being pinned in 37 seconds.

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

Charles as the regional gold medalist got a bye through her first round, while Eckert would lose her first match in a 12-2 first round dominance loss, while Ironstand would win her first match via pinfall at the 2:54 mark of the first round.

In the second round of the winner’s bracket, Charles won her first match with a 1:52 pinfall win, but with one match to go before the semi final Charles would get pointed out 10-0 to Brooklyn Dieter from Riffel in Regina. Ironstand would lose her second round winner’s bracket match after being pinned in 1:03, dropping her to the loser’s side.

Eckert would get pinned in 33 seconds in her first loser’s bracket match to end her tournament, and Ironstand would lose in 2:39 to end hers. Charles however only needed to win once to move to the semi finals, and she’d win with a 58 second pinfall to move on.

In the semi final, Charles would get the first takedown of the match before giving up two to her opponent, getting pinned at 2:15. Charles would go on to the bronze medal match where she would win.

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

Neudorf got a bye through the first round as the gold medalist in her region, but she’d lose out in the second round after being pinned 50 seconds into the second period. On the loser’s side bracket, Neudorf won her next two matches via pinfall, but would fall short in the match that would send her to the medal rounds with a 10-6 decision loss at the end of two periods.

For Wilkie’s wrestlers, Kylie Weber finished fourth in the region and she lost her first match to drop her into the loser’s bracket. Taylor Bantle finished third in her region, and Bantle would win her first match in a 12-2 dominance victory. She’d then lose her next match after being pinned in 1:56, dropping her to the loser’s bracket.

Wilson entered the tournament as the region’s gold medalist, and she earned a 22 second pinfall win in her first match before being pinned herself in 57 seconds. That dropped Wilson down to the loser’s bracket where she ran into both Wilkie wrestlers, first winning via pinfall in 34 seconds over Weber, then another pinfall in 1:14 over Bantle, and a third pinfall in 46 seconds over another wrestler to get into the medal rounds.

In the semi final, Wilson dominated 10-0 in less than two minutes, dropping her down to the bronze medal match. She lost there to finish fourth.

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

Remy and Linn are sparring partners for Carlton with Remy being the elder and regional gold medalist, while Linn came in with bronze. Linn was beat in two straight matches in her first year at provincials.

Remy on the other hand would get a bye through her first round, but then would pick up a pinfall in 1:48 of her first match in the second round. Remy needed to win one more match to avoid the loser’s bracket, and she had a 10-0 lead with seven seconds left in the first period which would normally end the match, but her opponent escaped and took back control with two seconds left. Remy scored another two points early in the second period to go up 12-2 and take the dominance win.

On to the medal rounds, and Remy was up 10-4 on her opponent with 33 seconds left in the first round when her opponent injured. That moved Remy to the gold medal match against Holy Cross’ Oilpa Mwango, and Remy would win for Carlton’s only gold medal of the tournament.

Female 80kg: Gold: Avi’endha Beaugrand (Wilkie), Silver: Jessika Harder (Carrot River), Bronze: L evynn Toney (Gull Lake), Fourth: Kierra Babchuk (McLurg)

This weightclass turned out to be the pride of the rural Saskatchewan region as all four wrestlers that made it to the medal round were from the region, and all four wrestlers never lost to an opponent from the Saskatonn or Regina regions. Harder came in as the gold medalist from regionals, Toney with silver, Babchuk with bronze, and Beaugrand had a chip on her shoulder with a fourth place finish.

Starting with Beaugrand, she won her first match in 2:53 via pinfall, and her next match saw her opponent forfeit. That brought Beaugrand to a match with Harder with a shot at the medal rounds on the line.

For Harder, she was given a bye through the first round and earned a 18 second pin in the second round. That’s where Beaugrand and Harder met, for the first time of the tournament, and this time Beaugrand picked up the win with a 52 second pin. Beaugrand moved on to the semi finals, while Harder would need to win one match on the loser’s bracket to get into the semi finals.

On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Babchuk would win her first match with a 38 second pin, and then did it again in 36 seconds in her second round matchup. That set up a third round matchup with Toney.

Toney got a bye through her first round, then took a 12-2 first round dominance win in her second. In their first meeting of the tournament, Babchuk would pin Toney in 28 seconds, sending Babchuk to the medal rounds and Toney down to the loser’s bracket for one more match.

On that loser’s bracket final matches, Toney would win a 5-2 decision thanks to a four point takedown early in the second period, and Harder would advance after pinning her opponent in 22 seconds.

In the semi finals, it was Beaugrand vs. Toney, and Harder vs. Babchuk. Beaugrand would pin Toney in just 36 seconds, and Babchuk would land two four-point takedowns to go up 8-0 before Harder landed a takedown of her own and would steal the match with a pin just 56 seconds in.

