I have to say, last weekend's Nanaimo Novice wrestling tournament was a great time.
This was my third year attending it and it’s always fun for me getting to watch my students go into battle and compete. I was really amped up because I knew I was going to get to see some good matches, and I was definitely right about that. Freestyle wrestling never disappoints when it comes to quality matches, and there's always excitement in the air whenever all the Vancouver Island high schools get together to see who's got the best team.
We were originally going to bring down five wrestlers like we'd done the previous two seasons, but two members of our team had to drop out the week of the tournament. It was a bit unfortunate we didn’t have a full squad this time, but I’ve noticed over my six years of coaching this kind of thing happens a lot in youth sports. Life stuff comes up and sports have to take a backseat, which is understandable.
Moving on, I want to say I was really proud of how the PHSS wrestling team performed at the tournament. The young bucks on the squad, Jayden Jones and Hunter Stagg, both showed up ready to battle and tried their hardest to win, leaving everything they had in the tank on the mats.
Jayden got to wrestle a total of five matches, which was a fantastic opportunity for him to develop as an athlete. Hunter only got to have two matches which I thought was kind of sad to see such a low turnout, but I’m hoping he’ll be able to get more mat time at his next tournament.
As for the team’s top athlete, Anthony Blacha, he did exactly what I expected he would; attack relentlessly from the start of the match to the very end. Anthony had a tough first round loss against the top seed in the division, but he didn't let it get to him. He regrouped and managed to beat a strong opponent from Campbell River, who actually came really close to pinning him in the last few seconds of the second period. It was a great showing from both athletes, and if the periods had been a full three minutes, Anthony very likely would have lost.
Anthony ended up hurting his knee in his third match against a tough guy from Port Alberni and lost by pinfall. I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to continue, but he said he wanted to try and win bronze, so he toughed it out and went in there and ran over his fourth opponent of the day, winning 10-0 in the first period.
It was a proud coach moment for me. I’ve always made it a point to tell my students to try their hardest and battle through any adversity they're faced with, and that's why I knew Anthony wasn’t going to forfeit without at least trying. He’s a natural born fighter with tons of potential that hasn’t been unlocked just yet. Once he hits his peak as an athlete, watch out. He's going to do some serious damage.
The cool thing about Anthony is he wants to be the best guy in the gym every time he steps on the mats, and it shows through his work ethic and dedication. He never misses practice, shows up whether he’s tired or sore, and actively listens to me when I’m teaching. He saw last season how hard Sheldon Frank worked to qualify for provincials, and he wants to do the same thing this season. We'll see if he's able to accomplish it, but I hope he does.
All told, I’m really pleased with the small team Paul Cagna and I have put together this season. All the students are very dedicated and like to scrap, and I’m still hoping to add one or two new wrestlers to our roster to really add some depth.
I have to give a quick shoutout to PHSS teacher Kevin McGhee, he runs the Junior Canadian Rangers program in Port Hardy, and I’ve actually managed to turn a few of his junior rangers into good wrestlers over the last three years. JCR’s understand the discipline needed to be a wrestler, and they all seem to really enjoy physical combat. I’d actually like to get more of them involved in the sport, but time will tell on that.
I’m gonna sign off now, thanks for reading. I’ll be back with more thoughts after our next tournament.
