The 2022-2023 high school wrestling season has officially ended.
This year was one for the books, and coaches Tyson Whitney and Port Hardy Secondary School Athletic Director Paul Cagna are pleased to announce there were a lot more highs than lows for the PHSS wrestling team.
“We went down island and competed at three big wrestling tournaments,” said Cagna, who was the coach who did all the behind the scenes paperwork and also all the driving for the team.
One of the team members, Grade 12 student Brody Chambers, placed fourth at the Island Championships in Duncan, qualifying to represent his school and community at the 2023 Provincial Championships at Pacific Coliseum, which was held Feb. 24-26.
“While he did not make the final six, Brody did hold his own and remained composed in defeat, but the experience was one to remember as there were close to 200 participants from across British Columbia competing for gold in their respective divisions, and the club was abuzz with visions of next years opportunities,” added Cagna. “I would like to thank Tyson Whitney for volunteering his time as coach and mentor to our team of 10 wrestlers, as well as their families for supporting their child’s participation in this year’s season.”
Whitney, who has been training wrestling/grappling since he was in high school at PHSS, was beyond proud of what the team accomplished this season.
“There were many highlights for me,” he said. “While the main one was getting to see my top student Maven Speck-Labree win his first ever tournament match after three solid years of training, other great memories were getting to see Brody Chambers and Rylan France battle it out for the inaugural PHSS Wrestling Club Championship trophy, and also getting to witness the rapid development of other dedicated students like Auzton Shaw, Carter Chaston, Anthony Blacha, and James Wamiss-Nelson, who all put in a lot of time and effort on the mats this season.”
High school wrestling will start up again in October at PHSS.
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editor@northislandgazette.com
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