In the medal matches, Beaugrand would fight for the win and the gold medal after entering the tournament with a fourth place finish at regionals, and Harder would take silver. In the bronze medal match, Toney would defeat Babchuk, giving Toney the bronze.

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

Finishing third in the region, Okonkwo did not compete. As for the regional fourth Edwards, she was given a bye to the second round of the winner’s bracket before losing her next match. She’d win her first match on the loser’s side via pinfall, but would be eliminated by Crawford later on.

For Cousins, she had a bye through the first round, and she only needed 15 seconds in the second round to earn her first pinfall win. To secure a spot in the medal rounds, Cousins pinned her opponent in 45 seconds.

Finally for for regional silver medalist Crawford, she won her first match via a 1:08 pinfall, but she was pinned in the next round to drop her into the loser’s bracket. Crawford met up with Edwards in her first match, and Crawford dominated her way to a 11-0 win in the second period, and then secured her spot in the medal round with a pinfall in 1:25.

In the semi finals, both Crawford and Cousins were pinned in their matches to set up a bronze medal match between them. Like at regionals, Cousins would again get the win and the bronze medal.

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

With only five wrestlers, this bracket was a round robin style bracket. In round one, both Murphy and Paniagua-Berigu would earn pinfall wins in the first minute. Murphy had the second round off while Paniagua-Berigu picked up a 14 second pinfall.

The third round would be where gold was decided between Paniagua-Berigu and Murphy. In their head to head match, Murphy landed three straight takedowns to go up 6-0 before pinning Paniagua-Berigu 2:20 into the first period.

Both wrestlers would compete in the fourth round with Murphy earning another pinfall in 31 seconds, and Paniagua-Berigu would pin her opponent in 1:02.

In the fifth and final round of the round robin, Paniagua-Berigu had her bye and didn’t have to wrestle to take silver, and Murphy didn’t have to wrestle for gold either due to her opponent being injured. With a record of 4-0, Murphy took gold, and Paniagua-Berigu took silver with a 3-1 record.

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

Tatarciuc and Wolfe were the only two wrestlers at regionals with Tatarciuc winning gold there. They’d add a third competitor into the mix from Regina’s O’Neill at provincials for a three person round robin.

In the first match, we had a rematch from regionals where Tatarciuc went up 6-0 capped off with a four point takedown that she used to pin Wolfe, giving Tatarciuc the win.

In the second match, Wolfe would wrestle O’Neill’s Cherish Dustyhorn, and Dustyhorn took the lead with a takedown early before Wolfe would take the next six points and win via pinfall in 1:53.

In the final match, Tatarciuc needed two takedowns, but still earned the pinfall win in 23 seconds. With a record of 2-0, Tatarciuc would take gold, Wolfe would take silver at 1-1, and Dustyhorn would take bronze.

This is Tatarciuc’s third year in a row as a provincial champion.

Male 47kg: Fourth: Konrad Geerdts (Meadow Lake)

After losing both of his matches at regionals and entering provincials with a bronze medal, Geerdts had a lot to prove. He started his tournament with a 1:04 pinfall win, but he’d run into Regina’s Tyson Fesyk in the second round where they’d put on a show.

Geerdts went down 4-0, but then landed a takedown, pushed his opponent out, and threw a four point takedown to take a 7-4 lead into the second period. The second period was all Fesyk though, and he’d string together six straight takedowns to go up 16-7 before pinning Geerdts in the final minute of the match.

On to the loser’s side bracket where Geerdts needed three wins to get into the medals. He’d win his first match via pinfall in 1:18, and then he’d have to face the two Swift Current wrestlers that beat him at regionals. Geerdts landed four seperate four point takedowns on his way to a 20-8 first round win, and then he’d secure a spot in the medal rounds with a 1:45 pinfall win.

In the semi final, Geerdts would lose his first match in 1:38 after getting pinned, but that’s as far as his redemption story would go. In the bronze medal match, he had a rematch with Fesyk, but Geerdts would lose to take fourth.

Male 50kg: John Hutcheson (Big River)

After earning gold at regionals, Hutcheson didn’t have the tournament he wanted. After a first round bye, Hutcheson would be outpointed 10-0 in his first match, then get a forfeit win in his first match on the loser’s bracket, all before being eliminated in his next match.

Male 56kg: Nickolas Henderson (St. Mary’s)

Entering as the fourth place wrestler from regionals, Henderson would lose his first match in 38 seconds, then get a bye through the first round of the loser’s bracket, all before being outpointed 10-0 in his next match to finish his tournament.

Male 59kg: Fourth: Grant Fillion (Meadow Lake), Yonathan Kiflay (Carlton)

Kiflay was the fourth place finisher at regionals. Kiflay won his first match in 24 seconds via pinfall, but he’d lose in round two and drop to the loser’s bracket. In his only match on the loser’s bracket, Kiflay would go up 4-0 before getting taken down and pinned in 2:27, ending his tournament.

