WRESTLING ROUNDUP: Stories and results from the Brock Open
The Badgers captured 16 medals in total earning eight first place, seven second place and one third place finish.
For the Brock men, Sam Jagas (57kg), Luke Roberts (65kg), Jevon Balfour(72kg), club wrestlers CJ Hudson (68kg) and Chris Laverick (76kg) all placed first overall. Nick Rowe (68kg), John Cottrill (72kg) and club wrestler Tim Clement (57kg) all finished second.
Rounding out the Brock men were Kingston Wong (4th - 54kg), Jake Needham (4th - 61kg), Gildo Domingos (5th - 61kg), Tyler Rowe (4th - 76kg), Gabriel Turetsky (5th - 76kg), Matrixx Ferreira (4th - 82kg) and Ryan Cochrane (6th - 90kg).
Leading the Brock women were Jade Parsons (51kg), Kelsea Suchocki (82kg), club wrestlers Diana Weicker (55kg) and Michelle Fazzari (63kg) who all captured gold.
Finishing second overall were Carlene Sluberski (55kg), Brittney Gearing (63kg), Marissa Sorrell (67kg) and Olivia Di Bacco (72kg). Rounding out the Badger women were Jessica Brouillette (3rd - 59kg) and Tina McLaren (4th - 55kg).
Source: Brock Sports Info
The Algoma Wrestlers travelled to St. Catharines this weekend to participate in the Brock Open to compete against some of Ontario's and Canada's elite wrestlers.
Natasha Doroodian, the first-year Law and Justice student from Sault Ste. Marie and 2013 OFSSA gold medalist who has already podiumed twice this season, finished fourth in the 63 kilogram weight class after going 2-2. In her first match, Doroodian won an 8-3 decision against defending CIS bronze medalist Nicole Roach of the McMaster Marauders. In her second match, she lost by pin to Michelle Fazzari of the Brock Badgers, a current Senior World Team member. Her last win of the competition came against Jessie Hotte of the Mariposa Wrestling Club. Doroodian went 11-0 due to technical superiority. In her bronze medal match, Doroodian suffered a loss by decision to Allison Carrow of the Guelph Gryphons.
"I wasn't happy with my bronze medal match," said Doroodian. "I thought that I let her [Carrow] control the pace of the match and really get me off my game. My conditioning wasn't at the level it should have been at this time of the season."
The Brock Open gave Head Coach Trevor Manchester a good opportunity to see where Doroodian needs to improve. "Tasha wrestled a tough tournament today," said Manchester at the close of the Brock Open. "She was dealing with some illness, which really affected her cardio. She was pushed around and controlled more than she is used to, but gave us a good look at certain positions that she needs to work more on."
Dennon Armstrong, a fourth year Fine Arts student from Sault Ste. Marie, also placed fourth at the tournament. In the 120 kilogram weight class, Armstrong went 1-2. In his first match, Armstrong lost 12-2 due to the superiority of Tony Legare from Kbay. In his second match, Armstrong had his only win, and won 16-8 by decision against Rysiek Colanko of the Guelph Wrestling Club. In his bronze medal match, he lost by pin to Amir Kazrafshan of the Impact Wrestling Club.
"Dennon really showed improvement from his last tournament," said Manchester. "His conditioning was much improved. He didn't try to force techniques, and was much more dynamic with his attacks."
Also of notable finish for the Algoma Wrestlers was Sault native Ryan Vilaca, who finished fifth in the 57 kilogram weight class. Vilaca also went 1-2.
Only in his first year of wrestling with the Thunderbirds, Manchester is impressed with Vilaca's growth. "The coaches are impressed with the improvement shown by Ryan in the last few months. He is really starting to develop as a wrestler. His footwork and movement are excellent, hand fighting is constantly improving, and his technical game is growing every day."
Assistant Coach Dylan Fryia also weighed in on the tournament. "I'm happy with the growth the team is showing and the outlook for the future of the program at Algoma."
The Algoma Wrestlers are back in action later in January, when they head to the Ontario Juniors in Kingston, Ontario at Queen's University.
Source: Algoma Sports Info
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- The Western Mustangs wrestling team travelled to St. Catharines to compete in the Brock Open tournament on Saturday, Jan. 11. Rookie student-athlete Anna McKee took home the top honours in the individual competition, winning gold in the women's 59 kg category. Alyssa Medeiros and Mara Pritchard won bronze medals in the women's 55 kg and 82 kg categories respectively. An additional eight other wrestlers finished in the top six of their weight class.
McKee had a perfect tournament in her victory, going 3-0 on the day. In addition winning every single match, McKee finished the tournament without a single point scored against her. McKee, a London-native and London Catholic Central graduate, won two matches by way of technical superiority, both with a score of 10-0 and one match by pin.
"It was good to see Anna have a solid performance at 59 kg," commented head coach Ray Takahashi. "Normally she competes at a lower weight and missed most last season due to injury."
Medeiros and Pritchard also contributed strong performances. Medieros went 3-1 in the tournament, losing her only match against eventual winner Carlene Suberski of Brock, while Pritchard medaled in her first competition of the season. On an unfortunate note, teammate Michelle Szilagyi, competing in the same weight class as Pritchard, suffered a lower body injury and took 6th place.
The Mustangs failed to win any medals in the team standings; however, the team did not bring a full squad, with several members of the team taking the weekend off of competition to prepare for the upcoming Guelph Open.
The Guelph Open takes place next weekend on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014 in Guelph, Ont. This event will be a challenging event as it is widely regarded as one of the strongest open domestic tournaments in Canada. Mustang National team members Steven Takahashi, Riley Otto, Brianne Barry and Larisssa D'Alleva will be among those seeking victory in Guelph.
Source: Western Sports Info
York University Lions wrestler Omar Thomas won the silver medal in the 90kg division at the Brock Open in St. Catharines, Ont., on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 11).
Thomas (Toronto) defeated Kyle Bonk from the Western Mustangs by a score of 9-6 in the semifinals to advance to the title match, where he was edged 4-3 by Alex Thoms from the UNB Varsity Reds.
He was one of three Lions to record a top-six finish at the meet. Greg Pierzchala (Barrie, Ont.) just missed out on a medal with a fourth-place finish in the 72kg division, while rookie Thomas Carroll (Brampton, Ont.) ended up in sixth place in the 61kg weight class.
Pierzchala, who in December won York's first gold medal of the season, defeated Jackson Taylor from the Lakehead Thunderwolves 14-9 in his opening match, but was taken out by the eventual silver medallist, John Cottrill from the host Badgers, in his next match. He then went on to defeat Tyler Ashurst, also from the Thunderwolves, by a score of 16-12 before falling in the bronze-medal bout to Juwan Burgess.
Carroll began his day with a pair of 10-0 wins over Mitch Winchester from the Badgers and Niroop Sinha of the Algoma Thunderbirds, before a 16-6 loss to Jason Buckle from the McMaster Marauders, who went on to win the gold medal in the division. He also suffered losses to Dillon Williams and Domingas Gildo of Brock for the sixth-place result.
A big contingent of Lions wrestlers will be in action next weekend at the Guelph Open, hosted by the Gryphons in Guelph, Ont., on Saturday (Jan. 18).
Source: York Sports Info