Cowichan Valley Wrestling Club athletes experienced a great deal of success a the War on the Floor meet at Pinetree Secondary in Coquitlam last weekend.
The meet included a day of novice competition and a day of elite competition, with some wrestlers taking part in both.
CVWC members won gold in two events on the first day: Aidan Dyer-Price (Queen of Angels) in the Grade 9-10 boys 63kg class and Chloe Foster (Quamichan) in the Grade 9-10 girls 75kg.
“It was great to see Chloe and Aidan get first in their classes,” CWVC head coach Nick Zuback said. “They both wrestled extremely well.”
Second-place results went to Georgia Bond (Q of A) in Grade 8 girls 54kg, Ethan Mellings (Q of A) in Grade 8 boys 59kg, Lyle Samson (Q of A) in Grade 9-10 boys 54kg, Luther Tidder (Chemainus) in Grade 9-10 boys 115kg, and Mattias Zachary (Cowichan Secondary) in Grade 9-10 boys 49kg. Dawson Jory (Cowichan Secondary) was third in the Grade 11-12 boys 70kg class.
Several of the novice wrestlers did well again the next day in elite competition.
“It was a great experience for the novice kids to compete against some of the best in the province,” Zuback commented.
Zachary finished fourth in the male 48kg class and Foster was fifth in the female 75kg class. Sixth-place results went to Samson in the male 54kg class, Jory in the male 70kg class, and Tidder in the heavyweight class.
The club’s more experienced wrestlers also had good showings in the elite competition, led by Talon Hird (Cowichan Secondary), who dominated the male 54kg weight class on his way to gold. Hayley Bye-Pace (Cowichan Secondary) also reached the final in the female 60kg class, ultimately taking silver.
Stephanie Mould (Cowichan Secondary) placed third in the female 64kg class, and Miaya Brownbridge (Cowichan Secondary) was sixth in the same class.
Cow High finished fifth overall in the elite female team standings and seventh in the male standings.
The CVWC will send a full team to the Wildcat Invitational in Burnaby on Jan. 12, and several club members will also be part of the Island team at the inaugural Duke’s Cup in Vancouver that same weekend. With just a few weeks between the end of Christmas break and the Island championships at Chemainus Secondary, the club wants to hit the ground running.
“I’m happy so far this year,” Zuback said. “It’s been a good year. Hopefully it will continue to go that way.”