Fillion on the other hand finished second at regionals. He got a bye through his first round, then won his second round matchup with a 10-0 dominance win in the first round. With one more win needed to get to the medal rounds, Fillion’s momentum was stopped with an 18 second pin to the eventual silver medalist Zecheria Topping.

Luckily for Filion, he only needed to win one match in the loser’s bracket to get there, and his opponent had to forfeit giving Fillion a shot for a medal.

In the semi final, Fillion would lose 10-0 in the first period, dropping him into the bronze medal match. Fillion would put up a good effort, but fall short for fourth.

Male 62kg: Daniel Meijer (Humboldt), Emmet Creurer (St. Mary’s)

Meijer came in as the regional gold medalist, and so he’d get a bye through his first round before picking up a 12-2 win in round two. He needed to win one more match to head to the medal rounds, but Meijer would instead lose via pinfall and drop to the loser’s bracket. Meijer would go up 6-2 in his next match before getting pinned at 2:06, falling one match short of heading to the medal rounds.

As for Creuer who came in with regional silver, Creurer lost his first match via pinfall in 1:48, but then got a bye through his first round in the loser’s bracket before losing his next match in a 22 second pinfall.

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

Cyr as the regional gold medalist would get a bye through the first round, but he’d get sent to the loser’s bracket after his second round match saw him lose 12-1. He’d have to battle through three matches in the loser’s bracket.

Miller came in with regional silver, but he’d be defeated in two straight matches and having his tournament ended by teammate Cyr.

Fillion entered with regional bronze and Bray as the fourth place finisher, but both wrestlers would be defeated in two straight matches.

On to Cyr’s journey through the loser’s bracket, he’d win his first match 10-0 over Miller in 1:46, then his second match would be a potential match of the tournament. Cyr would go up 4-0 off two early takedowns, his opponent would come back with four points of his own, then Cyr would land another takedown to finish the first period up 6-4. He’d extend his lead to 12-4 but his opponent would get another takedown to make it 12-6. Cyr would close out the match with two more takedowns to go up 16-6, enough of a lead for a domination win, but he’d use the allotted time to pin his opponent and move on.

Cyr would move on to the medal rounds with a 2:23 pinfall win to end the loser’s bracket. In his semi final match, Cyr would get 10-0 pointed out in less than a minute, but he’d go on to win his next match for bronze.

Male 69kg: Gold: Nathan Kowal (St. Mary’s)

As the regional gold medalist, Kowal had a bye in his first round but dominated the rest of the way. He won his first match in the second round 13-2 in 1:59. He’d secure a spot in the medal round with a 11-0 dominance win in just 1:19.

In the medal rounds, Cyr managed a 8-2 lead in the semi final before he pinned his opponent in 2:36. His last match would be his longest, battling for a whole 3:46 before earning a pin in the second period and a gold medal.

Male 73kg: Silver: Jamal Starchief (Unity), Donte Chaboyer (St. Mary’s)

Chaboyer came in with regional bronze, but he would fall in two straight matches.

Starchief entered the tournament with a regional silver. He won his first match with a 10-0 dominance victory, but he’d lose in the second round to a 13-2 decision to Max Kershaw from Saskatoon.

Down in the loser’s bracket, Starchief needed three wins to get to the medal rounds. He won his first via pinfall in 53 seconds, then again via pinfall at the 1:13 mark, and finally a 59 second 10-0 in the final match of the loser’s bracket to head to the medal round.

In the semi final, Starchief battled for a pinfall win in 1:38 to head to the goold medal final and a rematch with Kershaw. Starchief was pinned in 2:08, earning the silver medal.

Male 77kg: Gold: Tymofiy Kvashulko (St. Mary’s), Nathaniel Rodger (Meadow Lake), Marcus Corrigal (St. Mary’s)

Corrigal came in as the fourth place finisher from regionals, and he’d lose two straight matches to end his run. Rodger would come in with regional bronze, but he’d lose out in two straight matches as well.

For Kvashulko, he came in looking to improve on his regional silver. He never saw the loser’s bracket and never gave up a point in his first three matches, winning 10-0, 11-0, and 10-0 to go to the medal rounds with a total of 4:54 of a possible 18:00 on the mat.

In the medal rounds, Kvashulko was pushed out of bounds twice to surrender his first two points of the tournament, but he’d still win a dominant 13-2 win in 2:20. In the gold medal final, Kvashulko would finish his tournament with a pinfall win in 2:32, going a perfect 5-0 to win gold.

Male 82kg: Sam Geerdts (Meadow Lake)

With regional bronze to his name, Geerdts won a tough first round matchup with a pinfall win in 1:33. He’d then lose his second round match 10-0 and drop to the loser’s bracket.

