While it was a bit of a hard fought day in the Comox Valley, the Port Hardy Secondary School wrestling team was more than ready to step on the mats for a good ol' battle or two.
With a lean but strong roster of three wrestlers, Grade 8 Jayden Jones, Grade 9 Hunter Stagg, and Grade 8 Filipe Bettencourt Da Rosa, all committing to attend the Comox wrestling tournament on Sunday, Jan. 12 at Highland Secondary School, the PHSS coaching staff decided to enter Da Rosa in the 60 kg junior division (132 lbs) and Jones and Stagg in the 63-66 kg junior division (137-145 lbs).
Da Rosa was called to the mats first, where he ended up winning a fast-paced 14-3 technical fall over Highland’s Jake Stuve to start the tournament off on the right foot.
Da Rosa then defeated Wellington Secondary School's Evan DeBoer by a 14-4 technical fall to improve to 2-0 on the day before moving on to face Alberni District Secondary School’s Trenton Makofka in his third match, which turned out to be a wild back and forth brawl that went into the second period before Makofka finally managed to turn Da Rosa over and pin him.
Despite the loss, Da Rosa didn’t let it get to him. He regrouped in the bleachers and went back out onto the mats to face ADSS’ Tj Hernandez for second place.
In what turned out to be another back and forth brawl that went into the second period, Da Rosa ended up winning a 18-7 technical fall over Hernandez to secure the silver medal.
As for his teammates, Jones and Stagg, they both went 0-2 against ADSS’ Taj Labrie and Eli Bayley before having to face each other to see who would finish in fifth and sixth place. With their match ending in a 10-10 tie, the ref decided Stagg would go home with the victory over Jones, earning him the fifth place finish.
Head coach/team manager Paul Cagna said he thought the PHSS wrestling team performed above expectations.
"We have a group of novice wrestlers that just started this year," he said. "They're all Grade 8's and 9's and we were coming off the Christmas break with only a few practices, but they still all performed well."
Cagna noted this was Da Rosa's first time ever competing in wrestling and he still managed to post a 3-1 record on the day.
"Filipe opened a lot of people's eyes," he said. "I don't think his opponents really knew what to expect, but I knew what to expect. We call him 'The Tornado' in the gym because when he gets on the mat, he's just a relentless force. And his opponents found that out pretty quick."
Cagna added it felt good to see Da Rosa win PHSS its first silver medal of the season, and then praised Jones and Stagg for how hard they battled in a tough weight class that was combined together due to there being not enough wrestlers registered in the 63 and 66 kg junior divisions (some island schools weren't able to make it to the tournament).
"Jayden is our most experienced wrestler that competed," Cagna stated. "He did a really good job of quarterbacking our club and I thought he handled himself quite well against some heavier opponents. He had a real back and forth match against Taj Labrie from Alberni, and unfortunately with less than 30 seconds left, Labrie ended up snatching away the win."
When asked about Stagg, Cagna said while his wrestler had a three-week layoff before the tournament, "he didn't show any signs of ring rust, that's for sure. He ended up taking it to all of his opponents, and every single opponent that wrestled him noted he's quite a strong, physical force at 66 kg."
Up next for the PHSS wrestling team will be the Campbell River Invitational, which is being held Saturday, Jan. 18.
