The Salmon Arm wrestling team brought home medals and experience from a large competition in Richmond recently.
Made up of 13 students from Salmon Arm Secondary’s Jackson and Sullivan campuses, as well as Shuswap Middle School, the team brought home a gold, two silvers and two top-six placings from the Western Canada Age Class Wrestling competition held at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Jan. 21-22.
According to School District 83, young wrestlers came from throughout Western Canada, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
Coached by Greg Seed and Gerry Beauregard, Koda Gunn earned a gold while Aila Norlin and Matei Dumitrache claimed silvers. Placing in the top six were Keira Jager and Andrei Dumitrache. As a whole, the team came in 26th out of 57 Western Canadian teams.
Seed explained in a school district announcement that in wrestling, the classes are determined by weight, not age.
“Which means opponents can be in Grade 11 or 12 in that same weight class and have many more years of experience. Having that many more years of experience makes such a difference in skills and muscle development.”
The Salmon Arm team is now getting ready for the Okanagan Zones on Feb. 11. The zones decide which wrestlers will be heading to provincials. The top three placings in the Okanagan qualify.
The school district stated 32 students are committed to the wrestling team: 10 from Sullivan, 20 from Jackson and two from the middle school.
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martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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Salmon Arm’s Aila Nordin, at left, takes to the podium to receive her silver medal at the Western Canada Age Class Wrestling Competition held at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Jan. 21 and 22, 2023. (School District 83 image)