Geerdts would win his next match via injury stoppage at 53 seconds, and he’d win again in a 27 pinfall to get him one match away from the semi finals. That’s where Geerdts would get stopped with another 10-0 loss.

Male 90kg: Fourth: Brady Thesen (Carrot River), Kaylan Mackie (St. Mary’s), Parker Gobeil (St. Mary’s)

Thesen came in as a regional silver medalist, while Mackie and Gobeil and came in with bronze and fourth place finishes respectively.

Mackie started the tournament well with a 10-0 win in the first round, and a hard fought second round match that saw Mackie down 7-6 in the dying seconds of the match before he landed a four point takedown directly to a pin with eight seconds left in the match. With one match to win to go to the medal rounds, Mackie would then lose 10-0 to drop to the loser’s bracket, and he’d get pinned in 1:30 to end his tournament.

For Gobeil, he’d lose in two straight matches including having his tournament ended by Thesen.

Finally for Thesen, his first match of the tournament saw him take a 6-2 lead from the first period into the second, but his opponent would tie at 10-10 with less than a minute left. Ties in wrestling are awarded to the last wrestler to score, so Thesen needed to score to win, and he landed a four point takedown to take the 14-10 lead directly into a pin with six seconds left.

Thesen would lose his next match to eventual gold medalist Tyler Langford, dropping Thesen to the loser’s bracket. There, Thesen won his next match over Gobeil in a 1:35 pinfall, then won his next match via a 10-4 decision, and he advanced to the medal rounds with a 12-2 win.

In the medal rounds, both wrestlers traded takedowns before Thesen was pinned 2:25 into the first round. Thesen would lose the bronze medal match in an 11-0 decision to finish fourth.

Male 100kg: Fourth: Trent Robillard (St. Mary’s), Willem Hoogstad (Unity), Ben Gallant (Wilkie)

With Robillard earning gold at regionals, he had a first round bye in the tournament. He’d win his next match via pinfall in 1:45, but he’d lose just before getting to the semi finals after being pinned 2:10 into the second period.

Hoogstad had regional silver to his name, and he won his first match via pinfall in 1:53, but he’d lose in the second round via pinfall in 2:31.

Gallant with regional bronze would lose two matches consecutively to have his tournament ended.

In the loser’s bracket, Hoogstad needed three straight wins if he wanted a shot at a medal. He’d win his first via pinfall in 54 seconds, but he’d lose his next match in a 19 second pin to end his tournament.

Robillard on the other hand had one match to win to advance to the medal rounds, and he nearly did it right away as he went up 10-0 2:03 seconds in. Normally this would stop the match in favour of a win for Robillard, but his opponent fought through the takedown to take back control for a single point. In the final minute, Robillard would give up 11 straight points to go down 11-10 at the end of the first. Robillard went down 15-10 early in the second, but he landed a four point takedown that he took into a pinfall win and a spot in the medal rounds.

In the semi final, Robillard would fall in his first match via pinfall at 35 seconds, and he’d get pinned in the bronze medal match in 1:25 to take fourth place.

Male 115kg: Fourth: Noah Penney (St. Mary’s), Casey Sanderson (St. Mary’s)

Sanderson won silver at regionals, and he’d be given a bye in his first round before being pinned in 30 seconds in his first match in the second round. Down in the loser’s bracket, he’d be pinned in 20 seconds in his next match to end his tournament.

As for regional gold medalist Penney, he also had a bye through the first round before picking up a 54 second pinfall win in the second round, getting him one win away from a medal round match. He’d lose this match via pinfall to Regina’s Chase Mitchell, dropping Penney to the loser’s bracket.

Penney just needed one win on the loser’s bracket to advance, and he did so with a 34 second pinfall win.

In the semi final, Penney was outpointed 8-0 before being pinned in 1:19, setting up a rematch with Mitchell in the bronze medal match. The two wrestlers would battle back and forth, but Penney’s shoulders would be pinned to that mat 1:37 into the second period to give him bronze.

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

Senga came in with a silver at regionals, but his tournament would start with a pinfall loss in 1:12. On the loser’s bracket, he’d get a bye and a forfeit win, but he’d drop his next match in a 1:39 to finish his tournament.

Larson had regional bronze to his name, but he was pinned 28 seconds into his first match and lost his second match in the loser’s bracket via pinfall in 39 seconds.

Male 130kg+: Ik Ekpenike (St. Mary’s)

The smallest male weightclass numbers wise was also the heaviest with a total of seven wrestlers. Ekpenike lost his first match in a 34 second pin, immediately dropping him to the loser’s bracket where he’d need to wrestle one extra match if he wanted a medal.

From there, Ekpenike won his next match with a 11-1 decision 12 seconds into period two, but he’d lose the loser’s bracket semi finals after being pinned in 1:18 to end his tournament.

nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Wrestling provincials recap

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