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The Canadian Olympic Team Trials took place from December 15th to 17th in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Several prominent Alberta athletes took place on the team, vying for the coveted spot on Canada's olypmic team. There were several Alberta athletes who were high in the running: Olympic Gold Medalist Carol Huynh, 5-Time CIS Champion Genvieve Haley, World Bronze medalist Brittanee Laverdure, World Bronze medalist Justine Bouchard, as well as other top Alberta competitors like Andrea Ross, Jazzy Barker, Erica Wiebe, Vanessa Wilson, and Leah Callahan - all from the Dino's wrestling club. Several Alberta men wrestled in the trials: Jens Reuter of the Bears, Jack Bond of Salisbury, Alex Burk of the Dinos and Justin Basra, Jesse Arnette, Jeremy Podlog and James Cadotte - all from the Roc club.
The Freestyle event was tough, with only Bond and Arnett in the finals for the freestyle pool. Alex Burk, by virtue of his bronze medal at the seniors was given an automatic third seed. Arnette lost in his pool final to Raj Virdi of Burnaby Mountain and Jack Bond lost to Ryan Weicker, the third seed. Alex Burk lost to 2008 Olympian Travis Cross in his challenge match. All three athletes are still young and developing, however, so don't be surprised to see them in 4 years trying to make the 2016 Brazil team.
The Women's event was loaded with top-quality wrestlers, all the competitors were high level athletes who have all performed on the world stage. The Dinos had a finalist in each of the weight classes, no surprise from the team that won the Senior National Championships. In the 48KG Final were Olympic Gold Medalist Carol Huynh and 2011 World Silver Medalist Jessica MacDonald from the Brock Wrestling Club. By virtue of Carol's performance at the world championships, the winner of this weight class would automatically go to the Olympic Games in London, England. Carol won both of her best-of-three matches, guaranteeing her a spot on the team and punching her ticket to the Olympic games.
55 Kilograms was another tough weight class that has been dominated by 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist Tonya Verbeek from the Brock Wrestling Club. Hot on her heels was Brittannee Laverdure, who has faced Tonya for the top spot on team Canada before. Brittannee lost her matches to the tough wrestler from Ontario.
At the 63 Kilogram weight class was one of the most hotly contested matches of the day. Justine Bouchard from the Dinos is a former World Bronze Medalist and multiple-time Senior national champion at 63Kg wrestling the 4-time world champion and 67KG Senior National Champion Martine DuGrenier from the Montreal Wrestling Club. Martine won the first match against Justine but Justine turned around and beat Martine in the second match. The third and deciding match went to Martine, who is going to her second Olympics.
This set the stage for the final ladies match of the night, which was Ohenewa Akuffo of Guelph versus Leah Callahan. Ohenewa is former world silver medalist and 2008 Olympian. Callahan, historically, had a lot of difficulty with Ohenewa at domestic events. In 2011 they had a tough match with Callahan losing in the dying seconds of the finals at the Senior National Championships. Leah had obviously prepared well, as she dominated Akuffo in the final winning the final women's spot on the Canadian Olympic team. Now she will be working hard to qualify for the event at the Pan American qualifiers in Colorado Springs in February.
The last group for the trials was the Greco Roman team trials, with two Alberta athletes present. Jack Bond of the Salisbury Wrestling Club and Jens Reuter of the Bears wrestling club. After a disappointing loss to Shawn Daye-Finlay at the 2011 Senior National Championships Jack was seeded 2nd overall, but was able to overcome Finlay in the finals, taking the spot on Canada's Olympic team. As with Leah, Jack will have to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games at the Pan-Am qualifiers. His competition will be strong, but with top athletes from the US and Cuba already qualified, Jack will have a great chance to be on the mats in London this upcoming summer.
Finally, Jens Reuter of the Bears wrestling club came out of semi-retirement to wrestle at the Olympic team trials in Winnipeg at 84Kg for Greco Roman. His only opponent was 2010 Commonwealth Games Bronze medalist Eric Fuenekes. Fuenekes won both matches with Jens taking the alternate spot.
Congratulations to all the athletes who competed at the trials. It was exciting to see the performance of Canada's top athletes and to see them strive to reach their goals. Not all of you will be going on to the Olympics, but each of you is a champion for your sport and for your dedication. |
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