The Seven Chiefs Sportsplex will be buzzing this weekend when over 900 wrestlers from across Canada are here competing in the Canadian Wrestling Championships.
Mitch Osberg is the co-chair of the championships and he says there will be a lot of medals handed out.
Well it’s a National Championship so kids from coast to coast to coast are coming to compete for gold medals in three different age groups,” he said.
“We have U15, U17 and U19 and there’s 12 different weight classes in each division, so we’re going to put a lot of metals on a lot of necks here at Tsuut’ina,” he added.
All about learning
Faith Barber, 13, wrestles for the Junior Dinos. She’s one of the youngest competitors here and says she’s hoping to learn a lot at the Nationals.
“It’s an experience,” she said.
“I think I did good,” she added, “but I feel like I could do more moves in practice and stuff.
“During the tournament,” she said, “I feel like I could do more takedowns and single legs and double legs.”
Feeling right at home
Jack Elliott, 17, is also a member of the Dinos wrestling team. He says it’s been nice having the nationals take place in his own area code.
“Oh it’s cool you know, I drove here from home,” Elliott said. “It’s a 20 minute drive here and I can go home when I’m done and sleep in my own bed and get a good nights rest.”
“It’s my first national competition so it’s kind of cool for it to be right here in my home.”
Looking for inspiration
Elliott and many other wrestlers at the nationals would love to one day compete in the Olympics.
If they need any inspiration look no further than Olympic gold medallist Carol Huynh, who also coaches the Dinos.
Huynh remembers competing at the nationals herself and says it’s a great competition.
“When you’re an athlete, when you’re a wrestler, you go to the smaller competitions and then you kind of build up,” she said.
“Nationals is the biggest one in Canada,” she said. “I remember going to national championships myself when I was much younger, in Grade 12 -- a long time ago!”
“Just the excitement of it,” she added, “and just how big it feels but also how it brings our community together.
Huynh is going to have more excitement on Saturday afternoon. She’s being inducted into the Wrestling Canada Hall of Fame at 4:30 pm.
Competition continues through Sunday at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex.
